Mothers Month Special : My Umma, the Super Mom

The year 1996, I am 12 years old, living the usual fun childhood in Dubai. My parents break the news to me. We are moving to India. Mom, me and my brother (my sister is already there in college). Dad will stay back and continue working. I hear words like localisation, Emiritization, job risk, children’s future but my 12 year old brain doesn't make sense of it.

Was I upset? Not at all because I didn’t know the implications of such a move.

Next thing I know, we are at the airport. Family and friends have gathered to say goodbye. I am happy with all the attention being thrown my way. We walk towards immigration and it is then that I notice mom’s tears and when I look back I see Dad waving but there is no smile on his face. He waved till he could see us no more.

We reach India and then it's the usual story - school admissions etc. and before you know

it we are settled in and start living our life in God’s own country.

Ok, so what does this have to do with Umma? Well, today I am a mom based in Qatar and I am down in Kerala for a short break. The number of things that I need to look into for my Little One is just crazy. From water to weather to food to travel, every minute thing needs to be looked into.

And to top it all, the Mister is not around which means missing him of course but also having to do everything on my own

All this just made me wonder how Umma managed it all those years back. And she had to

handle 3 kids, mind u- 2 in the throes of teen hood and one already there. And she had to do all this on her own. I cannot imagine how much she must have missed having dad around plus the responsibility of ensuring we are all well and looked after. Umma had never actually

lived in India before. She had been in Dubai most of her life so the place was very new to her as well. Of course there was family support but ultimately the responsibility did fall on her.

Today i know how she must have felt. And I feel nothing but gratitude and respect.

God bless you. ~ Thank you, Nikhila! And here's wishing a Happy Mother's Day to your Umma! And for those of you who would like the world know jut how special your Mom is, send us a picture of you and your mother, with a note on how she is an inspiration to see her story featured on our page. You can message us through Facebook or send us a message here.

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