My Mother’s Birthday

Every year, there are two cakes bought for my birthday. I cut one of them and my mom cuts the other. This has become so common over the years that none of our relatives, friends, or neighbors, who attend my birthday party find it unusual anymore. I have turned twelve now and this year on my 12th birthday, we had some new neighbors who were invited to my party. They were surprised to see my mother cut her birthday cake. Out of curiosity, right after the celebrations, they asked my mom, “Isn’t your birthday in April? You had mentioned some time back about it. But how come you cut your cake today, in August?”.

My mother, as friendly and talkative a person she is, smiled and said, “12 years back in 2001, on this day, I left myself behind. I transformed, every bit of me was renewed, and I was reborn as a ‘mother’!

You know, I did not have any maternal instincts before my pregnancy. I always thought I would be a careless, reckless mother. I had nothing to offer to my child, no preaching, no bed-time tales, no discipline, no peps. Even during pregnancy, I was always conscious about myself. I felt sick and nervous about having to lose my freedom and be a mother all the time.

But I don’t know what strength my daughter’s birth gave me; I was not the same person anymore. I completely changed the very moment I touched her. The older 'me' died in that moment, along with all my self-absorbed traits.

From that day onwards, everything I did, I felt, I wanted, was for my daughter. I have not asked anything for myself since then. All my prayers and wishes are for her well-being and a better future.

Her birthday is my birthday now - a mother’s birth day!”