“Mummy kahan ho?”
“Mummy…..??”
The first word that comes out of me as I step into my parents home every single time, be it years back when I lived there or now when I visit Saharanpur. A warm spontaneous call for…”Mummyy..!!” has to be heard by every corner of the house before anything else is said or observed!
It's an eternal conversation, between a mother and the child. This call for each other that ignites love with each syllable spoken out loud.
I love my mother.
As easy as it feels and sounds, often with my generation expressing this love in words doesn’t come easy, for in our childhood motherly love was overstuffing us with mitha or saving us from the evils of this world with a magical nazar ka tikka! Perhaps it also has something to do with the way my mother observed affection for Naani. She keeps a black and white polaroid of Naani stuck on the inner panel of her vintage Godrej almira. With its curved yellow corners, the picture still smiles at me whenever she happens to open it in front of me.
These slices of memories stimulate a rise of warm sentiments, pausing at my heart and finally settling into the lines that my eyes form as they smile fondly!
I just feel that she deserves the world!
For it is now that I have come to realize what it is to be a mother. As years pass this admiration for her only increases. I can now totally relate now when she used to throw her hands in exasperation and say, “Tumhe maloom lagega jab tum Maa banogi”. Am pretty sure we all have rolled our eyes to this dialogue once in our lives only to realize its truth years later!
And so out of all the appreciative sentiments of a daughter, especially after months of not seeing her I decided to celebrate this Mother’s day by being with her virtually.
Wrecking my brains for something that would make for a clever gift or a warm gesture, I came up with the idea of planning a day of her life for her. Where I will be present with her throughout it all while being miles away from her.
I am simply wishing she enjoys not being in power just for this one day! Thankfully she’s least fond of social media, so she’ll have no clue whatsoever of this plot and I can surprise her!
I have already ganged up with my brother and sister (you know how siblings babble things away? Especially the ones they should keep mum about? Well yeah!)
So here's this TIMETABLE of Mother’s day for her to follow. She always made these ruled and neatly written time-tables for me I remember! Inner-me is finding it really entertaining to be the one in command for once (she should take solace in the fact that at least mine is a fun one!).
P.S. This day is all about picking the good, feeling good and taking a break from the chaos in our minds. For those of us who have been lucky to keep themselves and their loved ones safe, we will try to rekindle some nostalgia and poke our memory sacks for a couple of laughs.
A day with my mother full of gratitude and joy!
This is how we will celebrate mother's day...what about you? How are you going to make this a day to remember for your mother, near or far?