A multitalented, multilingual, and multicultural personality - my mother has led an exciting and action-packed life with simplicity and humility.
As a child and her strong-willed daughter, I often perceived her humility and unassuming style as traits of her meek personality. I was quite a mischievous child in our vast neighbourhood, and many of the residents used to complain to my Mom about me. She would quietly listen to them with a smile, not responding, while I used to tell her, "Please fight back with them as I haven't done anything wrong!"
However, over the years, I have realized all these traits of Mom's personality to be her strengths. She has always lived for the moment, enjoying every part of it and making everyone happy. Beyond that, for her, it's about the journey of a child, daughter, sister, mother of three children, grandmother of four, & most importantly, a versatile music teacher. One of my regrets is that I neither learned music nor could I sing despite being an exponent's daughter. (Whenever my husband hears me crooning, especially when I am cooking, it's hard for him to believe that my mother is such a good singer and musician.)
With her heritage from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, she migrated to Maharashtra with her parents as a child but has never lost touch with the Tamil culture or the language. She speaks fluent Tamil and used to converse with all her sisters when they did not want us, children, to understand what they were chit-chatting. She composed music for Mahakavi Subramaniya Bharathiyar's poetry, which my father translated into Marathi. With inspiration from her idol, all-time favourite Bharat Ratna M. S. Subbulakshmi.
My mother also very lovingly used to make Idlis, Dosas, and Upma. I have never stopped liking or making it only because of my Mom, which leaves a lingering taste in my mouth. Despite having the horrendous Upma in my University's hostel mess in New Delhi!
In the 1950s, my mother must have been one of the few women educated in English Medium School and graduated in English Literature. Higher education was not the norm for girls in India. She and her sisters had the privilege of growing up with progressive, liberal parents who valued education and treated girls as equals.
Despite her multifaceted talents and abilities, my mother prioritized her family first. Also, she offered unconditional support to my dad's idealistic principles and passion for social change. In this process, she sacrificed her desires and wealthy prospects. I think she represents a generation of multitalented women of her era who followed a similar "Societal Expectation" from women. Perhaps she compensated for that by composing music to a women's empowerment song that I wrote a couple of years back to mark International Women's Day.
At 89, she is still entirely into her music and literature. She doesn't even have a TV at home; her access to news is only through newspapers. Of course, she has kept up well with time and uses her smartphone to browse WhatsApp, Facebook & YouTube to stay connected and entertained. Because of her sharp memory, she could recollect past happenings during conversations with her grandson Ankur. Ankur, a budding documentary filmmaker himself, has done a fantastic job capturing and compiling her memories as snippets of nostalgia. For this, I call Ankur her 'Great-grandson'!
When I was in school, I used to jokingly ask her, "are you Aai (mother) or a Bai (woman)? Now, after crossing 50, I understand every woman doesn't have to be a mother just by giving birth to a child. Womanhood is about love, compassion, and kindness. My mother has distributed that in abundance to all whose lives she has touched.
I am sure all the readers will find her resume equally exciting and engaging. I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up with a flood of job offers she won't refuse!