M's For (nothing but) MOM!

You are surfing (read googling), jumping windows, reading up, writing down, sipping tea. Scroll, scroll, scroll, like, like, like and dhan te nan, it pops up, that one notification! Dreaded by some teenagers, scorned by a few others, and simply causing some eye rolling for daughters like me who are way past their adolescence.

‘You have a friend request from Mamma.’ Feelings? I'd be lying to you if I said I was jumping with joy. It was much more. I felt a sense of pride. Why, you shall know.

For starters, let me tell you what my mom is like. She’s one of the most soft-spoken and elegant ladies you shall ever come across. And I don’t say it cos she’s my mother; it is something even the dogs and cats, the neighbours’ ‘bai’ or the gossipmonger ‘kaki’ in the society will vouch for.

Dad was the disciplinarian in the family, and mom more than compensated by never even raising an eyebrow. And that is a difficult task my friends. Who would know it better than I do? Even for a toddler as obedient as Master A, I am like the non-stop instructing mamma who can make up for the absence of any teacher.

So well, mom though not career-centric like dad, was a working woman. A sharp banker but more family-oriented, just like a typical Maharashtrian middle-class woman of her generation. One who supported the family income by working, and at the same time, rushed home in the evening to make up for the father’s long absence. Computers were not very common then and when they were introduced, mom chose to stay away.

At home too, for her, the pc was always a piece of furniture lying around, which her offspring toyed with. Until one fine day, when the children moved out of the house and into another country. The ‘food shelter clothing’ list had a new addition – video calls. My younger bro was the knight in shining armour. But it would obviously all depend on his schedule and not mamma’s.

After he moved abroad, dad was around. And then that one dark day of our lives made everything topsy-turvy.

The last few months have been difficult for her to say the least. For the whole family. Our pillar of strength, my dad, just vanished from the face of the earth. It was sudden, and so all the more shocking and indigestible.

I tried to find my solace in writing and my toddler, my siblings in their respective professions. Moving on shall never happen, but we had to be strong, fight, and put up a calm demeanour. There were no explicit discussions, no dialogues. We just knew that’s what we had to do. We believed that that’s what would help mamma find her peace. A person who can otherwise cry at the drop of a hat.

But we were so wrong. And I couldn’t have been happier about an error. Mamma’s not just appeared for destiny’s test, she’s passing it with flying colours. She’s doing what only a mother can do, putting her children above everything else.

One day I received a video call on my laptop. She was seated in a computer classroom. She had taken it upon herself to step out of the house and do something fresh. I cannot really describe my emotions. Imagine you had a shy child, who was going through a difficult phase, maybe bullying? And one day he went on stage and gave a super performance. Ecstasy? Pride? Much more? I had similar feelings.

There’s so much I can learn from you mamma. I know even if I tried I could never be like you. I just thank God for making me YOUR daughter. And the thank you note of course has three signatures. We are super-proud of you Mamma. Love you.