It seems unfair to celebrate Mother’s Day on just a single day. In my opinion, mothers should be celebrated all year long. On the occasion of this Mother’s Day, here is the story of how my mother broke certain norms.
My mother was raised in a family of four brothers and two elder sisters. She was the only one to have landed a government job at the age of 24. Her love for reading led her to the unexplored areas of language and literature. She met the love of her life in the corridors of Delhi College.
By the time she got engaged, her first book was being published. Her fiance took the copy home and proudly showed it to his mother. He was unemployed. The fact that his fiancée had a stable job but he didn’t bothered the society. After avoiding the question of marriage a few times for the same reason, it finally happened.
Little had she known that she would be running the house for the next few months. She became the target of contempt for her orthodox relatives. She enrolled herself under an M.Phil program while she taught in school, did chores all day and studied under the fading candle which lit a room too small.
They called her and her husband names. They shamed the man. But my mother and her husband didn’t care. Finally, when he got a job, their lives picked up pace. And by the time she reached her final year of PhD, she had gone through one miscarriage, had a healthy girl and one boy was on the way.
As their world grew, the room shrank in size. They knew they had to move out. The thought of it made her mother-in-law sick, as she claimed that her son was being stolen away.
But she had to build a home for her kids. To build a life where her daughter wouldn’t have to make the same sacrifices that she had to make. She had to build a home where her son would not be taught patriarchy. She picked up her kids in her arms and stepped outside the house first.
She did it first, all of it. She published her father’s dying poetry. She taught her daughter to be herself and dream big. She taught her son the chores that she taught her daughter. She taught them to be humble and kind. She inspired them to never give up even when you are being bullied.
She did it first. She did it all. She is a hero for her kids and her husband, the backbone of their house. A true wonder woman.