Page 49 - NIS English 01-15 July 2022

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my hometown Vadnagar. She did not get
her own mother’s affection. At a tender
age, she lost my grandmother to the
Spanish Flu pandemic. She does not
even remember my grandmother’s face or
the comfort of her lap. She spent her entire
childhood without her mother. She could not
throw tantrums at her mother, as we all do.
She could not rest in her mother’s lap like we
all do. She could not even go to school and
learn to read and write. Her childhood was
one of poverty and deprivation.
Compared to today, Mother's childhood
was extremely difficult. Perhaps, this is what
the Almighty had destined for her. Mother
also believes that this was God’s will. But
losing her mother early in her childhood, the
fact that she couldn’t even see her mother’s
face, continues to give her pain.
Mother did not have much of a childhood
due to these struggles – she was forced to
grow beyond her age. She was the eldest child
in her family and became the eldest daughter- The penance of the mother
in-law after marriage. In her childhood, she
used to take care of the entire family and makes her child the right
manage all the chores. After marriage too, human being. The mother's
she picked up all these responsibilities.
Despite the onerous responsibilities and affection fills her child with
everyday struggles, Mother held the entire affinity for humanity.
family together with calm and fortitude.
In Vadnagar, our family used to stay in a
tiny house which did not even have a window, struggles overwhelm the family atmosphere.
let alone a luxury like a toilet or a bathroom. Both my parents carefully divided their
We used to call this one-room tenement with responsibilities and fulfilled them.
mud walls and clay tiles for a roof, our home. Like clockwork, my father used to leave for
And all of us - my parents, my siblings and I, work at four in the morning. His footsteps would
stayed in it. tell the neighbours that it is 4 AM and Damodar
My father made a machaan from bamboo Kaka is leaving for work. Another daily ritual
sticks and wooden planks to make it easier was to pray at the local temple before opening
for Mother to cook food. This structure was his little tea shop.
our kitchen. Mother used to climb on the Mother was equally punctual. She would also
machaan to cook, and the entire family would wake up with my father, and finish many chores
sit on it and eat together. in the morning itself. From grinding grains to
Usually, scarcity leads to stress. However, sifting rice and daal, Mother had no help. While
my parents never let the anxiety from the daily working she would hum her favourite bhajans

New India Samachar July 1-15, 2022 47