While the loving care and the protective embrace of the Mother is an absolute essential in the formative years for one to evolve as a well-rounded individual, it is indeed a celestial blessing to have her around till you are well past the mid-fifties. And providence has bestowed upon me such rarified privilege that her unconditional love has been the only one constant in a life that had its share of extended uncertainties and occasional turbulence. In the radiance of that elixir love, every problem of life, even of Himalayan proportion, would dissipate effortlessly just as the morning mist would, at the first rays of the Sun. From a subtle glance to a stern warning, a suggestive advice quoting religious parables or a timely moral reprimand that saves one from gross misconduct, the myriad forms in which her all encompassing love would manifest remained baffling but were always timely!

During the school days, when the focus was on living every moment with careless abandon, mother had been the anchor that allowed me have all the childhood indulgences even when my rebelliousness in school and outside remained a source of constant embarrassment for her. The class teacher would repeatedly ask mother to see her in school only to endlessly complain about my over performance in school antics along with the under performance in academics. When father would flatly refuse to affix his precious signature on my red mark laden report cards, it’s the mother who would sign on them unhesitatingly, masking her disappointment, coaxing me all the while to study and perform better the next time, every time! She would wait in the evenings with a ball of cotton and bottle of tincture to dress up the bruises that I invariably carry home from the playgrounds and the soiled uniforms will all be ready—washed, dried and pressed, the next morning! Those childhood times remain memorable to this day only because mother stood rock solid in the background guarding and guiding me at every little step.

When I moved to college, my priorities and thus the demands from the parents changed drastically and here again it’s the motherly care and affection that helped me sail through unscratched. While father would provide money just enough to pay the fees, it was mother’s kitchen savings that funded the growing expenses of the teenager that ranged from money for the movie tickets to that for purchasing the latest fad, the corduroy jeans. On every exam day, she would take bath in the wee morning hours and go to the nearby temple to perform a special pooja for my success while I would still be in deep sleep. I could safely vouch that my moderate academic achievement is more an answer to her fervent prayers than to my engagement with studies. This communion with the Gods she did for all her five Children with demonstrable results and that it was not just limited for their academic success is a standing testimony for her deep faith and unshakable conviction on matters divine. When one of us fell sick, along with the rudimentary medicines, it’s the Vibhuti that she marked on our foreheads with a prayer on her lips that cured us all, almost instantaneously and without fail!

This motherly love that she radiated so copiously were not directed just to her biological children. Later on when I got married, mother’s compassionate gaze fell on my spouse too and in ample measure as she ably filled a deep void in my wife’s life when she lost her mother early on. She took upon herself as her motherly duty to provide care and succour that comes quite naturally to her and for her daughters-in-law, she was just their mother to whom they can confide their innermost fears and draw courage from. For her grandchildren, she was the granny that any teenager would long to have and in this age of instant gratification, she would give them lessons on patience and perseverance drawing instances from epics and provide unending solace as they dabble with the challenges of growing up in a super-connected world! In her, they found a glorious continuum from the priceless past where values are paramount and their adherence as critical as breath and love and compassion are the two eyes through which the world is to be viewed!

While she was so loving that took all in its embrace, she was also magnificently detached from the mundane affairs of the world. Resting in the confidence of the values she has instilled in her children, mother would not concern herself with their individual affairs. In the many years before the end of her life, she spent most of her time in spiritual contemplation and was in supreme peace with herself. This extolled state of existence is, for certain, a lesson for all of us as to how a contented and a purposeful life should be concluded.

Humble, gentle, graceful and always cheerful, mother was a role model for all of us as to how a daughter, daughter-in-law, wife, mother, mother-in-law and grandmother should conduct herself. And as she bids goodbye to us physically, I could only say that it’s a priceless honour to be born as her child, perhaps the reward for the meritorious deeds done over many past lives!

And my siblings: Rajaram, Sankar, Jayanthi and Soumya join me in expressing our immense gratitude to her for being our Mother!

Forever in gratitude

Narayanan