A Brave Mother

Photo by Manuel Schinner on Unsplash

I was at my friend's shop chatting with him when this cheerful lady entered the shop full of colourful, attractive and artistically beautiful items. She had been looking for something interesting at the shop before entering in as I could see her through the transparent glass shelf. After getting in, she looked around for a while and asked for a incense box (Buddhists use this box to burn incense and offer to the deities). She kept talking to us in a cheerful and humorous tone as my friend was showing her the boxes of different sizes.She appeared frank and friendly. We wouldn't need to ask much because she shared her views and experiences so openly. She, then, chose one of the boxes and asked the price. When she was told the price, she asked for discount. When she asked how much discount she could get, my friend said "alikati" (अलिकति) which means "a little bit" in Nepali language. She asked for a good discount with a constant smile on her face.

My friend had said "alikati" which sounded like "ilikati" (इलिकति) to the lady. So she frequently kept using that word while asking for discount - like "can't it be more than ilikati?". We couldn't dare to argue further when she said it was for her daughter who was no more in this world. She then gradually began telling her story as if we are so closed to her. She told that her daughter was an air hostess who lost her life in a very young age. She also showed her daughter's photo. when she explained in detail, I remembered that the plane crash was quite a recent incident. But the mother looked so strong and cheerful as if it was so long ago. She told us about her husband and three daughters including the deceased one. Both the elder daughters had chosen their ways of life and it was only the youngest one who was living with her and was the closest to the mother.

The mother shared with us that when my friend said "alikati" with an accent, she remembered her daughter's college friends who would visit her home. She became so emotional that she shared everything with us as if we were her daughter's friends. Her words made us emotional too. She wasn't crying but the wistful feelings could be seen in her eyes. She said she had made a different room in her house for the late daughter. There she would put something new every month in her daughter's memory. The incense box was the next gift for her daughter. As soon as we came across her story, we could no more be insistent. Obviously, then my friend gave her the box at a very reasonable price.

When she was talking to us, her cell phone rang. It was her husband's call. She received the call and we could hear her saying "Yes,I had said I would go to Asan but I came to Bouddha". She didn't cry for her daughter. Instead she would walk out of her house early and keep visiting to different places to stop herself from shedding tears. It's not easy to be that way for all the mothers but she was a strong mother. I wish and pray - may she never lose her strength.

I first wrote this piece 10 years ago (approximately) on another blog, on an another site and also on my facebook note. I'm now sharing it here on this blog after all these years.