My birth place was mother's womb
Thank God, I am not blind, deaf or dumb
My loving feelings will never go numb
Unknown is the day when I will succumb

During my ten months' comfortable stay
For my safety, my parents did truly pray
The growth of my brain that is grey
Had upon my mother's mood a great say

My mother's education suffered abrupt truncation
Which she accepted without any remonstration
She developed confusion in mathematical calculation
Was turned down her request for arranging tuition

She was trained in household management
She did the same with commitment
With none she engaged in any argument
Her flexible mood brought proper amendment

She was beautiful, God-fearing and homely
And viewed life's happenings very calmly
Her father commented that she accepted things tamely
Lord, the Creator, helped her look sacredly comely

Like other women, my mother also did marry
Hoping life would be full of joy and merry
About his job, my father's serious worry
Put my mother's calm mind in a quandary

Erudition and limited education clashed
By her in-laws, my mother's peace was smashed
By sad emotions her brain was lashed
Her hard-working tendency was encashed

Ruthless and cruel exploitation
And absence of chances for recreation
Brought in her mind confusion cum depression
Then medication started to check her emotion

Father had in his job great dissatisfaction
And regularly threatened to bring disconnection
He often compared about workers' inaction
Mother's tension grew beyond imagination

Having chosen a totally wrong career
My father kept us all in a constant fear
Our family's future remained unclear
For us mother became close cum dear

Through prayer and encouragement
She struggled to balance her sentiment
For any job-done, she would make a payment
Followed by a pat cum compliment

Among us she developed a strong bond
She detected our needs like a James Bond
Our love-thirst was quenched by her sweat-pond
Her love and affection made our fear abscond

At last came my father's retirement
Before that my mind suffered derailment
I inherited my mother's ailment
I also started prayer's employment

Praying technique I myself have invented
Life's agonies are by prayer circumvented
By my God-faith, my mother is enchanted
No longer, by fear, she is sadly haunted

She is ever in everything true
She is my God-sent holy guru
For me, her blessings accrue
We form the really best crew

Ours being a very small apartment
We struggled for space arrangement
She helped me via funds' investment
To buy a small flat bringing improvement

After my marriage, we separated
But, daily my mother is by me visited
Of course, her absence has deflated
My mind which feels defeated

She obeys strictly moral laws
And regularly chants divine mantras
She considers nothing as a loss
Once how miserable her life was!

She suffers from rheumatism
Her heart has full of optimism
Household chores are cumbersome
Her power to manage is awesome

I beg God to make us again unite
So that we can make her work light
All along she alone is showing light
She has indeed won a great fight

To God I strongly appeal
To turn in my favor fortune's wheel
Mother's wounded heart must heal
For which I will strive with zeal.

M V VENKATARAMAN