Thats My Mom!!

May 10th has come and its Mom's birthday..its a long time since I want to write about amma.. talking about amma and talking with amma is definitely a great feeling.. 

Photo Courtesy: Rajkumar

I was  staying away from home starting 2005 and even today after six years whenever I call home she starts the conversation with one standard sentence "I was thinking of you and you called me". Irrespective of the time she will tell the same because all through the day she will think of me.. when I got my first promotion and told her about it she tells me "If you tell these kind of news I would like to live some more years".. At that time she was just recovering from some blood clots in her brain.. She was not just a mother but more of a moral support who taught me a lot of things.. thats my mom!!

one thing that stands out in my mother is her commitment to the family's cause.. she is definitely the strongest pillar of my family. Whatever my family does she is the one who takes maximum burden. The rest of us enjoy the fruits of her acts. When our house was being built, she was going to-and-fro from rented house to construction site four times a day. she had to take care of three school going kids and also supervise the construction. Though she didnt study anything related to civil engineering, she prepared our house design. Isnt it an achievement for an intermediate educated person to design a house and that too better than govt. engineer?? Like any other middle class people our house construction also stopped because of financial problems and my mom rose to the occasion by keeping her only gold chain in the bank. At that time the only gold thing she had is the sacred thread for a Hindu woman.. thats my mom!!

Knowingly and unknowingly I have learned a lot of things from amma but the most important thing of them is the understanding of self respect. We were a very ordinary lower middle class family but all three of us had the courage to face anything/anyone. she always ensured that nothing related to money would get down our morale. I still remember how easily my elder sister had conversed with the then collector of our district. our neighbors were surprised that a young girl like her was talking to the district collector without any hesitation. My mom was very particular that we should not be afraid of anyone. That is one of the reasons why she made both of my sisters to have high education. For two reasons, it was never easy. One we cant afford and two we are orthodox. Today, in my family one is a lawyer, one is a doctor and the last is an engineer. By clearing law, my elder sister made my mom's dream a reality. Many of my relatives criticized girls going to private schools with high fee but my mom was replied "If needed I will eat only once a day but my kids should have good education". Thats my mom!!

My grand mother (ammamma) is born in quasi royal family (she used to wear 7kgs of gold which is INR 3Crs today) and my mom was the apple of my grand father's eye. But after his demise her life changed a lot. Life has taught her all the lessons in a harsh way. But she had never let any of her problems lower her self confidence. she always believed that education with proper values can make the kids into successful and responsible people. Its a great feeling to be associated with someone as strong as my mother. Around 15 years back, a relation had come to my cousin and the other side had come to our house to see the girl (my cousin). someone in the party asked my cousin to sit on the floor while the guy sits on chair. My mom had immediately responded "No matter what, My daughter will sit on the chair!!".. 

Ladies and gentlemen, in a nutshell, THATS MY MOM!!

Amma, Love you so much!!

Sarvejana Sukhinobhavantu!

-Karthik