An ode to my mom

What is a Maika without a mother?

Her presence beckoned me 

Without a thought I rushed to her

The house which abounded in love

Full of warmth and happiness

Every nook and cranny boasted of my existence

My childhood memorabilia kept with pride

Come what may

 A mother can never break the umbilical tie

Alighting from the taxi as I stepped out

Ma you welcomed me with a warm smile

Engulfed my family and me in a tight embrace

Caressed our foreheads and loved us to the core

Fed us with delectable fare

Spoilt the grandchildren silly with your love galore

Chatted with me with gay abandon

Enjoying my visit to the fullest

It was hard bidding you a goodbye 

Teary eyed we left with memories full of love and warmth

With the promise to visit you soon.

 That maika ceases to exist

The minute you left me two decades back 

Not a hug or a goodbye you exchanged

Left a permanent void in our hearts

To join the angels in the promised land

I yearn to meet you again

So many questions left unanswered, 

I will need the answers when I join you in God's own land

The home has been just reduced to a house

 As a home is built with hearts and a house with stones and bricks 

It exudes no love and warmth

It is all a farce, 

Deceptive smiles greet me

Which break my heart.

No nook or cranny boasts of my presence

Childhood memorabilia dumped in places remote.

For I don't exist here anymore

My eyes well as I have become a stranger

In the house I grew up.

Strange are the ways of the world.

Marriage has changed my existence

The parental home where I spent half my life

Which I boasted with pride about my family ties

Ceases to make me a part of that house again.

The sense of belonging has vanished

Now I am merely an onlooker .

The grandchildren miss you

They badger me to tell more about you

Listening about doting grandmas

They too wish for the same

Her values and teachings they need to imbibe

A smile and zeal for life

Is the mantra I tell them is the way to lead a good life

I am weary balancing family dynamics

My life revolves around others

Planning my visits as per their schedules

 Dancing, prancing, laughing till wee hours

Life is an empty page as no one cares two hoots.

I want to be daddy's little gal again

But to attain that I must endure pain

His love for me is a thing of yore

For there are others who get a slice more

I move on in the journey of life

Like a parched traveller in a desert

Looking out for an oasis full of love

To quench my thirst and drench me forever.