My Mother

My mother knew both very well-
both the Ramayana and the Mahabaratha
told us a story everyday
from them without a repetition-
they had thousands of them inside
She read during prayer time
some chapters from some parts
the belief was that the sound of recital
brings a specific benefit-
we all look to the tasty prasad
that has also been prescribed-
but she was not angry that Ram
asked Sita to prove her fidelity
though she very well got her grief
and the travails of lava and kusha-
We can't ask her
nor would she have liked if we had done;
She just detested the guys
and the scholars who waxed eloquent
on the subject-
it was a sort of loathing..
she once told me- her daughter-
this is what it is
same things it is when
they bet on Draupadi-
the rest is all hogwash
it is nothing different
every mother is just a surrogate one
her womb is simply on rental
yet I could never make out
why
it was the same Ramayana
that she read till her last-

© a thiagarajan 07