Dear B,
Nah don’t turn around to look for Ma, it’s not her although in all your later years too she’ll be the only one to call you by this name. As I see you – myself at the age of six, watching the star dotted sky with your tear stained face, I can’t help but tell you all these things when I hear you mutter at Ma – that when you grow up you shall not become a mother like her!
Today B, as I contemplate on bestowing on myself the motherhood tag, I somewhere know that if not exactly then definitely I want to be a mother like her in ways more than one.
Appreciate her when she tells you that you are not to come home crying and that you are to fight your own battles at school yourself. It’s not that she doesn’t want to help you but just that she exactly knows how important it is to make you strong to tackle your own problems.
Listen to her carefully when she refuses to switch on the idiot box and tags you to the library, for in your youth you shall be starting your speech/book with a couplet from the holy Gita, which she introduced you to.
Never accuse her for taking sides, when she refuses to come to your rescue during a sibling fight, for today like me you would be glad that she let you fight and come closer.
Don’t crinkle your nose when she explains to you the importance of learning to cook, for when you are the only one in the hostel who can make her boyfriend the perfect rum cake out of an old pressure cooker, you’ll feel like calling her at midnight and kissing her feet when the entire boys hostel terms your boyfriend as the ‘luckiest guy’.
When she leaves you alone to go for a vacation with Dad don’t hate her, for a few years down the line, you would appreciate her for imparting to you the knowledge of ‘living for oneself’ a few days in a year!
Look at her face when she helps you make cards for Baba, understand that she loves cards and secretly wishes you to make them for her. And yes, don’t be surprised if decades later you find neatly a box in her wardrobe storing all the stupid cards you made for her !
Understand her feelings when she keeps aside an item of her choice at the time of billing owing to financial constraints. For years later though that item might not be even worth gifting her, but still would prove to be the perfect birthday gift.
B, a decade down the line you would be introduced to a thing called a computer and internet. Remember your mother might be then in the fourth decade of her life. Encourage her, don’t laugh at her mistakes, for another decade later when she’s one of the few mothers who blogs, you would be proud of yourself too!
Always remember that she is also a human who cannot be right all the time. But then again make sure you point out her wrongs to her, the way she did when she explained to you where you went wrong in your first relationship, taking care not to stress too hard where it hurts.
Don’t leave her alone during her dark days, no matter how much she craves to be alone, she needs you. Talk to her about her achievements then, show how much connected she is to your own success – there’s no better solace than raising a good kid for any mother.
Always keep aside your ego when she points out your so called follies, even if you don’t agree with her. For years later when you lie alone wondering where you went wrong, you shall be talking to yourself in your mother’s tone in the head explaining yourself how to come out of the mess.
So go for twenty years down the line you shall not be in the same house to hug her and let her know what a perfect mother she has been and that you actually want to be a mother like her!
Love
Mirror
Happy Mother’s Day Ma – I wish I could present you with the canvas (from Pringoo) to let you know how you have filled my life with colours and shades that make me so proud!
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This is a letter from my heart to my childhood self to unravel the mystery of motherhood my mother has explained to me through unsaid words – i also submit it for the BlogAdda Mother’s Day Contest
And here’s my widget:
as i go through the various entries participating in the Mother's Day contest, i feel surprised that mothers have so much things common in them… I have really started to wonder what makes the women so similar as mothers!Btw this is my first comment on ur blog and i loved the post…
Sagarika,Wonderful letter to B. So many things touched a chord inside. I would have loved to send this to my daughter…..The very best for the Mothers day Contest….
@Savvy: welcome to my space and thanks! Yes, it's true … I wonder that myself too and think that will be able to unravel the mystery when I become a mother.. good or bad ;p@Ugich: Thanks
… that coming from a super blogger like you truely made my day! … I wish if B(that's what my mom started to call me at 3 years) knew what Ma was all about, my Ma would have had a less tiresome journey ;p …. Thank you so much for the wishes and All the Best to you too!
just a suggestion..make the page background lighter..it's less stressful to eyes then
and yes..good luck for the contest
it's a nice nice lovely letter…
@Nu; Thanks for the wishes and the suggestion …. I was myself thinking of changing to a better background, but am a bit techonlogically challenged… but guess someone will have to sit the entire weekend and do the job, now that I got support from you ;p … thanks for dropping by
okay..no probs..tell me what kind of help you need..my pleasure
have you noticed the new template designer that blogger is provided ? it's easy to use and you can frequently change the template with ease..for that you need to log into http://draft.blogger.com/ once you do this let me know if you need any guidance 
@Nu: THANKS … you don't know what trouble u've taken on yourself ;p .. but am glad you did this! … Wait.. i'll try and decode what you just said and get back to you ;p … kindly bear with the challenged kid
)
oh not an issue at all
My pleasure…I've helped my other frens too and hence I'm used too 
@Nu: Thanks! That's so sweet of you
poignant and partaking letter…PS : The font colour is bit painful to the eyes…
@Mahesh:Hey welcome to my space and yes thanks for thoise kind words
). P.S: As for the font… have taken note of that and shall work on it over the weekend. 
… Thanks again and do keep coming.
Such an *awww* post
Best wishes for the contest!
@Piyu: Hey.. welcome to my blog…. gald you stopped by
.. and yes thank you for liking the letter… it's a special one *smug look*
Thats wonderfully written. Congrats to you, on getting special mention.
@UmaS: Thank you so much! Mom loved this letter too and now this special mention… I am elated!
Hi Can I make a small request if its not a bother? read a few lines of your post, loved em but unable to read more because of the color of the font. Could you change the color so that its easier to read?Would love to read more.:)
@Indyeah: I know … many have pointed out and I have sought time from all of them till the weekend. You see am away to work on a secured network from where I access my blog through proxy and at other times PDA.. so can’t play with the settings
… will do it tonight for sure… till then please bear and yes hope you’ll come back tomorrow… thanks for dropping by 
Thanks for the change.:)Back and loved reading the post.ALmost everything has touched a chord inside.My mom is the same as the one so lovingly addressed in this letter.Don’t crinkle your nose when she explains to you the importance of learning to cook haha This is me and ma to a T
Letting me fight my own battles…not taking sides in a sibling fight, making me go to the library…(I was a chipkoo there all on my own) she had to drag me out:Dall of this is my ma too:)Having gone through the various stages of loving her, 'hating ' her with my childish heart for things she wouldn't let me do:)now I just hope that I am a good mother to my kids too in the future.That I can be a friend to them just as ma is to me.Loved this letter:)I can see why it got accolades:)
@Indyeah: Thank you so much for coming back to read my letter to B! Am glad you could connect with my feelings. Yes even I have gone through all those phases only to realise that all those times I've said that "i don't want to be a mother like you", someone somewhere was secretly keeping an alternate count. Guess the latter count beat the former by such a large margin that now I only hope that I can be a mother like her and in your words – "That I can be a friend to them just as ma is to me". Thanks again!
I am going to plagiarize this for Ma's birthday this year
You made me cry on this sunny Saturday morning and surprisingly I love you for it 
@Tamanna: Sure.. be my guest.. but one condition.. u have to pass on a bday hug from my side also to her
… Crying is good if it is for someone who despite being far is with you for real 
.. and yes thanks 
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