Because Mamma Knows Best

I haven't been home for either my mother's birthday or celebrating mother's day for close to 5 years now. I send her gifts and letters, and have long telephonic conversations, but it doesn't really match up to the experience of waking your mom up for a surprise birthday breakfast, or spending days on planning a perfect Mother's day for her, full of things she enjoys.

And as the Jessie J song "Mamma Knows Best", which doesn't say much about mom, but sure is helping me with the writing process today, blares in my earphones, I sit down to write about the most incredible woman in my life- My Mother.

Yet another Mother's Day passed by, and I am some 1200 kms away from home, working on my thesis. 

Mom and Me in Ladakh, the summer of '05

I had the luxury of a stay-at-home mother, and so, all throughout my childhood, she was an integral part of my non-school hours. And for reasons I still quite haven't been able to figure out, she always knew when something was wrong after I returned from school each day. Be it anything, from scoring low in a test to having a fight with a friend, she would always know that something was up even before I had taken off my shoes and socks. 

Initially I used to be very fascinated by her "abilities" but as I started growing up, and reached my teens, it started becoming a bother. You don't want your mom to figure out everything, right? And I started overlooking her advice, and sometimes downright disobeying her during my teenage rebellion years and would always invariably find out the best course of action would have been to listen to her.

I remember asking her once, with awe, how exactly does she figure out that I am worried or pissed, and she told me with a straight face that mom's have a third eye, that tell me what is wrong with their kids. It's invisible, but that doesn't mean you should discard it. I was about 11 years old, too old to believe in such silly things, but her statement remained with me.

I have so many little beautiful memories with her that it is hard to describe them. 

Starting from running with my tricycle till I could balance myself, to making mock question papers before exams to taking me for music classes and cooking lip smacking dishes whenever I asked for them, now that I am grown up enough, I realize what a warm home I had. 

Right after leaving home, I realized I should have appreciated her more. And over these few years, the distance, and maybe even a bit of maturity has led me to realize that moms really are the in-house experts of everything that actually matters.

She might not know anything about economics (my subject) but she has enough valuable life lessons to impart. She has taught me everything from patience and perseverance to cooking the perfect plate of chilly chicken. She has taught me how to let go of things and people that hurt too much, and move on in life. 

You can't really express true emotions with words. But I am still going to try and say that I am who I am because of my parents. And my mother is the epitome of beauty, grace and compassion. She held my hands when I needed support the most, and let go when it was time to grow wings and fly. But no matter where I go, I will always return to the nest, to my mother. Because at the end of the day, she is the one with the unbiased advice, and hard hitting truths.

This post is written for the Godrej Expert #MYFIRSTEXPERT event. Check out the following link to know more about it.
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