My Mother

 

My Mother

 

In the lazy afternoon I was sleeping on her cot while a frail hand was touching my face – my mother is watching me sleeping. Don't know how long she was there but in her presence I slept again and when I got up it was well past 5 PM. All through this time she was sitting there fanning my head with a magazine so that I don't feel the sweltering heat of Kolkata when there was a scheduled power cut for a brief period.

 

She is my mother – She knows my character ins and out while I hardly know how much unfathomable capacity she holds for making sacrifice for us – her four children.

 

Due to persistent requests from her grand children one day she opens her trunk and in it she takes out her prized possessions.

 

Benarasi sari on her wedding day, our old dresses , sweaters , fathers coat , shawl from Kashmir which was bought by her cousin sister and many more. Each items she was taking out and describing to her grand children one by one. I was listening silently sitting behind.

 

Every item I know is wrapped up with her love and affection. Great sacrifice has been attached with every item there. My small pink sweater was knitted by her hands when one winter day I complained that my sweater has become very small , it no longer covers my body besides my friends tease me for it.

 

Since buying a new sweater costs too much money so she took away my sweater and gave me her only shawl she was wearing. She opened the knitting add more wool to it and then knitted a new sweater in couple of days. My friend envied me for that new sweater.

 

She wore the Benarasi sari on her wedding day. After that she never wore it again but it remains there to remind her the best day of life – her marriage day.

 

The coat of my father is a mystery to us all. We never saw him wearing it even mom too cannot recall when did he wear it.

 

The other day she was giving a cooking lesson to my daughter and niece. She was telling them that cooking is not just a job it's an art of transformation of vegetables into great dishes. The way one thinks it in his head the food takes that shape. Since then my daughter & niece have decided to become a great cook and open a restaurant.

 

When I got admission in engineering college I did not know where form my education expenditures would come but mom had infinite will power. She told me to focus only on my study rest would all be arranged.

 

“Uncle you were very poor then ?”, my niece asked.

 

“No not at all we were poor ! except money we had every thing – great hopes , high aspirations , indomitable spirit of trying hard for achieving one's dreams besides a great inspiring leader like mom “ , I answered.

 

Though father had a decent job but because of severe asthma problem he could not bring home enough money to take care of ends meet. Therefore, she took up jobs in stitching & cooking to facilitate additional money required for our educations. Every time I looked up at her tired and overworked face I felt a guilty for putting her in so much pain but she was always cheerful.

 

Smiling she would say ,'Don't worry, tough time always passes by only tough people remains '.

 

I know that to the core of my heart. Our tough time passed like a dream and today when I look back I find it was not a tough time – it was the time when we had the most amazing growth of our character. We had very few things then but it built our character in every possible way. It was because of so many hardship we are what we are today.

  

All her kids have grown up and successfully settled all across this country. Today we want to give her every comfort under the sun but she demands more , she says , 'OK then come home , give me your time and that's what I want from my loving kids'.

 

Like a level 5 leader she never cared for self, In tough time she inspired the whole family to stay in course and never ever allowed us to accept defeat as the last option. Every time we failed in any endeavor she inspired us to bounce back with more energy and output. Her persistent guidance & encouragement helped all her kids to shine in life. I wonder being an uneducated woman herself she achieved all those amazing feats of management ! 

 

Leadership is not something fancy or possessing a corner office. Leadership is loving people, putting people first, inspiring them to reach for higher goals while keeping faith in oneself  and never ever loose hope in the midst of any difficulty. She never went to any management school for learning all these  things yet  she executed all of them flawlessly. Her leadership was empirical and practical.

 

She is my sweet loving mother.