Day #25: Mother (100 Days Gratitude Challenge)

Day #25: Mother
(100 Days Gratitude Challenge)

Today I give gratitude to my mother. She is the reason I’m here and the reason you are reading this. She is the creator of me and this moment. A mother is the most important vehicle for our existence and the life we lead. She determines what kind of an adult I’ve grown into. If I’m happy, then it is her gift to me. If I’m sad it is could be her gift or not, but I can change the state if I choose to. That is the beauty of our life. We cannot change our past but the way we remember it, the way it powers our present and our future can be changed. If you are happy, thank your mother. If you are sad or miserable, still thank her for the ability to be able to understand where you are and the ability to change the state in a jiffy.

My mother has been good to me. She has taught me the power of nurturing, caring and love. She has given her whole life to take care of her children. She was born and grew up in an age where the boy child was given a lot of importance. So obviously my brothers and I got pampered. She was a powerful early influence and still persists in wielding influence on my life. The power has waned a bit because of the competing influence posed by the other mother in my life, my wife, and mother of my two sons.

I would like to share a few memories about her to you. Our house was always filled with people. There were six of us siblings, my parents and an assorted collection of guests, some staying for a few years, some a few days and some for the meal. So meal times looked like a feast time most days, at least most holidays. The smell of fresh food – biryani, cutlets, mutton kozhambu, idlis, fish, steak, ... ok... i’m getting dizzy. Let’s just say there was a wide variety of food to suit each one’s palate. My sisters and brothers say that we frittered away a major part of our inheritance on food alone. But me and my friends have a lot of happy memories around the food in my home. I’m grateful that she was such a good provider.

She is the reason for my stability and strength. A mother is the first and foremost member in “Matha, Pitha, Guru, Deivam”. It is through her that we discover our father, who together leads us to our guru, who ultimately leads us to our Creator and Self-Realisation.  Their treatment of us plays a large part in determining how we perceive ourselves and our Creator.

I’m grateful for the strength, the love, the nurturing and the care that my mother instilled in me. She is a wonderful person and I’m grateful to God that He chose her for my mother.