I love you Mom!

Mother of mine, you gave to me
All of my life to do as I please.
I owe everything I have to you
Mother, sweet mother of mine...

Mother of mine, when I was young
You showed me the right way things have to be done.
Without your love where would I be?
Mother, sweet mother of mine…

Mother you gave me happiness
Much more than words can say.
I pray to the lord that he may bless you
Every night and every day…

Mother of mine, now I am grown
And I can walk straight all on my own.
I want to give you what you gave to me
Mother, sweet mother of mine…

I learnt the above lines when I was a little kid, as part of a group song we performed in school. The only difference being, the word “mother” in the original poem was replaced with “teacher” to make it suitable to be sung on Teachers’ day. What sheer genius, I must say!


But when I learnt that the original lines were in praise of a mother, I looked again closely, only to find a beautiful expression of a child’s gratitude towards her mother. A little child may not have a sound vocabulary or a way with words to be able to express her love for her mother very articulately. But these lines clearly show how much love and respect a child’s heart contains for her mother. Whether they express it or not, and whether they may ever be able to own up to it or not, every child in this world indeed loves his/her mother the most. And today I want to tell my mother – I love you Mom!

It’s a very special day for me today. Why, it’s my mom’s birthday! We – that is my dad, my sister and me – try every year to do something special for her on her birthday. And yet, unfortunately we never manage to pull off anything worthwhile. My mom loves to be surprised and pampered (sometimes). But I admit, we suck big time at this ‘surprise-planning’ thing. So we end up disappointing her most of the times. Yet, today I want to let you know Mom – we try, because we love you, and we want to see you smile, not only on your birthday, but on all other days of the year too. We know we are a pathetic lot, but please try not to mind, and smile, because YOU ARE THE BEST MOM IN THE WORLD!

Yeah, that's a happy little five-year-old me with my ever-beautiful mom.

I remember vividly those times when I would come home crying when some kid hit me or someone's mother scolded me for no fault of mine, and my mom, instead of going back to fight with them, would pacify me and tell me that I must fight for myself and not involve my parents like they do. It might have appeared cruel at that time, but this philosophy went a long way in teaching me to be self-sufficient and strong in life. Whenever I would fall down or hurt myself, which I did quite a lot, my mom would turn her face and pretend she didn't notice. All I could do then was to get up, brush off my clothes and be on my way. That made me tough. My parents, in such unique but effective ways, brought me up to be self-reliant, adaptive and generous, shaping my character beautifully.

My mom has been a constant guide and a pillar of support to me throughout my as-yet-short life. She stood by me when I erred and erred again. She has always tried (still tries) to understand me, my moods, my mindset and my thoughts when I don’t wanna explain. She might not say it very often on my face, but I know she loves me a lot (even more than my sister, I like to believe.) I have been the rebellious one, the difficult one, and as she likes to point out often, the expensive one too. And yet, she has borne my moods, my tantrums (few, though) and my growing-up so fantastically. The filmi kids very easily declare in interviews, “All I am today is because of my parents/mother/father”, though it’s not always the same feeling in their hearts. But as far as I am concerned, I can easily say today that whatever I am in life, it’s an embodiment of what I've learnt through my years – from my life’s experiences, the people around me, and most of all, my mother. My temperament, my beliefs, ambitions and worldview are for the most part a reflection of hers. And I am proud of it.

Now for a confession. I somehow, and I still don’t understand how, managed to hurt my mom a few days back. I didn’t like it then, and I don’t like it even now. But I could not bring myself to tell her that. And I want to apologize to her. So Mom, I’m sorry! Trust me, I didn’t mean to hurt you, though I ultimately did. Forgive me (I know you must have, already).

Mothers are so important. I wish every kid who thinks his/her mom is irritating, meddling, strict or plain bothersome, realized this sooner in life. Mothers are who give you life, shape you into someone the world would like to acknowledge. You are no one in this world if you don’t respect and love your mother. And if you have your mother’s support, there is nothing in life you cannot accomplish, take my word on that. So go up to your mother today, each one of you reading this, and tell her, in your very own way, that you love her. See the smile on her face, feel the love, and come back and tell me how it felt. :)

And last but not at all the least, WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!