The Mother

            The mother slept beside her younger child. The older one, who till a few years ago, used to share her bed was now sleeping a little far away though not very far from her sight. She would not allow her to do so also. In the eerie stillness of the night, she could feel her son stirring and getting up, half asleep. Just a little rustle of the bed sheets woke up the mother.

Perhaps, he had dreamt a bad dream.

 She immediately pulled him closer to her body and he snuggled up to her. She marveled at the curvature of the female body that helped the child to bury and burrow his head into her body yet not feel the bones unlike a male body!

            She curved up her legs to enclose the baby. Once again mother and child became one as when he was in the foetus. Comforted thus, the child went off to sleep again. She tried to cherish the moment. Childhood may perhaps slip by soon, as had her own childhood.

            The elder one now coughed eliciting an immediate reaction from the mother. She woke up and listened intently to make sure that it was indeed her daughter who was coughing. She went up to her, sat down on the side of the bed and stroked her daughter’s head. The child was still coughing. Perhaps some warm water would do her good. Half asleep, she went into the kitchen, lit the gas stove, shooed away the cockroaches, and prepared some warm water and brought it near her daughter. The child by now had gone back to sleep. She woke her up gently, held her head sideways and made her sip the warm water. Having put her to sleep again, she put off the light in the kitchen and went to bed again.

 The poor girl has so much to study. She wouldn’t listen to her and keeps drinking cold water, which has given her the sour throat. Must give her some strong medicines to relieve her from the strain, she thought.

            This little girl who was her first child had brought so much joy and pain to her, she remembered. She wanted to have a baby girl as she felt there was always a bias towards them from the parent’s side. She wanted to become a mother, have a girl child so that she could bestow all the affection on her. She would hold the newborn child the whole day feeding her at the slight wimper. She had watched fondly as the baby grew up, cut its first tooth, started toddling and was off to school one day. Ofcourse the memories were marred by several sad incidences. She had to leave the small baby in crèches so that she could earn and support her family. She could never forgive herself for doing so. Those were the most painful days of her life. She had to take a decision. She quit her job and decided to work from home. The arrival of the second child provided another reason. Now she tries to spend as much time as possible with her two kids. She teaches them their lessons and tells them bedtime stories to impart values to them. She attends their P.T.A. meetings in school and listens to the complaints and compliments of the teachers! She uses her skills to prepare delicious food for the family. There is order and peace in the house unlike those days when she was flitting in and out of the house. She earns very little barely managing to meet her needs. Sometimes she feels sad at her inability to buy the things they ask for. But she is happy that she is a good mother at least.

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