“God could not be everywhere, so he made Mothers.”

A lovely note shared by a reader for our Mothers Day contest.

Here are snippets about the life and love that Mothers embody, shared by you dear readers.

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By Binita Saikia

All the things that my Maa has done for me are unforgettable. She gave me my life and because of her I can see this world. This is unforgettable for me. Now I am a mom. This is all because of her.  l love you Maa.

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By Dhara Parikh

My sister had a six year old daughter when she had another baby. While I thought its now two babies and a mother, I was pleasantly surprised to know its two moms and a baby!

We all gathered for the younger ones naming ceremony, and finding the baby so cute- we asked my elder niece that maybe we can take the younger one with us. That way she could get back the undivided attention that she’s been enjoying. Suddenly the whining and complaints over having nothing to do for her baby sister lost all it’s importance for my elder niece. She quipped by saying these exact words, ” My mom had so much trouble to have my baby sister. She got her out of her tummy. If you want a baby at home, get it out of your tummies”.

The whole room broke into laughter as tears rolled down my niece’s and my sister’s cheeks.

I love the innocence and care that reflects despite comprehension.

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By Dora Chowdhury

The most beautiful bond that God has created… A child picks up all positive and slightest negative from his or her mother. It is very important that a mother teaches her child to respect, balance, support and stand by what the child believes is correct. So that when this child grows tomorrow, he or she can be a wonderful human being and a better citizen to his or her country. Cheers to all the mothers for all that we do.

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By Gauri Trivedi

I know everyone feels that their mother is special and I am sure it is true, because it is only a mother who loves unconditionally. My mother is special and I want to share with everyone at Jaypore that what I am today is because of her sacrifice.

I married a man of my choice but he turned out to be an obsessive possessive person, very negative in his approach to life. I saw success in the Civil Services Exams and became an IAS officer which made my husband enraged and violent as he could not clear the exams inspite of three attempts. He insisted I leave the service and I did, like any other good, middle class Indian girl. However the violence did not end even when we had a beautiful baby girl. After a particularly violent tantrum which injured not just myself but my daughter too, I just picked the baby up and fled back to my home. It was my mother who sat with me endless days and nights till I got my confidence back, insisted I get back my career, lived with me sacrificing her home, her social circle and family for the early years in my IAS career. Today, she is bedridden and it was without any second thought that I packed my bags and my career to be with her in her last years. People often ask me whether I miss all the power, authority and perks of office. I have just one sentence in reply and that is “No, because I have my mom in whom I see God’s miracles every day ”

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By Kavita Suvarna

There have been many Mom moments but this one is the closest to my heart and the most precious one.
The incident is of when my mum Mrs Suma Salian was a working lady  who managed house and work.Me and my younger brother would come home after school and eat lunch by ourselves.
I would have been 13 years old and very sick that day so had missed school.I was old enough to take care of myself so took my medicine and bravely asked  my mum to go to work as she had already taken few days off during the month.However secretly wished she stayed with me.
My mum left for work and I went to bed wishing i had told mum to be with me. After 1/2 hr I heard the main door open , it was mum!! She went upto the railway station took the train to work but could not convince herself to leave me alone so got off at the next station took the train waiting opposite and came back home to me! I was sooo overjoyed to see her as at that moment I wanted to be with my mum:) This is my favorite mum moment .
Today my mum who used to be a working woman for 27 years jumping on Mumbai’s local trains  to go to work has artheritis and cant walk without support.I am far away from her and always remember this incident when I had wished to be with mum but dint mention and she still understood and came running back to me!Feel guilty that I am away so send her flowers sometimes.

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By Lee Gee Jiong

My mum did not have the chance to go to school but she knows the right values and she showed us good examples to follow. Unfortunately her health is not good due to her family’s poor financial situation. She had all the chronic sickness you can find and she fought on to the extent that she amputated both her legs but she was still cheerful and positive which made our lives easier. While we lost her in 2008, she always remain in our hearts and year after year of Mother’s Day add sadness to us becuase we miss her dearly.

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By Lopamudra Basu 

“All seeds sown in a garden may not grow up to be a sapling. Yes it is a confirmed miscarriage”. This is exactly what my Gynecologist told me  2 and half years back after a  stretched silence with an unsure expression apparent on her face. “Will I never be a mother”? I asked.

