A small poem-
"പൊന്നും മണികളും കിഴി കെട്ടി തന്നീടാം പുന്നാരക്കുട്ടനെ ഞാനെടുക്കും,
The above is a small stanza from a poem named 'poothappatu' which I studied in my school, scene is like this a demon has kidnapped a lady's child, the lady comes to the demon for her child, the demon offers her gold and other luxury in exchange for her child. Immediately without even looking at the gold, she dug out her eyes and offered it to the demon and said 'my child means more than these to me oh demon, give him back to me...' later in the poem the demon tries to fool the blind lady by giving her a doll telling that is her son,But motherhood cannot be cheated that easy, she gets furious at the demon and she goes ahead to curse him, the demon gets scared and returns her child and her sight. Fiction! but, even she is a mother ... a symbol of love and sacrifice.
"പൊന്നും മണികളും കിഴി കെട്ടി തന്നീടാം പുന്നാരക്കുട്ടനെ ഞാനെടുക്കും,
അപ്പൊന്നും നോകാതെയമ്മണി നോകാതെ അമ്മ തന് കണ്ണുകള് ചൂഴ്നെടുത്തു,
പുലരിചെന്താമാര പോലവേ പൂതതിന് തിരുമുമ്പില് അര്പിച്ചു തൊഴുതുരച്ചു,
' ഇതിലും വലിയതാനെന്റെ പൊനോമന അതിനെ തരികെന്റെ പൂതമേ നീ.....' "
--- പൂതപ്പാട്ട്, ഇടശ്ശേരി
The above is a small stanza from a poem named 'poothappatu' which I studied in my school, scene is like this a demon has kidnapped a lady's child, the lady comes to the demon for her child, the demon offers her gold and other luxury in exchange for her child. Immediately without even looking at the gold, she dug out her eyes and offered it to the demon and said 'my child means more than these to me oh demon, give him back to me...' later in the poem the demon tries to fool the blind lady by giving her a doll telling that is her son,But motherhood cannot be cheated that easy, she gets furious at the demon and she goes ahead to curse him, the demon gets scared and returns her child and her sight. Fiction! but, even she is a mother ... a symbol of love and sacrifice. Another dawn of the second Sunday of May has come.... Another 'Mother's day', A day to honor mothers and celebrate motherhood. In India we never had the concept of celebrating a relationship for a day in a year, in fact we cherish the feeling always every day, but times change, and as we are the best in aping west, that habit of associating all with a particular date has also settled in. Not a bad idea whatsoever..... Anyway I am writing not to discuss that, not for anything else, but just to share couple of memories which rush to me on such days including the poem I mentioned above.
Scene 1:One night at a railway platform in north Kerala, time is around 1, very few commuters and most of them sleeping in crouched postures on waiting chairs... I could hear the wailing of a child, it was very shrill and very amplified in the silence of the night. When it continued for some minutes and since it was quite disturbing, me along with my friend got up and went to see where it is happening. What we saw was a beggar woman,snoring on the corner of the station, and next to her,this small boy maybe seven years old is crying probably due to hunger. A kind gentleman went ahead and bought some tea and gave it to the child, but he din't even look at it. Another person who got irritated by the crying child, went ahead and pushed and kicked the woman to wake her up, the boy cried even louder. The strong scent of liquor suggested she was drunk. A cop came there and when he saw this he caned her, she rose up with painful whine, me and my friend stood there not knowing what to do, cop asked her to get out and asked whose child it is?, she gave some senseless answers, and started swearing the bystanders and the boy, then she opened her cloth bundle and gave the child an open biscuit packet, the boy ate it all fast, and fell over to sleep, she cuddled him.Silence was once again heard in the platform. We moved away leaving them, From what she spoke it was evident that the kid was hers and she was an unwed young mother, and poverty might have knocked her senses and she might be drunk in order to forget the hunger and grief. Fact remains even she is a mother... a symbol of care and trustworthiness.
Scene 2: Again in north kerala, she was not educated, and she was the house wife of a middle class family. One fateful day the man of the family had an untimely death, the mother and son and his family remained, they picked up their life and the son taking care of their legacy. But fate had a different plan her son met up with a major accident to be left behind as a vegetable. All thought the family will never recover from the twin shocks. But the mother stood up again after life knocked her down. She took over the business legacies with focus set and never taking to consideration her lack of education.She takes care of her son and his kid,she never thinks about the hardships and she fights the unfair life and she runs the family Even she is a mother... the symbol of strength and endurance.. a pillar of support.
How could the mothers be so perfect always? Is mother the master piece of the ultimate creator? How could mother be the perpetual source of love?How could mother be the strength and weakness of someone at the same time? Some questions which smiles at me.... And I guess everyone knows the answers!! :)
Amma,mamma,mom, mummy,ammee, maaji, mathe,ema .... how many names for her..... Mothers day or any other day, my mother will be my dearest always..... whether she is with me.... or whether she is miles away from me like today....
Cherish the thoughts of your mother... Thank her in your heart for everything,everyday and forever
Peace out
