HELLO JI!
A WORD (OR TWO HUNDRED) FROM THE EDITOR
Image credit: CHIRAG NAYAK on Unsplash.
There’s an old Hindi film song that used to play often on the radio when I was growing up, Ae maa teri soorat se alag Bhagwan ki soorat kya hogi? Translated, and in brief, it means that a mother is an image of god. I remember talking to my sons about this song many years ago, in one of our “teach them desi values and traditions” sessions. There are so many other songs extolling the virtues of saintly mothers and Amy Skye’s On a September afternoon never fails to tear me up, but for some reason, this was the song I picked that day.
Our older son Tejas looked at his younger brother Tapas and grinned.
“Mom, you’d faint if we began singing songs in your praise!” he pointed out. “Butting heads with you is more our style.”
Which was true enough. But of late, I’ve been thinking of how we celebrate mothers in different cultures.
There’s a beautiful story about how once Shiva and Parvati offered the miraculous fruit of knowledge to their sons Kartikeya and Ganesha – but only one of them would get the sacred fruit. To decide who deserved it more, Shiva asked them to circumnavigate the world thrice. The one who finished first would be blessed with the fruit. The elder son, Kartikeya, eager to win the race, left on his peacock, while Ganesha wondered how he was ever going to be victorious riding his rat. After circling the earth thrice, Kartikeya returned to find Ganesha already home. Instead of the earth, he had circled around Shiva and Parvati – his world. He was blessed with the fruit of knowledge, and came to be known as the Lord of Knowledge.
Then there’s the saying, Maa ke paeron tale jannat hai, which means one can find heaven at the feet of one’s mother.
As a teenager, I argued with my mother over small and silly things, too, but I was blessed to be raised in a loving, caring home, one in which life lessons were conveyed by example rather than force-fed as lectures.
And so as a parent, I dropped the lectures (or claim I did, my sons might hold a different opinion) and emulated my parents as best as I could. I was never going to able to inspire them to sing for me, anyway.
On Mother’s Day each year, I am “surprised” by gifts of plants and books. These past two years they were dropped off on the porch and I opened them later as we get together on Zoom. It was hard not being able to hug them in person but I was grateful for everyone’s continued good health and this was a small price to pay for it.
This year, we get to celebrate together, in person (fingers crossed). Now that’s something to sing about!
Oh, and in case anyone’s wondering, our sons and I still butt heads, though less frequently now.
“Just to keep you sharp!” says Tejas.
Eid mubarak!
Happy Mother’s Day!
Happy South Asian Heritage Month!
Shagorika Easwar