Mother's Unconditional Love

Once upon a time, there lived a widow named Leela in the streets of Meerut. She had a seven-year-old son, Harish to look after. The sole breadwinner of the family Pratap died owing to an untimely road accident. So now the onus was on his wife to run the household. Leela was not accustomed to doing work outside but fate slipped her into a position where there was no choice but to work outside to make ends meet.

"We don't give a job to a widow. Who knows about your character? Secretly you might have partaken in some physical intimacy with a stranger since no one questions you."

"Since you have swallowed your husband, we consider you as a bad omen. We don't want to take the risk of allowing inauspicious elements to find a place in our residence."

It was too painful for her to listen to the harsh words of people and being too sensitive didn't help her cause one bit. To rub salt in her wounds, her late husband had taken debts from many who materialized at her doorstep to coerce her to pay the amount. She pleaded with them to give her some time since her husband was no more to help her cause. They agreed to her plea but warned her of dire consequences if she didn't clear the debts. She found herself in dire straits. There were times when she wanted to kill herself but her son's face kept on lingering in her mind which refrained her from taking extreme steps. Even though she found it difficult to grapple with the current reality, her son offered her much-needed hope to live and prove. After a series of utter humiliations, she did manage to find a job as a maid in a rich bungalow. Other good Samaritans also offered her a job in their house.

Leela worked day and night in multiple houses despite physical and mental exhaustion. Undeterred by the workload, she insisted she work tirelessly to feed her son and clear all debts. There were days when she slept hungry but ensured her son always had something to eat. The way she took care of her beloved son was a testament to a mother's unconditional love for their children. She never reprimanded him but always extended pure aka unblemished love. Thanks to her diligence in work she even earned a bonus from her owners. She managed to enrol her son in a government school and she desired to see him as a big officer. Her relentless hard work continued for years which helped her to clear all her debts. Harish never had to work outside courtesy of his mother. There were times when she fed the famished souls lying on the streets. Her magnanimous heart transcended the boundaries of the ordinary. As years passed, her son excelled academically and was a topper in tenth grade. Leela's happiness knew no bounds when she realized her dreams were slowly turning into reality.

As Harish grew and became more intelligent he seemed to allow arrogance to get into his head. He became snobbish and felt embarrassed to introduce his mother to others. He wasn't calling his mother to the college during award functions. Her mother's way of dressing and her slang symbolized the essence of village women which he despised. All sacrifices and the unconditional love she extended to him seemed to have paled into insignificance. During one of the functions in his engineering college, he was obligated to bring his parents. Reluctantly he took his mother to the college and never felt comfortable sitting next to her. His friends asked him to introduce his mother to them and he unwillingly obliged to their request. When they started laughing upon listening to her slang, Harish felt utterly embarrassed and glared at his mother as if secretly vowing not to take her to any functions.

Harish fell head over heels when he stumbled upon his would-be soulmate Nandini. Both of them bagged a tech job in the same company and both were intellectually very smart. They took pride in their intelligence which was also interspersed with a heap of ego. They shared a good rapport and decided to get into a relationship. Harish had never revealed his mother's identity till now but now on the insistence of his lover, he had to take her to his mother. Nandini expected his mother to be highly educated since her son was a topper but was proved otherwise. Harish deftly observed her expressions throughout the conversation with his mother. Nandini looked disappointed as she walked out of the house. Harish feared losing his lover so followed and begged her not to avoid him. She beckoned him to a rendezvous.

"Please do not leave me alone. I can't even imagine my future without you. I will follow whatever you demand," he stood on his knees with folded hands.

Nandini agreed to marry him on one condition. "Are you willing to join your mother to an ashram? If you could do so then I am ready to marry you. It is so embarrassing to call her as my mother-in-law. She is utterly illiterate and doesn't even know how to maintain social status. I can't even imagine spending a day with her."

Harish quickly accepted her condition. He didn't even reminisce about the sacrifices his mother made for him all these years. His mother was thinking that her son would look after her in the old age. Shamelessly, he scurried back to his house.

"Enough is enough. I feel embarrassed to call you my mother. I can't lose my sweetheart because of you. I have decided to leave you in the ashram and move on with my life," he said smashing his fist on the wall.

The whole world came crashing down upon her as she never expected her son to behave in this manner. He was steeped in love for Nandini and was muddled with arrogance and that was palpable. She slipped into silence and did her best to avert the tears that so desperately wanted to drench her cheeks. It was too painful for her to digest the bitter reality. She had contemplated suicide when her son was small but continued to fight the adversities only for the sake of her son who now doesn't even need her. Her heart broke and she just nodded her head like a child. Harish was on cloud nine. She wept inconsolably within the confines of four walls that mutely witnessed the pain meted out to her.

It was agonizing but Leela had to join the ashram. She didn't fight with her son not even asking him why he felt her was a huge burden to carry upon his shoulders. All the beautiful moments she had spent with her son overwhelmed her but the latter didn't care about her. He hitched a knot with Nandini without his mother's presence. He kick-started his new relationship with his spouse pretending to be an orphan. They even started their own business. The workers in the ashram extended her unconditional love as if they were her children. Every day she remembered her son and wondered why he never cared about her despite her drowning him with colossal love. She always prayed to God to keep her son healthy and peaceful. She was indeed a greatness personified. That is what we call a mother's heart which has no alternative whatsoever. Harish suffered an immense loss in the business which made him bankrupt. Nandini blamed him for the loss and decided to part ways. She went ahead and married a rich businessman by luring him into her trap. All she was interested in was wealth, not a person's unblemished love. Harish was appalled by her demeanour and felt ashamed of his decision to marry her. Just for the sake of this woman, he had abandoned his own mother who had worked tirelessly day and night for his well-being. The paradox of life bit him hard. You will never realize the value of pain and the lessons it teaches you unless you don't experience pain. His mother had played an instrumental role in his growth but he could never discern that. She had never let her guard down because she never wanted her son to be like her. Unfortunately, her wish materialized but in an agonizing way. The massive guilt hung on his shoulders and he had no face to show to his mother. Gripped by regret, he set about to see his mother. His wish to rejoin with his mother and to amend for all the mistakes he made went down the drain. The saddening news of his mother's death pricked his conscience and drowned him in the ocean of misery.

"When she was alive, you didn't even care about her. Now what is the use of shedding tears, brother," one of them said.

Harish went to his mother's grave and prostrated before it. The barrage of emotions flushed tears on his face as he apologized repeatedly to a departed soul.

If there is someone in this world who can unconditionally love and protect us it is our parents. Never abandon them for trivial reasons. You can acquire wealth anytime you want but you cannot acquire your parent's love once they are gone and that makes you regret it for the rest of your lives. This story underscores the significance of mother and blessed are those who are living in the cocoon of their mother's love.