I clearly remember, once few guests visited us and none of my parents were home. Me & my brother, both in our early teens, got some soft drinks from our nukkad shop for the guests without paying any money with a promise of paying them as soon as our parents get home. When mom came back home, we requested her to give us money to pay back the shopkeeper but she refused and got angry. Clearly, she wasn’t happy with our actions and lesson learned that day was, cut your dress according to your cloth.
She was not perfect but she was my MOM. My mother was a dynamic personality who taught me so much without literally teaching anything. She breathed her last a few days ago. I never thought that her passing would be so painful for me. I adore her for who she was and believe that she’s in a better place now. She always loved and pampered the child in her. She was the best dressed lady I have ever met. During my childhood and adolescent years, I have always seen her dressed in starched sarees that made her stand out. A doctor by profession, she helped so many people recover from sickness. It was a privileged life for my family because of her presence. In our town, we were known by her name and I always felt so proud of that. She had a giving nature and prosperity flew through her. She was always thinking of what to give, and to whom even till her last days.
She was always full of joy and loved travelling. She was a busy person which was a pretty good distraction for her from day-to-day issues. She loved her clinic and wanted to spend few hours there every day. The clinic was not only for patients but also for friends and family who wanted to stop by and catch up with her. Covid didn’t kill her but the reclusive lifestyle that she was forced to live, did make her feel uncertain and helpless and I personally feel, that it was the tipping point.
She had her flaws because she was a human but she embraced them with pride. She was healthy and fit for eight decades of her life. I have rarely seen her sick. I believe she created health by accepting herself, practicing self-love and treating the illness but not spending unnecessary time in talking, reading and thinking about it.
I wish I could have told her how much she means to me, even though she was beyond all this. I understand, when our loved ones leave us, we overwhelm ourselves generally with guilt and regrets. And this has nothing to do with the departed soul. It is always about those who are left behind. Since she left, I have been working on myself and trying to create an image of her in my brain, the way I would like to remember her for rest of my life and I’ve done that successfully. I feel her as an immense love surrounding me and my siblings and this is a real feeling.
My life learnings from her-
Love and pamper yourself.
Believe in your own abilities.
Do not let someone else’s beliefs alter your personality.
Do what you love.
Have a practical and bright outlook towards life.
Treat everyone with a cool smile.
A family doesn’t need to be perfect- It just needs to be united.