The Momma Clan

“Mummy, this cake is so yummy, please give me some more slices of it!” 

I earnestly used to request my mother whenever she made a cake at home. My Mom lovingly used to make the yummiest of cakes even in a pressure cooker. We did not have an oven in those days. 

Apart from the cakes, she also used to make delicious snacks, both sweet and savory, throughout the year. We never had to buy snacks from a market.

If you have the sweetest of memories, you never know how the time flies away. I’m talking about the blessed childhood each one of us has experienced in our lifetime.

Those carefree days of our school life, where we would only bother about our studies. Classwork at the school in the morning time, then homework at home

during the afternoon, and finally outdoor playtime in the evening.

We’d return home to have dinner and chat with the family members and then go back to sleep, after setting our next day’s school timetable. Life was as simple as that, more than three decades ago.

The games I played back then were hopscotch, kabaddi, chukaiya kabaddi, and of course hide and seek. I enjoyed playing those games almost daily along with my childhood friends. They were girls of similar age in our residential colony.

There were quarrels and tantrums amongst us, but we used to forget our fights very soon and laugh once again. So pure was our friendship. As much as we fought with each other, we loved each other dearly too. 

I believe that love at any age need not always show a romantic notion only. Sure, romantic partners do add zing to your life in your adulthood. But loving life with your favorite people around, and enjoying the simplest things without much expectations are enough to make us feel exalted.

The state of happiness, joy, or love is a blissful state of mind that is infectious to both the carrier and the people around. The feeling of love also conveys expressing care and concern not just for your dear ones, but also for birds, animals, and the environment. Such is the power of this emotion.

Even God wishes not to go to the sulking people, as he has designed a human being to always remain happy and to be in love to function maximally. So we must keep ourselves with plenty of joie de vivre.

I experience joy and love… basking in the winter sun doing mundane activities like stitching embroidery, peeling peas or even clicking pictures of roses and other flowers in full bloom in my garden.

I experience joy and love… while preparing a craft. Four years ago during the lockdown period, I learned to make paper roses, and rakhis during the Rakshabandhan festival using ribbons and pearls, and also a few dolls using small plastic bottles and bright pieces of lacy clothes.

I experience joy and love… moving around the home in my wheelchair and dusting off the furniture surfaces and the showpieces, as far as my hands reach out. By doing so, I always feel as if I’ve cleaned a layer of dust from my soul as well.

I experience joy and love… by just looking at the babies and small children, who show us to be pure, guileless, always remain joyous, and give a smile without any reason.

I experience joy and love… while reading amazing write-ups of all the fabulous women, who are my sources of inspiration on the writing platforms, and also while receiving their appreciation for my simple blogs and quotes.

I still remember a word of advice from my father, “Beta… Follow your gut instinct in leading a happy life, and for that, you must learn to say NO at times, to family and friends, even if they are disheartened. So, loving yourself should be the top priority.”

Certainly, only a loving, caring, and happy person can make others, young and old happy too. Just listen to them, have meals together, or simply crack a joke to make them laugh, and feel wanted. As much as possible, spread the love and cheer all around, and it will come back to us surely and for a good reason, for everlasting positivity.

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-Shashi Thakur