A life lesson well taught...

“The hand that rocks the cradle moves the world”.

This proverb covers the entire gist of how important a mother’s role is in the life of a child. Mother is the first teacher. She spends her maximum time with the child. The moment the child is placed in her arms, the child becomes the center of her world. All her activities are surrounded around the child; her schedules, tasks, and even a good sleep.

Since, the child is with the mother most of the time, the child follows her actions and it is a good opportunity for her to create a lasting impression in her child’s mind. So many famous personalities like the great scientist Thomas Edison and the great warrior Sivaji were inspired by their mothers to become what they were. And rest is history, as we all know.  Mother has the power to shape the present and future of her child.

From teaching the first letter to the child to making the child learn basic things, holding the finger to give support to the shaky legs and instilling confidence in the child to walk. Name it, and the mother is the teacher for all the life skills we learn. Most often, we underestimate these basic lessons, but if we observe closely our life would have been nothing without it. The child sees the world through the mother’s eyes. She plays a critical role in the child’s understanding of the environment and surroundings.

There is another famous saying which comes to mind which i can't stop mentioning. The saying goes like this ‘God could not be everywhere, therefore he made mothers’. All the religious scriptures elaborate much on the reverence and status of a mother. Imagine, who else could patiently wait for 9 months and bear all the hardships, lose out on shape, sleep, appetite, and not to forget the excruciating pain she undergoes during the labor. It is only the mother. Even after going through so much pain, her child is her most prized possession. Such is the amazing relationship of a mother and her child.

From the time of birth, the mother creates a permanent impression on the child. If she instills positivity and honesty, the child develops an optimistic view and learns to lead life in a positive and honest way and vice versa. Nobody can deny the role a mother plays in her child’s life.

This makes me recall an incident from my childhood when i was around 10 years. There were some guests invited for dinner and mom had done a lot of grocery shopping to make something special for the guests. The grocery included a vinegar bottle which was packaged in glass container. I entered the kitchen to drink water and out of curiosity was looking at the bottle. As luck would have it, I dropped the bottle of vinegar in the kitchen and did not know what to do. My head was spinning. I had multiple thoughts running in my mind as I knew that confessing the crime would actually incur the anger of my mother and she would treat me with a long lecture of how I was irresponsible and did not care for her. Sigh! Not to forget the emotional melodrama that would follow. I was also thinking of the possibility of getting a whack or even worse a slap, as my mother had been running around gathering things for the dinner and she was not in her usual patient mode.

I was in a fix. I just picked up the glass pieces and in the process hurt myself. But I did not have the time to indulge in self-pity. I could do that later too after finishing the job in hand. I took a kitchen cloth and carefully wiped away the vinegar so that no traces or evidence of my crime is left back. I looked around to make sure that nobody had seen me and I gave a pat on my back that I had accomplished my mission successfully. The day continued as usual. My mother went to the kitchen and started her preparations. And the unfortunate time (for me) arrived for her to use the vinegar. She realized that it wasn’t there. I was standing there as she searched around for the bottle. She didn’t get it. She thought for a while and guessed that she must have missed it while bringing the groceries. But, later she realized that she had kept it separately on the counter to prevent it from falling. She turned towards me and enquired, since I was the only one present at home that time. With a puppy face, I denied and refused to own up my crime.

My mother told me ‘Accepting mistakes and being honest is an attribute of the strong people’. She left me at that. I was standing at the same place. The words echoed in my mind. The voices in my head were telling me not to confess and make a fool of myself as I would face double insult, since I had denied earlier. But my mom’s words kept on ringing in my ears. After battling with my inner voices for a while, I decided that I was not a coward, and if I had committed a mistake I should be brave enough to accept the mistake and apologize. I wanted to show that I am strong and not a coward. Finally, with tears filled in my eyes I stammered and confessed my crime. To my surprise, my mom hugged me and told me that she knew that I had done it as she could hear the sound of the bottle breaking. She also saw the small injury i had inflicted upon myself while picking up the glass pieces. She started nursing my wound. I was shocked at this revelation. I stood there still. She continued talking and told me that she was testing me and just wanted to see if I would be honest and own up my mistake. The intenstity of my tears became double. I hugged her tightly to let go my guilt. This lesson in life has remained fresh in my memory.

This incident has helped me become a better person. Many times though, I have paid a huge price for being honest. However, I don’t have any regrets as it has made me stronger to face my fears and has given me inner peace and satisfaction.

Thanks Ma for everything! Words are not enough to express how amazing I feel to be your daughter. Love you loads.

 PS: “I am writing a letter about how a mother teaches honesty to her child with the Max Life Insurance i-genius #YoursHonestly activity in association with BlogAdda.”