“I think it goes like this: when you really live your truth with dedication, compassion and zest, at some point, tender moments create ever-lasting imprints.
Growing up, we formed a three-member unit very early in life: my mom, my sister and me. I do not know when, did it hit her as an epiphany? Or was it an insidious truth that she has seen all along? My mom became a single-mother. Correction. My mom became a single- parent.
Maybe I was distracted by the Magic-Pops at Ambica’s, visit to Spencers Plaza every summer, Schezwan Rice for me and my school-friends at least once a week, new dresses for every festival etc. I did not think another parent being present could have brought more happiness.
I did not realise my mom took on a role she didn’t see coming and worked thrice as hard. Thats how she made her humongous efforts seem effortless.
Ofcourse I have had a file of things that could have gone smoother in the turbulent times. Now, as I enter the threshold of my late twenties, I find my complaints, valid as they are, I find them short-changed. Here was a person who had in many ways, just held on to herself for support. She ensured all PTAs were attended to while maintaining an illustrious career at the Southern Railways as a lawyer for over 25 years.
When I was 20, I thought she was a selfish lady- it makes sense to give birth to a kick-ass kid in 1991. What was the thought in making another beautiful one five years later?
And then at 25, I saw it. Amidst all her trials, she has always found herself being able to share more love than a normal human being can. Only an unselfish kind of love could have pulled her, pulled her through for over 28 years to her comfortable ‘retirement’ chair on which she solves her Crossword and reads Wodehouse.
This March, she pulled off a grand event- my sister’s wedding all on her own. At the ‘Getti Melam’ moment, she challenged all the notions of patriarchy- my sister sat on her lap and she gave my sister away in marriage. This was the icing on the cake.”