When Mom Is Unwell

All through my life, I had never seen my mother sleep. I always found her awake when I woke up, till the time I went to bed.

There she was, lying on the bed covered in that brown blanket from neck to toe. Her pale face made weird expressions while breathing slowly in her deep sleep.

The entire house was in a state of mess.

Wet clothes lay drenched in the faded plastic bucket in the bathroom. Clothes danced madly while being suspended from the hangers on the balcony. The pickle bottle remained unopened on the dining table and the almirahs while being opened, generated an avalanche of clothes.

The chapattis tasted like chewing gums without any flavor, the fries were mostly burnt and the curries lacked either salt or oil. The fishes in the aquarium swam engulfed in sadness, so did the pigeons who flew near the kitchen window.

I looked at her one more time.

I remembered all those moments when I had ignored her calls; when I had put my headphones while she would be lovingly scolding me for my carelessness or when I overslept knowing that everything will be taken care of, also when I aimlessly scrolled through my phone while she was talking to me with all her attention.

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I thought of all the countless moments when I had taken her and her unconditional love for granted.

Now that she slept like a baby, I couldn’t help but feel a strong urge of getting inside the blanket and hugging her tightly. I wanted to make up for all those lost moments when I had erred, I wanted to show her how much I loved her from the deep fathoms of my heart.

But the doctor had advised her bed rest, so as she was sleeping, a deep truth hit me suddenly.

All through my life, I had never seen my mother sleep. I always found her awake when I woke up, till the time I went to bed. And I realized how much I wanted her to be the way she always was, awake and radiating simplicity and overflowing love.

As she blinked slowly, I almost leaped to her and kissed her cheek. She mumbled something that I couldn’t understand but at that precise moment, it really didn’t matter. I was just delighted that she was awake again and I wanted to see her like this for all the days of my life.

Holding her tight, with warm tears flowing down my cheek, I managed to whisper just one thing in her ears, “Get well soon, Mom” before my voice got choked.

And since that moment, I treasured her presence in our lives, consciously, more than ever.

First published here.

Image source: YouTube

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