It’s
definitely not easy being a woman, but if I get another life and, if I get a
say in the gender I get to be in my next life, I will positively opt to be a
woman again.
When
I was 4 years old my father expired and my mom raised me and my brothers single-handedly.
She had never worked until then, she was always provided for by her brothers
and by her husband. But suddenly with the death of my father, she was pushed
into an alien world. A world that she did not understand, a world that looked
at her as a prey, a world that judged every move of hers.
My
father was working as a bank manager, and after his death the job went to my
mother. But since my mother had studied only till her 10th, she was
offered a clerical post in the same bank. Her brothers, my uncles, assured her
that she need not work, and that they would look after her always. My mother
already devastated by my father’s death had to face another colossal battle.
She did not want to work, because she was terrified of going out and working, a
world that she had never entered. She had doubts regarding her own capability
and she was happy to hear that her brothers would take care of her and her
children.
But
it was my father’s brothers who reprimanded my mother and persuaded her into
working. My uncles would have looked after our family for a year or two, but
then we would have become mere burden in their eyes. After all they had their
own families, their own commitments.
My
mother finally started work in the bank. I was just a child, around 5 years,
during that time. So I never realized the struggle that she had to face every
day. But when I grew up, my mother used to sit beside me and tell me her story.
Every day she used to come back from her work, with tears in her eyes. She did
not understand her work, the numbers, and the transactions in the bank. She was
terrified of asking help from the male members in her office, lest they take
advantage of her naivety.
It
was around this time that my mother became close to one of her female
colleagues, a Christian. Her friend tutored her, explained her clearly how
things got done in the bank and 3 decades later, she is still my mother’s best
friend.
My
mother had to work and take care of her three young children single-handedly.
Yes, she was never there for the Parent-Teacher’s meeting in my school, because
she was busy working, providing food and shelter to her children.
Image Source: Google Images |
My
mother is my role model. I had made a promise to myself that I’ll never be
financially dependent on anyone in my life. When faced with adversity I’ll not trace
my footsteps back. I’ll dig my feet deeper into the sand and wait till the
storm abates. And I’ll provide a decent education to my daughter, because I
know that by giving her good education, I’m making sure that she is ready to
face any hardships in life.
That
is what my mother gifted me, the gift of education. When money was not plentiful
in our house, she sent me to the best Engineering college, she helped me get a
Lecturing job when I failed to secure a job in a Software company. But I did
not want to fail in my mother’s eyes. I struggled hard, quit my lecture job
after a year, lived alone in Bangalore for 6 months and enrolled myself in a
software course.
Today
by God’s grace I work in one of the leading Software Company, I earn well, I
live a comfortable life. But I will never forget that I am what I am today
because of my mother’s struggle, because of her labor and tussle with the
world. I hope and pray that I can be as good a mother as my mother is to me.
This post is also submitted as an entry for the Woman of Substance Contest at Blogadda
Beautiful battle of a woman, and you must be even proud to know that it is your mother. I am honored to be born as a women, I think we are amazing. But unfortunately, we've been discriminated in many ways. No doubt, our species is coming up with the determination and intelligence we have in today's world. Sadly, rape cases and abuses still take place till today, more brutal than it use to be. Even petty issues, such as in work places and family management, we're still looked at as slaves.
ReplyDeleteBut hey, I think the experience you had with your mother, would probably have made you a strong women today. Your mother would have been astonished of herself for coming this far! Great woman, do tell her, that one of your blogger friends sent her appreciation! God bless the both of you.
Ps : I've only recently followed you. So you might be wondering who am I. Don't worry. Not a robot, a human definitely!