Dr Karuna Thakur
As far back as I can remember those childhood years; mother was the central and most visible figure of our life. She presided over a domain of what could be termed as invisible boundaries as all her activities centred on home, hearth and family and she never seemed to cross these at will. Apparently it was a small world compared to father’s much bigger and borderless world of men and matters. Yet her domain had the essence of unconditional love, warmth and comfort quite far removed from struggles for name, fame and recognition characteristic of the outer world.
I wondered which inner light guided her to nourish this small but enduring nest so tirelessly. Even without a formal education she had the ability to remind us of our imperfections and could tell us like all mothers I am sure do, how it was a sin to hurt, lie or cheat. This fear of sinning engrained over the years sometimes lent an element of oddity to our existence in the big world. But today I understand that even without any reading of Holy Scriptures, a mother’s intuitive sixth sense is the driving force of this universe and her wisdom incomparable to any school in the world.
I remember once a doctor came home to see her and happily burst out, “She looks just like my mother.” I guess all mothers have the same nature and character; they are eternal, devotional and intuitional. Mother was simple to the core, often turned misty eyed remembering people and times gone by and simply felt joyous at the bounties of nature -rain, spring or winter sunshine. She expressed herself best in the mother tongue which became an asset through our growing years and particularly during her illness to communicate from the heart. But more than that mother -tongue kept alive her mountainous roots that she so deeply cherished.
She summed up the philosophy of life too in simple but meaningful words. Do not look elsewhere to unravel the meaning and purpose of life; just look within and you will find your strengths, weaknesses and hidden truths of life. She herself followed this principle unquestioningly, firmly rooted to the ground, performing worldly duties and at the same time maintaining a sense of saintly detachment from it all.
Her last few months were critical but the luminous glow in her eyes seemed to suggest a wait which ended on the day she was told about the Janam Ashtami , the birthday of Lord Krishna . After an intense gaze at the deity followed by prayers she finally breathed her last.
Looking back I now believe that a mother’s world may look small but it is not so in reality. She holds within her a million such worlds and is a universe in herself as her life energies flow through numerous cycles of birth and rebirth to create the universe of which we become a part. For this reason mothers are said to be divine, Godly and an icon of worship.
Indeed in our life’s journey no one is worthy of being our first choice of a favourite person more than a mother and certainly there can never be a question of why it should be so.
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