An Alright Mother

The whole world is in a celebration mood being “mother’s day” today. Consumerism is at its height, hosts of advertisements, reminders, memorabilia flaunting around. All these prompted me to just rethink about my mother. A mother of two children, me being the younger. A working mother, with whom, as a child, I used to go to her school and used to fall fast asleep on her desk in the teachers’ common room. A busy mother, who used to frantically look for her umbrella everywhere in the house, and used to be irritated not finding it while going to her school. A strict mother, who used to gift me a tight slap when I used to fall asleep on my study table. And, an anxious mother, who used to be awake night after night, when I was suffering from nephritis.

But as a mother, she is an expert in hiding her feelings. Her philosophy is, ‘show your feeling and spoil the child’. I still remember the day, when I was coming out for joining higher studies. My father urged her to accompany us till railway station to see me off. Summarily she rejected the idea. She waved me off from the door steps and when I looked back after two minutes, she was sitting on the door steps, bursting in tears. That underlying over flow of her emotion still haunts me.

When I was a growing boy, she would never give me a penny additional for my pocket expense. I used to curse her for this, as I did not have enough courage to ask for it from my father. And the irony is, when I grew up, taken up my job, time and again she used to offer me some money saying that “just keep it, now you can spend it sensibly”. Really, mothers are strange!!

I lost this interesting lady couple of years back. Today I strongly feel, I was deeply in love with her and she is the first woman in my life whom I loved. I still sense her smile, her warm touches on my head. She was a brave lady who desperately wanted to live long. Even when the doctors divulged to her that she had been suffering from rarest form of liver cancer, she didn’t break down, only she asked me, “I will be alright, na?” Till her last day, she contained this hope in herself, “I will be alright” Her last words, before she slept in comma still haunts me – “I want to be with you, beta”.

You are with me ma, you are always with me. Today you have become perfectly “alright”. Where ever you are, mentally you are with me. I miss you ma….wish you a very happy “MOTHER’S DAY”.