THE 'MOTHER' OF ALL EXPERTS...OUR MOMMIES OF COURSE!

Words alone cannot describe that immaculate and formidable bond a mother shares with her child. Right from the moment when she feels those gentle tugs in her womb to the time we are born. Right from that one defining moment of her life when she hears her babe speak those incoherent babbles that she understands as mother and smiles with joy at our gurgles of laughter to the time we take those first flight of steps into the world...our life literally twirls around her finger.And on our every little achievement,our mother's rejoice as she rewards us with surprises and bestows her unconditional love,kisses and affection even as her dreams,hopes and aspirations take a backseat and her life now comes to be centered around us.

During our formative years,she dons the hat of a teacher when she takes our studies,helps us do our homework and shares many anecdotes from her life that lay the foundation to our future.In our years as a teenager,she graduates to becoming our best friend,someone in whom we begin to confide into on the pangs of adolescence (especially with all the changes that our body undergoes and those zits that pop up on our faces which send us into hiding! But she teaches us face them and look into the mirror as she gives us magical remedies to fight them too).And as we grow older when we reflect back on the years gone by and become parents ourselves,we come to admire her for her versatility and realize that she had one arduous task in her lifetime for besides being a mother she was also our best friend, guide,guardian,teacher,tutor,expert etc. - all rolled into one! And then we take on that mantle from her as we endeavor to replicate her teachings in our children.

There are innumerable such moments that I can recount from different phases of my life when my mother came to my rescue and here are two such instances that I most fondly recall...

I vividly remember this instance from my school days when I was in my third or fourth standard and our teachers had introduced the class to fountain pens as a part of our daily writing exercise. And for starters it began on a rough note.Why?It's because I had a very bad handwriting back then.My teacher's couldn't comprehend what I wrote(scribbled would be the right word for it) because I wrote less and spilled more ink around.It was not easy for a parent to see some of those daily remarks on my notebooks by my teachers which read as-"Bad handwriting, needs to work harder", "Spills more and writes less", "Please meet me on Friday" etc. These were just few of the many that I distinctly remember.

The day finally arrived when my mom met my class teacher who gave her an early report card of my overall progress in class which was not up to the mark primarily because of my bad handwriting that clouded my performance.I could sense her displeasure about me but she didn't make it evident.Instead,that evening when we walked home from school together she was calm and her usual cheerful self though upon returning home I was prepared for a sound scolding. 

But to my surprise I had a gift awaiting me instead! I unwrapped it to find several practice books on cursive writing and a fountain pen with a note saying,"We shall overcome!"(that was and is my favorite song by Martin Luther King Jr. to this day,not surprising mommy picked that line for the note!) 

So,that was my mother's way of dealing with the challenge at hand which was to overcome this shortcoming of bad handwriting without losing her calm and patience.Everyday after two hours of regular studies,she made it a point to put in an extra hour with me as she held my hand gently and made me practice my alphabets,words and sentences in those cursive writing handbooks she had presented me.This went on for months together and not surprising that at the end of it with the 'expert' by my side guiding me all along,those remarks stopped coming altogether and my class teacher made it a point to acknowledge this positive change to my parents during our open day meeting. Naturally, my mom was so proud of me and I of her!

Yet another incident I recall was when my teachers were taking down student's names for the annual day cultural events function and at that moment I don't know what flashed across my mind when I put my hand up for the segment where students were suppose to dress in the get up of a Maharashtrian i.e. in a nine yard sari to represent the state of Maharashtra! Imagine,I must have been just 8-9 years old back then when once again I put my mom in a quandary.Where on earth was she suppose to source this costume for me?Especially in a time when you had to search for things by actually going from shop to shop rather than the comfort the digital age provides us today where we google all our requirements and find shops at the click of a button.But my mom,the sport that she is didn't complain even back then. Instead she was very happy at my participation in the event as she promptly went out that afternoon to shop in the rains (yup, it was the monsoon season!) and purchased a nine yards sari for me that is my prized collection even to this date.It is a beautiful memory that I will always cherish when mommy dearest saved the day which in the future I hope to pass on as a heirloom to my child.

And even to this day,I rely on my mom's encyclopedic knowledge for anything and everything under the sun instead of some quick-fix contradicting solutions which the internet time provides 99.9 percent of the time. When I have the expert at home sitting right besides me then whether it's health,wellness,fitness,fashion (Oh and by the way my mom has a wonderful fashion sense) etc. to seeking advise on relationships,sharing some girl talk or safeguarding my secrets... my mom is effortlessly a multi-faceted multi-dimensional multi-tasker!  

However,all said and done,there are many a times when we do have our share of differences, we don't see eye-to-eye on certain issues and our views and choices are diametrically the opposite of one another. But at the end of the day,I turn back to her for that warm hug as I sheepishly apologize when I realize that she was indeed right on matters where I failed to understand her perception to adjudge the gravity of a given situation.

All in all,it is these constant interactions and discussions that enriches us and strengthens the fiber of our relationship.I have come to believe that God somehow willed it to be that way when he made mothers. A a mother-child bond was meant to be extra special because He built it on a firm foundation based on unconditional and unselfish love...that which lasts a lifetime and beyond!

Happy Mother's Day Dearest Mommy! 

Thank you very much for everything!

With lots of love and heartfelt gratitude,

Sonaal

This post was written for the '#MyFirstExpert' contest at Indiblogger in association with Godrej Rich Crème Color Expert

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