I was 30 and had never been a mother before.  Life had always been relaxing with plenty of time for self, no colic bellies, no midnight duties, no diapers to change. Then what was it that I was missing so badly? I questioned myself day in and out. People around advised me to swerve my mind to some other thought and completely get rid of the emotions that were bothering me. I tried but there was an urge of something that I cannot explain. I did not get an answer to my questions, just like I still don’t know why there is always a drop of tear hiding in a corner of my eye, every time after visarjan of Goddess Durga on Vijayadashami when she is immersed in the water and I plead her every time to come back like a child, “Asche bochor abar esho maa”.

Amidst all blues, my Ma kept saying, “You will carry your baby in your arms, before I die”.

Who else could promise her daughter the most uncertain in life and challenge the almighty not to leave any stone unturned to keep up the promise? Who else could sacrifice everything in life to see her child happy? A mother- indeed. Whenever I fell, there was a tender hand to lift me up. Whenever I cried, I had someone to wipe my tears. If I wanted something in life, there was a voice who would always assure me with conviction that yes, I will get it. I remember the days when I fell sick; my mother would take care of me selflessly. I never had a fear of losing a friend as my best friend was always with me. She is my first dance teacher, my first fashion designer, my favorite chef, my Midas touch. Probably this was the answer to my questions— an urge to share all these feelings that I have received all through my life with someone else.  Is it wrong, if I wanted to be a “mother” as good as I have, to a little soul in a whole new world? Having a mother, being a mother, is the definitive truth that I have seen, heard, felt every moment ever since I came to this world, hence no other proposition to me seemed as genuine to make me happy in this world than being a mother.

I conquered all odds. I defeated all challenges. In 2012, June I was blessed with a little daughter. It was the most wonderful feeling that I ever had in life, I cannot explain it. She is the world to me.

Today when we celebrate womanhood on this Mother’s Day, I can say with the same conviction as my mother that the legacy of love and togetherness, will thus, continue.

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By Maria Kurian

My mom taught me to fight for the my rights and everyone else’s too.

My mom taught me to appreciate small acts of kindness which would otherwise go unnoticed.

My mom taught me to focus on the simple joys of life.

My mom taught me the simple pleasures of window shopping and a masala dosa.

My mom taught me the fine art of keeping a family together.

My mom taught me to cheer people’s efforts.

My mom taught me to offer the staple emotional first aid – coffee and a sympathetic ear.

My mom taught me tough love.

My mom taught me to be there no matter what.

My mom taught me to to love with every atom of my being.

and she taught me all this without saying a word.

[My Mother and Daughter]

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By Niti Gandotra

“MOTHER”- Epitome of love, affection, patience and courage. Its her birthday today (9th May) and I take this opportunity to pay my tribute for all she’s done for me in life. My pillar of support, the one who always trusted me without questioning my actions. She was detected with traces of  depression when I was 13 (the same time when my father suffered significant losses in his business). My father being a short tempered person never shared very close relationship with his children.

My Mom started giving tuitions so that we don’t feel the burden of the situation. Bearing with my fathers temper, financial ailments, her own medical condition and raising two children simultaneously would never had been easy for her or for any body else.

I enrolled myself into Chartered Accountancy, couldn’t complete it after repeated attempts by small margins but she stood by me and encouraged me to pursue my dream. During my examinations she used to stay awake all night despite taking her medicines which made her feel very sleepy. I used to cry my heart out on every failure but she always told me one thing ” There is nothing like LAST OPPORTUNITY, Opportunity is always SECOND LAST”. The spirit and hope in her never died and this got me going.

Today I have achieved success and made a place for myself and have a beautiful daughter myself. I now realise the amount my Mom selflessly sacrificed for me. Presently she is still under medication but the spirit is still alive…the concern still exists.

I salute u Maa, for making me the person I am today, for imbibing in me all the morals and qualities of a good human being , for  always existing within me like a blessing and guiding me through thick and thin.

It is said ” God couldn’t be everywhere, so he created mothers”. Thankyou God for creating mothers. Three Cheers to you Mom. and a very Happy Birthday.

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By Preeti Harkare

My mom is a banker and my parents had shifted from Bhopal to Indore because of a transfer for three years. Her birthday is also in May and she was feeling a little homesick as both my sister and I live and work in Mumbai.

In a spur of moment, we decided to give her a surprise and all three of us – me, my husband and sister booked our tickets to Indore and took an early morning flight to Indore on her birthday. We called her from just outside the door reconfirming if she had not left for office (we told her we have booked her a mothers day and a birthday combined gift and it will be delivered in half hour). We rang the bell and when she opened the door, she was shocked and absolutely thrilled to see us at the doorstep! No need to say, she took an off for 2 days from office and we had loads of fun and special moments during our stay.

