My Sis : Through My Eyes (7)
Chapter – 7 (The Mother’s Love)
This morning I’s going through a story put up on our English Literary Board. The story is about an ailing mother left with the last few hours of her life in an Old Age Home. The son paid a visit FINALLY! Mother surprised him by asking for a few things for the Home like fans, a freezer and so on.
“Why now when you have just a few hours left?”
“So that when it’s your turn to come, Son, you’ve all the amenities,” replied the lady holding the tears back in her eyes.
What a story about the selfless love of a mother! The quote at the end of the story also caught my eye: ”All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe it to my angel mother.” Abraham Lincoln.
People reach great heights when they are reared by great moms. My late Ma got married at 13. But she rose above all her circumstances to be an extraordinary woman. You ask any of her children, the surviving ones, and they will agree on this. Naturally, all her children have tried to step into her footsteps, excepting ‘Yours truly’. They all have been exemplary parents. Ask their children, if you are doubtful.
I didn’t get to see how most of my nephews and nieces were brought up. I have seen my sis though, clinging to her daughter like a shadow. I have rarely seen a mom so concerned, so worried about her child. I wish I could go back in time and record all those minute details of my sister’s concern and subsequent actions for the benefit of her daughter. I have no doubt in my mind that my sis was guided in all her actions by her overflowing love for her daughter. Besides, her daughter’s extreme good looks might have implanted an uneasy, uncanny fear in my sister to protect her daughter at any cost, from all evils.
The daughter takes after her father though, and is laboring her way up to being looked upon as a decent, sober lady of the world. I felt quite proud of her the day hen her mother was being heckled, I found her in tears along with another niece of mine, sitting by my late Ma on a divan in the Baitakkhana, the drawing room at 41. All three of them were crying their lungs out, pitiably. I know it is best to ‘let bygone be bygone’. But some scenes, some situations leave their undeniable imprints on your mind. If anyone dares to defy my parents, let alone raise a finger on them, I’ll forget myself. I won’t mind going to any extent to meet fire with fire. At the same time, I’ll be very proud of my daughters, if they, even when they find either of their parents getting entangled in a quarrel, DO NOT poke their nose in the matter. There is something called Upbringing, Sobriety, Decency, Respect, or in the final analysis, Good Manners.
My sister was in the habit of raising her hand on her only child at the drop of a hat. She would keep both her hand and mouth busy! My late Ma and some other relatives reproached her. Today, on hindsight, I realize that her great love, concern, care that was behind every action of hers concerning her daughter. I’m sure that her daughter will too, with the passage of time. Before it is TOO LATE. No sacrifice, even the one made by a total stranger can go in vain.
The world is a strange place! Things don’t happen the way you foresee them. But if there is a God, no child of my late Ma can be deemed an uncaring, selfish nitwit by any of their own children.
Let me end with an incident that is still very vivid in my mind, an incident that brought home to me my sister’s love for her only child. I’ve already written about my sister’s unbelievable love for Ma. August, 2006, Ma was lying on her deathbed in Peerless Hospital, Kolkata. On the 10th, her condition improved drastically amidst great rejoicings of the family. She was shifted down to the General Ward. But it was just a lull before the unimaginable storm. Ma was back to being in the ICC by the night. Next day, my wife and I were there by 9.30 in the morning. That’s when the intern told us that she had taken a turn for the worse. He asked me if they should try getting her back on the ventilator again. I kept quiet. All the expenses were being borne by my Barda, my eldest brother, at his directives. I, being the youngest in the family, couldn’t take any decision regarding Ma without the consent of my siblings. At around 10.45 a.m., the doc informed us about her deteriorating condition. I went out to the booth to make a call to my Sis. She was on her way to some place in connection with her daughter’s admission or something. She, panting and walking while talking, told me that she’d be there in the hospital at the earliest. No other power could have kept her away from Ma that fatal day, I reckon, other than her daughter. By the time we’re back in the room inside the ICC on the third floor, Ma was taking her final leave of the world she loved so much. My wife and I offered her a spoonful of the holy water. My nephew, followed by my sister-in-law came next and went through the same ritual. Next minute Ma was gone. My sis couldn’t make it to the hospital. I’m still angry with her for this unforgivable offence! But there is someone called God. He wanted my Ma to impart a vital, and the final lesson to one of her favourite children, her youngest daughter: Never ever fail to accord the highest priority to your child/ren.
My sis, who rarely failed in the discharge of her duties to her late parents, stands Tall in my eyes today, for the selfless love she has displayed to her only child all through in such an exemplary manner.
