This is not about Mother India but about the mothers in India who are no less than mother India
My mother would leave the house for work by 6 am in the morning
She fixed the breakfast, packed the lunch, ironed the dress and set the alarm ringing
She never went to school but knows the importance of education
and hence she insists we study and study with dedication
My father died when I was still trying to crawl
The entire world around us started to fall
It was then that my mother took charge of the family affairs
when everyone else turned down her prayers
From sunrise to sunset, she worked in the fields
worked when it rained, when it was hot and humid, worked even when there were no yields
Despite all this she never gained the respect she deserved
for she was a widow and somehow she was to be blamed
She was a widow from a lower caste and was subjected to constant abuse and ridicule
because she went against every rule
Age was catching up with her
the educational demands were getting higher
In desperation she went to the bank to apply for a loan as a farmer
but was denied for she was just considered a landless labor
For the first time in my life i saw my mother breakdown in tears
she felt completely devastated and she was facing her worst fears
my mother had never told me about my father’s death
he had committed suicide since he couldn’t pay off the debt
the same bank had refused the loan then and they refused the loan now
my mother wanted to protect us from all this but the banks didn’t allow
my mother could no longer fight the fight
i was at crossroads trying to figure out what is right
I took a decision to move to the city and work as a taxi driver
my mother lost her self esteem, she could never reconcile that she was not a farmer
but to me my mother was not just a farmer, she was a fighter, a warrior, she was the Mother India
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