Dear Zindagi Activity

I am writing about Jug in my life for the #DearZindagi activity at BlogAdda. My friend in my life has to be my mother. The pillar on which the foundation of my existence rests. Our friendship dates back to early 90s’ when she transformed her role from a mother to a friend effortlessly. Guess, that’s an inborn talent mothers have.   

Words are not enough to describe our equation. Still, for the sake of my Jug, I will try to define our bond: a supreme connection of one heart with another surpassing the menial boundaries of mere words.

I discovered a friend in her at a time when I was floating in deep black waters, struggling with a mighty wave called Adolescence. The confusing age, as it is, made me clueless about things I heard at school, read in newspapers or seen on TV. This period of identity crisis prolonged till my saviour came into my life like sunbeams glowing through heart of gloom.

Being there, I presume, is the first rule in friendship book which she always fulfilled. As a mother she has always been there. As a friend, she arrived in my teens. I sailed through that tumultuous period through her support and understanding. To that and many more situations which were to befall years later, she stood rock solid beside me.  

Sharing and caring are the two hallmarks of a real friendship. Both of which I found aplenty in my equation with her. Whether it was first crush, report card at school, moments of angst, that tender feeling of love, everything anything was shared in great detail with her. Pretence was shown door and originality was embraced during my conversations with her. Gradually, the foundation our friendship was laid.

Open hearted interactions smeared with dollops of care made this bond grow even stronger with time. Care is the driving force for any relation. Her responses to the questions I asked or advice I sought, everything revolved around my best interest. She placed my care at the highest pedestal.

My friend wore our friendship like a badge of honour. She cultivated this bond as she tends to vegetables in her terrace garden. Over the years, our friendship only matured and ripened like a wine in a vineyard. They say, the real friends once found should not be let loose. As echoed by Polonius’s advice to his son Laertes in Hamlet: ‘Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried/ Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel’. She stuck with me till this very moment as I write this piece on friendship. In sickness and in health.

Never did she let out my words to third person. This sole fact reposed my trust in her. And trust is the cornerstone for any relationship. Be it daily happenings at school or my unshaped random views about life, she was witness to all. A patient ear was lent, rants and reactions were heard; responses were noted. I always knew as an innocent child, a disgruntled teenager or a confused adolescent, that she is my final resting point.

My friendship with her is based on mutual respect. She respect me for who I am. What I said as a child was given due attention. As an adult, things only improved as I picked up language. Our friendship grew with time as I blossomed into youth. Stages of life kept changing but the nature of our friendship remained same based on love, respect, and trust.     

During my pregnancy, one person I needed the most was my mother. She did everything she possibly could. Heard me, advised me, took me to doctor, fed me, took care of me, bore my emotional tantrums, hormonal imbalances without any sign of exertion. I was difficult to handle. But only she could handle me.

Bearing labour pain, she stood for fourteen long hours tending to my back. I never asked for it. She judged my needs even before I could express it in words. That’s a true friend. My Jug, my mother.

Even the birth of my son and all his firsts have been taken care of by her. She has been my confidante.  

Through her, I have been able to access a whole new world within myself which until her arrival was elusive to me. My beliefs, perspective, ideas, identity, humility, creativity all stems from her presence. She is the one who invoked spiritual intelligence in me. Enlightened me with the supreme connection with the God. The access to the ‘best in me’ is the result of her guidance.

My inspiration is my mother who is an ultimate guide to wisdom. We fit each other as two pieces of jigsaw perfecting each other. She replenishes my soul. My true soul-mate.  Thank god for her with whom I share the ludicrous laughter that comes from enduring the ordinary everyday existence. I feel at this moment what Emerson said, “Friendship, like the immortality of the soul, is too good to be believed.”