That lady I call Mother

A lean, fair lady; long hair and a red dot on her forehead. I’ve seen her everyday for a while now. Seems like she is trying to tell me something, but I do not understand. But she seems to find that cute too.

Today, after a lot of conversations with this lady, I managed to say something that she seemed to understand. She looked delighted! I must’ve done it right. Such a smarty I am.

Lady reads me stories now, of Fairy Godmothers and little girls who get eaten by foxes. I can now tell her the stories by looking at the pictures. Lady says I’m good at this.

Today she sent me to this new place called school and left me there with some unknown people. I dislike Lady for doing so, but she said I’m a brave girl because I didn’t cry.

I was on stage today. Lady was told she isn’t allowed inside. On stage, with those 100 odd faces staring right back at me, intently waiting, I stood there unable to say a word. That’s when I saw Lady!!! She was peeping through a little window at the back signalling me to start and when I saw her thumbs up, that’s all I needed to get me started. I came back home with a medal. Yup! I’m a born star!

Lady is late today. I’m hungry. It’s lunch time and by now she usually serves and feeds me my lunch. How can she keep me waiting today!

I’m done with 10th grade today. Pre university awaits. YAY!!! But I caught lady crying. She’s upset because I told her not to pack my bag or get me lunch henceforth and she says she’s going to miss that.

I’m an engineer now with a job in hand. But I have to move into a different city now. New people, more fun and no restrictions. But Lady calls me almost every 5 minutes. ‘I’m busy!’ I say and disconnect. The phone rings again in 5 minutes.

I wore my best dress, did my hair and was quite happy with how I looked. But my Doctor friend just made a face and said ‘You’re so skinny!! You look like one of my patients!’ That hurt. But I braved a smile and went back home. Lady knew something was wrong. I told her what happened and wept like a little kid.

This is what she said to me. “You are a smart, independent, brave young woman. You have always been my little star! I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful daughter.”

That’s all I needed and that’s all that mattered. What this lady thought of me. All these years, all the positivity I had, was not what I was born with, but what I reflected. I was the moon that shone bright because I had a Sun who believed I could.

That Lady I call Mother.