It was first quarter of 2001. It had been a few months in US for me. Unlike usually, I was hesitant to call home. Because the news they were going to get was not good at all. Anyway, I gathered courage and called. My mom picked up the phone. After usual Hi, Hello, I had to tell Mom why exactly I had called…
Me: Mom, did you sleep properly last night?
Mom: Yes!
Me: I am going to tell you something but promise me you won’t panic.
Mom: WHAT HAPPENED!
Me: Mom, you are panicking even before I tell you anything!
Mom: WHAT HAPPENED? TELL ME!
Me: Okay. I was traveling to a project in downtown with my project mate last week on Tuesday and the car met with an accident. I was injured a little bit. They took me to emergency department of a nearby hospital and now I am fine.
Mom: WHAT? WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN? WERE YOU HURT? ARE YOU OKAY NOW?
Me: Mom, I just told you. It was last week on Tuesday. My bottom lip was split in three parts since I was sitting in the backseat and did not have my seat belt buckled up. My face struck on the back of driver’s seat and my lip was injured. They stitched it up and I had my stitches removed this morning. I am fine now.
Mom: ARE YOU OKAY NOW? DOES IT STILL HURT? WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME EARLIER?
Me: Mom, I just told you twice before, I am fine now. And had I told you before, you would have panicked even more.
Mom: YOU DON’T TAKE PROPER CARE OF YOURSELF. WHY DIDN’T YOU HAVE YOUR SEAT BELT TIED? WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME EARLIER? BE CAREFUL WHILE DRIVING. THAT IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY AND YOU SHOULD BE MORE CAREFUL THERE.
Me: Mom, I wasn’t driving.
Mom(now calmed down a little): But Beta, you should be careful. It is not our country and you are alone there. Have you been eating properly?
Now that question had been repeated umpteen times before. You would be surprised, I still get the same question from her every time I talk with her –‘Have you been eating properly?’ And that despite the fact that she has spent considerable time with me in US and knows my daily routine very well.
Now if you think of the above questions as nagging, I have only one term to describe you –‘Aurangzeb’! Actually, this really portrays a Mother. She bears you in womb for 9 months, goes thru inordinate troubles and pains to bring you in this beautiful world. The first word any toddler learns to speak is ‘Ma’. Of course for a mother, her kids are most valuable in this world. And when something, even minuscule, happens to her kids, it hurts her probably more. Because she cares for you more than anyone else!
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First of all, I am very bad at selecting gifts. If it were totally left to me, I’d rather take an easy route. Buy a greeting card or a gift card! But there are instances when you think, hey how about gifting this! Well what I am writing here isn’t exactly advice on choosing gifts for a mother. Actually, these are the some gifts I gave to my Mom in last few years. And you will notice that in every instance, it was a spontaneous thought.
Saree: Now this may sound clichéd. Yet, I remember that was my first major shopping in US. My roommate was going to India in December 2000 to attend his sister’s marriage. Two days before his departure we were savoring traditional Gujarati thali at one and only vegetarian Indian restaurant in Atlanta.(man, I miss those days!) The next door was an Indian apparel store. After completing the supper, we decided to spend some time in there, since the person who was supposed to pick us up was running late.
While roaming around in the store, my eyes got stuck on a brown Saree with some decent prints. Somehow I liked it. Checked the price, it was$20, which was a lot for me then. Yet, I purchased it. A year later when I went to receive Mom at the airport, to my surprise she was wearing that Saree! Boy, I must say I have an excellent taste.
Cassette Player: Being a homemaker for years, Mom spends considerable morning time in the kitchen. And accompanying her are always Bhajans, which she listens to while taking care of some daily chores. Some time ago the cassette player broke. It wasn’t working properly. Dad tried to fix but it refused to oblige.
Usually, I talk with my parents in mornings India time. The other day, Dad called up. I inquired where mom was. Dad told me she was messing with the cassette player but wouldn’t work. Next thing I told Dad to buy her a new cassette player using my credit card and of course without telling her. The housewife in her would not have let Dad buy a new cassette player. But now, after artificial initial anger, she is all happy!
Washing Machine: Now this is a relatively expensive affair. But what can one do? Kaamwali Bais have been in demand lately in Ahmedabad I guess. That on a regular interval she needs a vacation. And one fateful day, the age-old front-loading washing machine died. This time I knew that Mom wanted a Washing Machine but she would not ask for it.
Again, Dad came to rescue. He managed to convince her to buy a washing machine. And of course my credit card was handy then.(That reminds me, how easy it is nowadays to transfer money to India. Dad has a credit card in his name in my account. It is swiped there, I pay here. Amazing!)
A surprise knock on the door: This is probably the best gift I have given her. It had been almost a year since we saw each other. I told them I was leaving Memphis and was going to drive to Fort Lauderdale for two days. Actually, I was taking a flight to India. My buddy came picked up at the airport. At about 7:30 in the morning I knocked on the door. And I still cannot forget the expression on her face. Fantastic!
And I’ll get to see her again in a few weeks! I am really excited.