My mother and I share a bond which is about 45 years long (including my time in her womb). Well, I gave away my age, but listen up folks, “Age is just a number.” *Cheesy Grin* knowing that one’s such a cliché. Well back to this little Ode for my Mommy Dearest. Ma and I are like chalk and cheese in many a ways. Yet my core values are a reflection of her. We love each other to the moon and back, yet we can’t live too long without squabbling and sulking. Ma has been my rock solid pillar, my shield, my armour in the roughest of moments. And believe you me the one thing I can vouch about her blindly is that her instincts are never ever wrong. I may have argued and dismissed them off, but they were always true to the T. With each passing year I have started appreciating and acknowledging her for these intuitive powers, as the youthful rush of blood wore off me.

Mother’s Day is around the corner and here are 5 tips by this Iron Lady who has been the wind beneath my wings, seen me through life’s roller coaster ride and who now continues to fight and emerge victorious each single day, while battling the bane of a terminal illness. ((My mother is my hero and she always will be.))

1. Always be House Proud:  Ma maintains an impeccable, spick and span home with neat, organised wardrobes. Eclectically done up rooms (in tune with her times, though the definitions might have changed over the years). She neatly labels every storage box, writing the down the contents; and these include clothes, kitchen grocery, spices etc. The details are also maintained in a dairy. This is one pro-tip I use for storing my stuff, especially clothes, though I must admit I’m not even half as organised as her. I have borderline OCD like her and am finicky about clean and tidy home, spick and span at all times. Though I can’t say that always for my drawers as Ma’s drawers are meticulously organised every 10 days all by herself, even amidst her ill-health.
2. Be a beacon of Hospitality: My mum’s one of the most hospitable person I’ve ever known. She loves to cook for others and feed them. She is a fantastic cook. I try, but not a pro like her. But I’ve imbibed her hospitable nature and I like to treat my guests with love, warmth and pamper them to the hilt.
3. Love Nature: I think I got that from Ma, as she has one of the most greenest thumbs I’ve ever seen. Though my Father is a Plant Pathologist, she’s the one who knows what works- organic or non-organic and for which plants, watering the plants depending on their variety, the pruning, the maintaining and creating beautiful bonsai. Her fresh food produce of bananas, tomatoes, pumpkins, lemons, grapes, guavas, bitter gourd etal are a sheer delight to savour. Well I don’t have a green thumb, but I have spent countless mornings watching my mother digging her fingers into the earth and bonding with her flora, while the birds in her garden feed on the grains and biscuit crumbs.
4. Tough Times Don’t Last Tough People Do: Ma was always a reflection of this adage, and she is. She has confronted her illness headlong and despite 4 relapses last year, she stands tall with her head held high like a battle ground warrior. This is one quality that is very intrinsic to her and I have been a witness to it even as a kid. Her “never give up attitude” is like a gleaming sword that gets polished further by fire.
5. Don’t Waste a Single Morsel. Treasure Your Family Before you Treasure Friends: Ma believes goddess Laxmi resides in our homes and when we waste a morsel of rice/food, it’s being disrespectful to her and indifferent to the people who don’t get a square meal a day. I never bought in to the former and took it with a pinch of salt. The latter reasoning, yes, I consciously did embrace and I do follow. I didn’t agree at all with Ma’s tip on treasuring one’s family more than one treasures one’s friends. I felt both were to be equally treasured. I still do, in some ways, yes. But after a few bitter experiences I have become twice shy over the years. I realise when all fails, it’s my family who stands by me, like a rock solid pillars. Though I have a handful of precious friends who are more than family to me and I treasure them as much as I treasure my family.

I’m grateful to #ThankfulThursdays for this beautiful prompt, as it gave me an opportunity to write  this little ode to the woman who doesn’t know what she truly means to me. In case you are reading this, Ma, I want you to know you will always be my eternal hero.

Linking this post to Tina, Mayuri, Amrita and Deepa for #ThankfulThursdays