WE ALL HAVE SO MANY MOTHERS - REALLY!!

Mother’s Day is just one more valid reason to send flowers.. hug.. kiss.. give cards.. send flowers.. and express in so many words what your mind and heart feel every single day.. right? Right! And this is invariably to your mother and sometimes also your mother-in-law.. right? Right! Hugs kisSes card and flowers done? So now you’re off the hook until next year.. right? Wrong! Absolutely wrong!

If you think you have only one mother, you are SO wrong! Everyone agrees that a mother is someone who, apart from giving birth to you, is also the one who nurtures you.. takes care of you.. always has your back.. fights for you.. protects you.. cooks for you.. teaches you.. to walk.. and picks you up when you fall.. cures everything with a hug and kiss.. and just simply.. accepts and loves you.. unconditionally!!

Life has changed so much and so quickly over the last 30 years.. children have gone overseas to study.. decided to stay on and settle there.. jobs have become super demanding.. both partners have to work to afford and enjoy a certain lifestyle.. and there’s just NO time to sit down and relax.. and if there IS.. it’s only thanks to the various “other mothers” in our lives!

Kind neighbours who willingly take delivery of our gas cylinders when we’re out.. they are “helpful mothers”.. pre-school teachers who cuddle and comfort our howling toddlers are “emotional mothers”.. building security guards who ensure that no dangerous people  barge into our homes are “protective mothers”.. friends who send food when we’re sick (or quarantined these days) are “nurturing mothers”.. our staff who wait on us hand and food to keep us comfortable are “devoted mothers”.. 3 am friends who we call in times of emergencies are “dependable mothers”.. healthcare professionals both mental and physical are “caring & curing mothers”..vendors who home deliver whatever we need and want are “indulgent mothers”.. poor women begging at traffic signals or forced into prostitution are “desperate mothers”.. The Indian Army guarding our borders and taking bullets to keep us safe are “protective mothers”.. Mother Earth is our “abundant mother” blessing us all the time and so generously.. I could go on and on..

Mothers who bring us up.. and raise us to be the best version of ourselves that we can be.. praise when we’re good.. scold when we’re otherwise.. admonish gently so we learn from our mistakes.. are strict disciplinarians when the occasion calls for it.. but are still our best friends to whom we can talk about anything and everything.. dream beautiful dreams for us.. try their best to make them come true.. put our whims and fancies.. hopes dreams and desires ahead of their own on a CONSTANT basis.. celebrate our smallest victories and hush up our greatest failures.. and always believe that THEIR child is the brightest best looking most charming exceptional one-of-a-kind extraordinary human on the planet.. HATS OFF to all of them.. but do let’s also raise a toast to the various “other mothers” in our lives who understand us.. support us.. cheer us on.. keep believing in us.. act crazy with and have giggly conversations with us.. are fountains of wisdom and good sense when we need them to be.. and are just “rock solid” in our lives come what may!!

It’s now close to seven years since I lost my Mom.. but there are some incredible “other mothers” out there who’ve always had my back and this is just to thank you.. for being YOU.. and letting me be ME.. and still loving me through it all..

Biggest bear hugs going out to Brinda Jhaveri.. Jana Mahadevan.. Sumit Kanabar.. Viraj-Sushi Karnik.. Varsha Shinde.. Anu Thyagarajan.. Ujwala Shinde.. Kavita Khanna.. Renu Haksar.. Porus Kapadia.. Gayatri Ram.. Shriti Kapadia.. Manisha Desai.. Parul Jhaveri.. Lavina Roy.. Smita Mankani.. Ajay Kapur.. Praful Khandelwal.. Manish Shah.. Rajesh Pratap Singh..  and Amit Naik.. just to name a few!!

Happy Mother’s Day to all my “OTHER MOTHERS!!”

Love you all so very much!!