We hope she had her best mothers day and birthday ever and we had an absolutely fun filled week with parents, especially as a treat to mom as well as everyone else!

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By Prathiphipati Johnson Rani

My mum is God’s gift to me. She just studied till 7th standard but I learned so much from her.

When I was studying  in 7th there was a big cyclone in our town and I had to go back to school. My father refused to send me because of no money and the cyclone impact. I began crying that I wanted to go to school. Mo mother called one of our neighbours and sold two brass utensils for Rs. 10 and she gave me that money to go to school.

Because of her I am able to continue my studies. This is a very small example but she is wonderful and also very strict, while being a good guide, honest and trust worthy and God fearing. I am now a Head Nurse and I supported her to bring up my siblings.  She has showered us with unconditional love.

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By Pritika Tripathy

It is easy to take your mother for granted. She smothers you with affection, often publicly. Cannot stop telling you what you are doing wrong no matter what age you get to. Is paranoid about … well everything! I spent a good part of my teens getting quite angry with my mother, wondering why she was so strict. I wasn’t allowed to go to movies or parties with classmates. Sleepovers and school trips were an absolute no-no. My friends would often boast about how cool and “broadminded” their mothers were compared to mine. For a while I believed them. Doors were banged quite frequently, but it was silence that loomed large. How easy it was then to get angry and wonder how unreasonable she was for trying to protect me. Now I think of the alternative and I’m just plain grateful.

When I got married, there was a newfound respect for her for not only doing a good job, but doing it so effortlessly and gracefully. I once asked my mother-in-law why women were discriminated against and were not allowed to perform some of the Vedic rituals and she said: “A woman does not need a fire in front of her to sacrifice something. Making a sacrifice for a higher cause is a way of life for her.” Perhaps a woman is not a man’s equal after all. For she has the generosity of heart and spirit to put him first. She prefers to stay behind her loved ones … watching their every step … making sure they don’t lose the way.

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By Suchita Saigal

It’s an interesting thought you see,

What would I write as ‘my mom story’?

I could write about our rendezvous in Rome or how we have chai and chill at home.

So I write about this trip to Kodaikanal, where we decided to take a walk in the park to see the Kurinji flowers.

It was getting late and we were trying to make haste,

but the clock had struck 8 and they had locked the park gates.

Mom decided to take matters in her hand and wave her magic wand.

So we were to climb the high wrought iron gates and try and make a great escape.

In the middle of it all we stopped to pluck some Kurinji flowers.

After all, scaling walls was fine if it was done with some feminine panache.

This is for the woman who has taught me to scale walls and that, as a woman, one can do it all.

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By Tania Bhattacharya

It is funny how I don’t have any mom story. There is hardly any memory that I can single out and share, although I can do that for almost everyone else. ‘Is this even normal?’ I ask myself. Apparently, it is not. I have always shared a nice and healthy relationship with my mom. It might not have been ‘perfect’ or we might not have been the best friends, but it had always been fulfilling. I had my own ‘I know better than you’ phases but I guess that is part of growing up. So how is it possible that no ‘special’ memory of my mom surfaces even after these 32 years of knowing her?

And then I realize.

Throughout my life, whenever I needed her and even when I did not my mom was always there. Staying up late with me when I was preparing for exams, getting up before I did to cook me food, and even flying across almost 8,000 miles to help me with my newborn baby. The more I think about it the more I realize that in order to make memories perhaps a bit of ‘unavailability’ is necessary. And my mom had made all of her time and her life available to me. That ‘unavailable’ distance of time and space that memories need to grow had never been there. She had so completely blended herself into my life!

After almost 32 years I cannot say ‘I remember about that day when…’. Just as I don’t remember getting up today… because it was no different than yesterday or the day before and would be the same tomorrow.

Should I thank her? I don’t know. But what I do know is that I love and respect her more than ever before. And I hope I can do for my daughter what she has done for me silently all her life. After all, ‘always being there’ is much tougher than it sounds.

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By Upasree Nair

This is a journey of a Daughter in Law and Mother-in-law. I am from Mumbai, presently residing in Dubai. I am from Trichy (Tamil Nadu), a Malayali married to Anil Nair from Mumbai. Our families knew each other for 2 generations.

Anil’s family were going through a very hard time in their life after losing his only sister at the age of 30 due to skin cancer in 1996. The whole family was shaken. During that time our proposal came through my uncle. The families gave a thought to it and Anil’s father was very keen since my family is very large and he felt this son would have lot of people around even after they were gone.

