If you want to understand how to become better allies to people with disabilities, then join us at Embracing All Abilities: Including People with Disabilities at Work.
There were no secrets between my mother and me. After coming home from school, an hour was reserved for the two of us. It was our time.
How do I define my relationship with my amma? It’s been more than five years since she departed to the other realm, but the memories linger. As sweet as the payasam she used to prepare.
They say a daughter is the closest to her father. Well, in my case it was amma. Of course, I share a close bond with appa, and I have written about the feminist of the Manapadam family in a previous post on this website. But amma… How do I begin?
There were no secrets between my mother and me. After coming home from school, an hour was reserved for the two of us. It was our time. I used to narrate the events in school – What did my best friend bring for tiffin, which teacher wore what saree, how a girl was made to stand up on the bench because she didn’t bring her notebook. And if you thought an adult me would grow out of this, you were mistaken. Once back from office, the ritual remained the same. It was just that the colleagues replaced the friends, and bosses took over from the teachers.
Amma had this charm of making friends with just about everyone. As soon as the school bell rang, my friends and I rushed out. I was amongst the few girls who still got picked up and dropped by my mother, while my classmates travelled in the school van or bus. The girls made a beeline for amma, screaming Aunty.
My mother used to enquire about their studies, and they yakked about endlessly. In fact, until she passed way, she was in touch with all of them via WhatsApp, while I maintained a Good Morning relationship with them.
Ditto with my colleagues. They spent overnight at my house just to talk to her and relish her sambhar rice. A few of them even confessed their failed relationships to her, while she listened to them patiently, without passing any undue moral judgement. Speaking of the latter, even I have shared my list of ‘crushes’ with amma, while she giggled and sometimes mocked my choice of ‘worthless boys’.
Appa hated traveling. Amma was the opposite. Going to new places, befriending the locals, and the most important of all, buying trinkets for neighbours and families back home – these were trivial things she took utter delight in. She found a companion in me.
I will never forget the Kerala trip we undertook. Staying at a friend’s place in Kochi, we booked a car daily and travelled the length and breadth of God’s own country. She floored the drivers with her broken Malayalam and won over their hearts when she insisted they have breakfast with us. As our trip came to an end, it was the drivers and the owner of the car rental agency who lamented the most. It was genuine, not fake. I can vouch for that.
Neighbours waited with bated breath for her arrival from a journey. Keychains, small statues of Gods & Goddesses, and purses still find a pride of place in their homes. Seemingly small things, but it made amma happy.
I didn’t flaunt my love for amma from the rooftop. Nor did I have a business partnership with her. It was a bond of pure love, made special by mundane details.
Even after marriage, she was there for me. To stay with me. To help me while I grappled with office work. Mr. Hubby, sharing the same passion as hers, joined us as we embarked on tiny vacations. Her last trip with us was to Rameshwaram, as her wish of taking a dip in the holy waters was fulfilled. A sense of peace engulfs me as I think of it.
Maybe she did find the pathway to heaven after all.
Amma! I miss you. Are you watching me from the heavens? Does this article bring a smile to your lips?
Image source: a still from the film Aamhi Doghi
I am a boring IT professional, lost in the monotonous world of Excel. So, I seek refuge in Word, pun intended. And.. I am a crazy cat person, a badge I proudly flaunt. read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
What I loved was how there is so much in the movie of the SRK we have known, and also a totally new star. The gestures, the smile, the wit and the charisma are all too familiar, but you also witness a rawness, an edginess.
When a movie that got the entire nation in a twist – for the right and wrong reasons – hits the theatres, there is bound to be noise. From ‘I am going to watch it – first day first show’ to ‘Boycott the movie and make it a flop’, social media has been a furore of posts.
Let me get one thing straight here – I did not watch Pathaan to make a statement or to simply rebel as people would put it. I went to watch it for the sheer pleasure of witnessing my favourite superstar in all his glory being what he is best at being – his magnificent self. Because when it comes to screen presence, he burns it, melts it and then resurrects it as well like no other. Because when it comes to style and passion, he owns it like a boss. Because SRK is, in a way, my last connecting point to the girl that I once was. Though I have evolved into so many more things over the years, I don’t think I am ready to let go of that girl fully yet.
There is no elephant in the room really here because it’s a fact that Bollywood has a lot of cleaning up to do. Calling out on all the problematic aspects of the industry is important and in doing that, maintaining objectivity is also equally imperative. I went for Pathaan for entertainment and got more than I had hoped for. It is a clever, slick, witty, brilliantly packaged action movie that delivers what it promises to. Logic definitely goes flying out of the window at times and some scenes will make you go ‘kuch bhi’ , but the screenplay clearly reminds you that you knew all along what you were in for. The action sequences are lavish and someone like me who is not exactly a fan of this genre was also mind blown.
Recent footage of her coming out of an airport had comments preaching karma and its cruel ways, that Samantha "deserved her illness" because she filed for divorce.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu fell from being the public’s sweetheart to a villain overnight because she filed for divorce. The actress was struck with myositis post divorce, much to the joy of certain groups (read sexist) in our society.
A troll responded to Samantha’s tweet, “Women Rising!!” by adding to it “just to fall”. She replied, “Getting back up makes it all the more sweeter, my friend.”
Here’s another insensitive tweet by BuzZ Basket showing fake concern for her autoimmune disease. “Feeling sad for Samantha, she lost all her charm and glow. When everyone thought she came out of divorce strongly and her professional life was seeing heights, myositis hit her badly, making her weak again.” Samantha responded, “I pray you never have to go through months of treatment and medication like I did. And here’s some love from me to add to your glow.”
Please enter your email address