Mother by Atul Singh

There are so many dimensions to each one of us, but none is more divine than the dimension of a “Mother” that we all carry within, if we are fortunate. Motherhood is a trait, not a person.

A potter, holds the clay like a mother

does a child, and then gently spins it, shapes it, even allows it to bake in life’s oven and presents it to the world. So the clay becomes a pot that can hold water for someone. It becomes useful to the world and can take pride in itself. 

A teacher, becomes a mother for her students, imparting them knowledge, discipline and even testing them. The student gets strength to carry his own weight and gets shaped, to in turn shape the world also. 

A great leader, like Bharat’s current Prime Minister, takes on the identity of a mother towards the entire nation of 1.4 Billion people and protects them from harm coming from outside, nurtures and nourishes them and most of all, like Modiji has continually done, breathes the purifying fire of self confidence and pride in oneself and one’s heritage and culture into them. He acts as the mother for the entire nation.

A father, takes on battles outside the house and tasks inside, as a single parent or otherwise to provide for and nurture the household, indeed as a mother. 

A business leader puts his life’s treasure and reputation at risk to provide for and nurture his people, who in turn bless him with their toil towards the enterprise.

A military leader, in the thick of a battle is only driven by the mission and the well being of his people. The safety of his soldiers rises above his own comfort and well being. He is their mother at those times. 

All these and indeed any other role of significance, draws inspiration, courage and the blueprint of how to do it right, from their actual mothers. Mothers don’t need a blueprint. Their instincts are hardwired by nature to know and act on what and when is the right amount of caring, cajoling or discipling that the child needs to prosper. 

Or, in other words one can say that a mother plays all these roles in our life, that of a potter, a father, a teacher, political leader, a business leader and a military leader nurturing, strengthening and building us up so we can count for something one day, in other’s eyes and even more importantly in our own. 

All this comes from an elemental trait a mother has that no other being is born with and lives with as much as she does. That trait is to put the child’s interest above her own. In some magical way, she just ceases to be an entity in the relationship and as if only the child and their needs exist. And voila… all is well there on. 

All of us would indeed be better off by having more of that selflessness in our relationships and also to give her back in kind when her strength wanes, her eyesight dims and her legs can’t carry her weight as well as they used to. All of us would indeed be better off, finding the mother in us by mapping ourselves to how she operated. 

A mother too needs a mother in old age and sickness. A selfless one.