At the time I was working in Ernakulam. Finally they decided to come and see me in Mangalore at my Uncle’s place. So my parents travelled from Trichy and I traveled from Ernakulam to Mangalore. On the day of Anil’s travel from Mumbai to Mangalore, his mother fell sick and the doctor advised her not to travel. To keep up their word, Anil’s Dad said we have to go and finally the father and the son came to visit us. The usual followed and our marriage was fixed on June 20th 1996. Next day our engagement took place in Krishna temple without the presence of Anil’s Mom. She gave me the blessing on the telephone. She had said my son liked the girl and he is the one who is going to stay with her.

The Wedding was fixed  for Feb 1997. During the intervening months, my Mother-in-law and I build a good rapport. We used to write letters to each other and during the six months I connected to her very well, getting to know their lifestyle, friends etc. I started to become one among their family even before marriage. (I have preserved all her letters).

3 days before the wedding, she came to Trivandrum to see me. That was our first meeting in person. The wedding took place and 3 days after that I, my husband and my in laws were travelling to Mumbai when my father-in-law fell sick during the journey. We had to break the journey and when we got off the station we were informed of a curfew because of Hindu Muslim Riot. The Ambulance was right in front of the station by there was no doctor. We had to make my Father in law lay down on the bench. The Station master was very accommodating.  She had managed to call the doctor but when my Father-in-law passed away 5 minutes before that.  We were shattered!

Since we had crossed into another state the doctor said it would be difficult to take the body back to Trivandrum. So finally we took him to Trichy, my hometown and we cremated him there. My Mother in Law was devastated and the doctors had to tranquilize her.

My maternal uncle told me that I needed to resign from my job to take care of my family. I said yes and my career stopped there. We went back to Mumbai and I began to take care of my new family. My husband was very busy in building his career and often came home very late.

Many people in our area thought that I am my mother-in-law’s daughter and my husband is a ghar-jamai. She used to fall sick frequently and the doctors diagnosed it as the result of depression. They suggested a change of scene.  My husband and I decided to start a family. I got pregnant in June 1997 and till Dec 31st I was in Mumbai. My mother-in-law took very good care of me. She never allowed me to do any thing.

Our Beautiful daughter was born on 31st march 1998. Life had changed. Things started to look up and her sickness started to reduce. My mother-in-law and I used to have some ups and downs but we made up within minutes. Once my mother told me that I loved my mother-in-law more than her!

Our journey of 10yrs was fantastic. On my birthdays she used to give my surprise gifts.Whenever there was a tiff between me and my husband she used to support me. She was a fantastic grandmother. She used to get my daughter ready for school.

But a big shock was waiting for us.

During the end of march 2006 my mother-in-law fell sick. She started to get vomiting and complaining of stomach pain. She was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer and we were told she would survive only for 5 months. We felt like the whole world is crumbling on us.

She was put on chemotherapy, which took place for 20 day. I used to stay with her in the hospital. My parents came to Mumbai to take care of our daughter. After each therapy when she came home she was very week. She used to throw up etc. One day when she threw up and I was cleaning she told me that SHE LOVES ME MORE THAN HER DAUGHTER & SHE WOULD BE THERE FOR ME ANY POINT OF TIME IN MY LIFE even after her death.

That’s the biggest blessing I got.

July 22nd was the last birthday she celebrated. On 24th july she underwent major surgery for nine hours.  She was on ventilator in ICU. Then on 27th again she underwent 2nd surgery for 7 hrs due to internal bleeding and her whole pancreas, spleen everything was removed. Her condition started to deteriorate. Her body started to bloat up and on 7th Aug again the 3rd surgery was done to remove water from the body. On 13th Aug morning the doctor told us that she will survive only till 14th evening. She started to sink. During these days my husband and I were in the hospital day and night. On 14th afternoon the doctor called us to the ICU and told us she is sinking and within an hours time she will die. We were next to her and we could see her pulse going down.

The pulse totally stopped and that moment I screamed ‘Mummy’ and immediately the pulse just went up for few seconds and then stopped. When I narrate this many people would think these things don’t happen. But I have experienced it.

It is now the 8th year since she is not with us. We moved to Dubai after her death. I had into depression for almost a year and doctors suggested a change of scene.

Even now in my dreams she comes with happy notes. Whenever I am in a dilemma or confused state or in a sad state, she guides me. Her blessings are always there for me and my family.

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