A Letter to Amma

Dear Amma

                    It was 5.00 Am on a drizzly Wednesday when you were born; today you woke up under the exact same conditions as you did when you came out of Amma-ma's belly to another busy day filled with work,work and more work. Sleepily you rolled your hair into a messy bun and went to put on the coffee machine for your first of many coffees that day. Along the way smiling to yourself for being the Coffee Guzzler; drinking 7 coffees a day has been your only addiction, which you have vowed to kick but have miserably failed at. The warm hug that your daughter (who snuck up from behind) gave you with a kiss on the cheek coupled with a loud Scream of Happy Birthday AMMA made your day today because you clearly choked when you said so to me on our skype session.

You, mother have turned another year older today, though you don't make a big deal out of your birthday, this year I thought I would write a post about you to just try and comprehend how much you have grown from the coy 22 year old first time mother to the confident PhD holding Professor and super-mom of 2 that you are today. 

      

I confess, I've always been a Mama's boy (There, I've squandered whatever little hope I had with the single ladies :P) and I'm proud of it because you are not one teeny tiny bit the spoon feeding type, because I was told  you would give me food on a plate even as a two year old to eat by myself;  even though I would end up spitting and spilling most of it around me, you made it a point not to feed me as you wanted me to be self-sufficient from an early age. Being a teacher, you have and still always insist on people doing their own thing, however simple or complicated they might be. You are the epitome of stubbornness; when you have your eye set on something, you will wait for the opportune moment  to pounce on it and  be rest assured that you always get what you want, that's something I desperately need to learn from you. I just find it difficult to imagine as to how you managed to do your under graduation as a 22 year old with a kid to take care of and later on also worked on your post graduation and doctoral work while taking care of me and the kid sister. When the sister and I  were of the school going age, I distinctly remember you siting with us for our daily study sessions in the evening while you tended to the household work and also did your research simultaneously; you have basically had an 18 hour day for the last 22 years at the least and I have not once seen you grumble or curse your fate. I reminisce how I would proudly announce to anyone and everyone that you were and still are the most qualified person in our family. Mind you, that's difficult to achieve when you have an I.I.T educated husband by your side, but you, my PhD holding mother have always been my hero because you have been a fighter all your life; struggling with difficult bosses, taking care of a bed ridden mother-in-law and managing a household in which the husband travels 15 days a month while clearly holding fort is not something anyone would bargain for in a marriage, but you have been the Rahul Dravid of our home for the last 24 years, stamping your class and elegance in your every single action. 

Although you still cannot come to grips with operating that mobile phone of yours or use a laptop without someone's assistance, you still are the undisputed Official Lizard and Cockroach Slayer at home, a post I maintain even Appa is too scared to handle despite his towering presence at home. I could go on and on about you, but words will not do justice to describe the Awesome, Warm, Angelic and Tough cookie attributes that god has so magically and beautifully rolled into one human being -  YOU. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMMA 

Your Son

Atrocious