All my life, I held my ground not to become my mother's silence, burnout, stigmas, abuse, adherence. It was only later that I experienced her as a holistic being, I felt her bare and layered persona and mind. With curiosities so beautiful, she can consume the stubbornness of men around her.

My mother has always been the guiding force even when the path ahead was unclear. She has been my mirror and I, her reflection, always showing me the brighter side of life, the beauty within self. I often revisit her ritual and ceremonial photo albums and think about how she must have passed these phases and situations in life to be here today.

As I am growing up I am noticing different sides of my Maa. I’ve started seeing her more as a normal woman than my mother; a woman with desire, dreams and so full of life and love. I believe these photos reflect the same! 

For the entirety of my life, as far back as I can remember, she has been a rock — resilient, resolute, and an unmoving presence. But as I look back, I see her in a different light. 

She had the world at her feet, with a future full of possibilities. But, like so many women, her dreams shifted when she got married, and her ambitions took a backseat to building a family and taking care of us.

Mother of all seasons!