On the occassion of Guru Purnima!

(My Maa~ Dr Rekha Pande)

Today is Guru purnima…Chaatur-maas has begun, Devshayani Ashadhi Ekadashi has just gone by…Gods are taking rest! As per marathi calendars, the Shraawan month starts exactly 15 days after the normal Indian panchaang so our Shraawan is yet to come, it will start around 13th of August.

As I was talking all this casually with my husband today in the morning, a thought came across my mind… “Will my kids also know all this? Will they know what Indian month it is? Will they understand what is the importance of chaatur-maas? Similarly for every rutu in 12 months, there are simple dos and donts which we should follow as per nature and our biological systems…will they follow it?? Will they ever come to know what is like taking huge swings on Jhoola in amraayi as they get to play only in malls in Mumbai? Will they ever know what is a saawan ka mela of devguradiya (a small hillock outside Indore in MP where every year there is a mela in saawan and one gets to see everything…small gimmicks, saadhus, sanperaas, plastic toys,local sweets and what not!)?? Ohhhh there is so much that shold know, they should feel and they should follow…..”

Sitting here in Mumbai, where most of the parents are because of money and carrier, we really miss out on the small and original beauties of living life that are still there in smaller town places. I need to tell my daughters the wonderful things of our culture….I have to make them see and believe it, I have to let them feel it…But here in Mumbai??

As I put a brake on my thoughts and came back to reality, I could feel that how big is my responsibility towards them. A daughter who at the age of 3 and half says she wants to become pilot and the other who says I want to become a teacher, I not only have to give them wings to fly towards their destinations but I also have to see to it that the wings that they are flying with are strong, cultured and full of pride! I have to see to it that as they get tired of flying and want some rest in between, they return back to the nest which gives them warmth and love and care and affection…

Oh God! There is so much to do…Oh Maa, how I remember you today for you also must have passed through same emotions and you also must have done so much…so much that today I also want to do the same for my daughters! Oh Maa, where ever you are today, I salute you…which I could not do when you were still alive! I salute you oh Maa, my biggest Guru, on this day of Guru Purnima!

(I wrote this on the occassion of Guru Purnima for my maa....who is still alive in me, my kids and all those scores of people whom she touched by her sheer beautiful and caring nature!)