Mother

I got back home from work today and, to quote a phrase that could stand to be abused more often, had a 'renewed respect for my mother'. I wonder how she came home each day after 8 long hours of going half-blind in front of a computer screen, traveling by train from Churchgate to Santacruz, shopping for groceries, cooking dinner in a hot kitchen, checking on my home-work, hearing every single detail of my day, watching the news and having a rousing debate with my dad about the state of the nation's politics, getting stuff ready for the next day... only to wake up the next morning and go through the same routine again. I've only had a 9 hour work day and my mind, right now, is swirling with so many thoughts that I can't seem seem to put a finger on a single one. It amazes me to think of all the things that she planned and accomplished in the same 24-hour day. Not just my mom, but several mothers of that generation are absolute “super-women”. Most of them had to straddle the demands of a generation of mother-in-laws and mothers who expected them to be perfect “bahu-betis” while proving that they are as competent as any other at work. No excuses worked on either front. I cannot imagine my mom coming home from work and saying, “I'm too tired today, maybe I'll not cook, but blog.” I think many, in our generation of middle-class educated women, have it easy. We seldom have to make any compromises, we are not just free to but EXPECTED to follow our dreams and reach our potential. We usually have the solid security of our family behind us. We are so unaccustomed to hearing a “no”. Does that make us unhappier when life sometimes declines us? Does the fact that we have only ourselves to blame if we fail make it that much harder to face ourselves when we do? Are we spoilt children who don't know how to cope when things don't go our way? I don't know the answer to these questions but I sure hope that we don't buckle. If we do, I think we may go back to our mothers, queens at “dealing with it”, for solace and advice.