Three weeks

Three weeks

Amrita is a mom of two kids, a girl Anugraha and a boy Achuth who are in their 20s. Her daughter being the eldest is now studying MS in Texas and her brother joined MS for last fall (In the US, they follow the seasons and Fall is from September).

Though it’s the same state, they will be in different cities. Amrita was busy last before year packing things for her daughter, like a small pressure cooker, the groceries, spices, dresses, cosmetics, etc and last year for her son. Both were given the traditional cookbooks which they both hesitated to take as everything is available on the net but their mom insisted. She now had an excel sheet with all the requirements, thanks to her daughter.

        The kids have now come home for the vacation which is for 3 weeks by the end of which both the siblings will fly together.

        Amrita is a blend of emotions now, so happy that kids are home, she wanted to make everything they liked to eat other than the regular cooking and wanted to pack some snacks. As they are used to US now, kids said everything is available Amma! That too in Texas, the things missing are only mom and dad! We almost get everything as in Chennai!

        Amrita was a home maker by choice and all her life was busy with her spouse and kids. Her hubby Mr. Aravind would leave for work by 9am in the mornings and before that she used to pack lunch for kids and send them off to school. By 9, she was free! Then comes the chores like washing clothes, doing puja, cleaning, dusting, bathroom cleaning, bedsheets, the general maintenance of the home before the kids came back by 3:30. Then the evenings will be spent with them, making snacks, helping them with school work, taking them to classes and back, buying the vegetables, fruits, etc..

Whatever may be the occasion, she always made sure she was home before the kids reached home! Her life literally revolved around the kids!

As her daughter left, she missed her but her son’s presence filled that gap! Now that he too left last year, she couldn’t take that up. She had that ‘empty nest’ syndrome! She was so free after her spouse left. All the skype calls too ended by that time, she didn’t know how to spend her days. She didn’t like to eat alone, to make anything as kids weren’t there.

Especially during festivals, she missed them the most! Though she made the delicacies, kids weren’t there to taste it to say its good, its bad, I don’t like it! What was made, still lay inside the boxes and was forgotten and finally made its way to the maid and the watchman.

Almost after 2 months, her hubby decided something was wrong! The woman who was the nucleus of the family is slowly missing the spark in her life! He took 2 days off from work and took her out. She felt better and he talked to her. After 20 years of wedding life, he asked her likes and dislikes, anything she wanted to do now, given the precious time at hand. He suggested she took up some classes which kindled a spark in her. She tried baking without an oven but ended up saying who’s there to taste! She joined some drawing classes, sloka classes one after the other. She wasn’t satisfied. She tried staying up at home but felt something missing. With his support, she joined driving classes and was gifted a two-wheeler. She liked to ride but was little scared, still. Finally, she landed in a part time job and liked doing it.

An year passed, and its again vacation time. She was eagerly waiting for the kids and they came for 3 weeks! She was so excited that she started making the snacks. The parents were at the airport to receive them and once they landed, she hugged them both. Both the kids had lost weight due to their busy lives and diet consciousness.

They all reached home and kids were jet lagged! When she asked them what they prefer to eat, kids said anything light is fine ma, don’t stress yourself! She made their favorite food but they ate little much to her dissatisfaction.

 They said they have only 3 weeks out of which the first week will go for stamping visa at the embassy. Both had different days of appointment. Amrita had planned the second week was get-together week, meeting all the friends and relatives, visiting any temples, outing and the last week is for shopping.

As they narrated their life in Texas, Amrita was all ears. As her daughter was completing the course, she invited her parents for the graduation. She got placement too and would have to move to another state. As Amrita discussed about her plan, kids said they weren’t interested and no shopping needs to be done as everything is available there. The kids said all vegetables, snacks, spices everything was available in Texas. In fact, her daughter had bought her a OPOS IP cooker which is the trending one in the US. She said she no more uses the pressure cooker and this IP cooker is the best. As she gave demo, Amrita was attracted to it.

Since shopping was not on the list now, they had good time to spend together. Her son insisted she take rest and they eat out but she made food from health perspective. They went to few temples, the beach, spent sometime relaxing and then came the final week, Amrita was dreading.

She made few snacks like Muruku, seedai and some laddus for the kids along with home made podis. The night came and she wasn’t able to control herself and cried at the airport.

It again took her sometime to come out of those 3 weeks! It was a blend of joy and sorrow. She felt too exhausted and wanted sometime for herself but couldn’t get that when she wanted! Now she has all the time but she doesn’t need for herself!

Life’s ways are strange! They test you with what you don’t want and see how you react and will present you with what you want when you least expect it! Life will make you say you don’t want it anymore what you have always wanted! Its an experience of renunciation!

Most of the moms of our country face this! Being the apple of her parents’ eyes, leaving them to get married, making herself indispensable at her hubby’s place, call it her home, adapting to that environment and then again changing according to the kids, their likes and dislikes. Once kids leave the home, either for education or wedding or work, she faces this emptiness. Some women are matured enough to handle this and others need help! They don’t like to be home alone and need someone to talk to. Thanks to Facebook and Whatsapp, this generation moms have the exposure to technology.

Cheers to these relentless mothers, who always volunteer to give their best to their families. Hugs to all the moms who bravely let go of their child alone into the wide world outside!

Maatru devo bhava!