My mother radiated selflessness. From her I learned to be a mother.

Mother’s Day is a time to remember the most important woman in our lives. What would you like to share with us to celebrate your Mother?

Let me begin by sharing mine.

Today, as I celebrate Mother’s Day, I also celebrate and honor my mother Ambika Regmi, and the contributions she has made to develop me into the person I am today. I learned from her many, many things, but above all, I learned to be an understanding, compassionate, and a responsible Mother. Above all, I learned to be a woman.

I will share some of my childhood memories and stories that were passed down to me by her.

I recall as a child when I complained that I did not like the taste of okra during dinner, she used to tell me a story. There was a poor woman – so poor that she could not feed her children. Every evening she used to boil rocks in a pot of water. While the children all sat around the fire place asking for food, the woman would say, “rocks are still hard, you can’t eat them, you got to wait until they become soft.”  Children would continue waiting in anticipation and the rocks would never get soft. A sad story to share with a child, but my mother was a master negotiator in this sense. Every dish became delicious from then on, and we dared not complain again, because we knew she would repeat the morbid story. I love okra now and have learned to appreciate my good fortunes.  

She used to tell me that my great aunt Durga Regmi Mishra used to tell her that every woman’s life is an unwritten story. As I got older and continue to meet outstanding, strong and amazing women in different walks of life, I often think of what she told me a long time back. Indeed, each woman’s life is a novel to be written and cherished. From my mother, I learned to understand women and the camaraderie that binds us together.

My mother has this uncanny power to absorb pain and suffering. As I lay in bed almost dying of typhoid in early teens, I recall her sitting by my bedside spoon feeding me warm beverages and despairing. I heard her say “Oh God, please transfer the illness of my child, so I can take her pain and suffering. I don’t want to see my daughter go through this agony”. I did not understand her at the time. When I became a mother, I felt the same way when my sons were ill. I wished and prayed that it would have been me who was ill and not my children. My mother radiated selflessness. From her I learned to be a mother.

My mother’s responsibility towards her children and her devotion never ended. Every birthday of mine she calls in the family priest to her home to offer blessings. She gives alms to the poor and feeds the hungry in temples. She repeats this ritual of offering tangible items, feeding the poor and giving out alms every year on my birthday, my siblings’ birthdays and the birthdays of all her grandchildren. My mother continues to be the most devoted woman I know. From her, I have learned to celebrate life.

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone!