Chapter - One
The Women Who Taught Me Home
One day I was lying on the lap of my mother and discussing about our house and all these antiques which they had kept for years which had no value in the market. I asked her, why these items are still with us – we must get rid of these and make some spaces to adjust to new things. Then my mother says yes! We must have to clean our house of the unworthy things which have no value for us. The next day, I mean on the Sunday, together we started cleaning the house, collecting all the unwanted things and placing them near the corner to sell to the kabariwala. After collecting all this stuff, we now moved to clear the almirah, or the wardrobe. Yes! The one with the metal body having rust on it. But still tougher than the newer ones. If I tell you that Almirah was more than forty-six years old and was the gift from the maternal family for my mother and father during her marriage.
In the almirah, I saw a small old bag and looked inside with curiosity. I found out that the bag holds a lot of keys. I brought it to the mom and asked, 'Do we keep these old, rusted keys?' In my opinion, we've got to throw these old, shitty keys. But I was curious to know why these keys were collected in this bag instead of throwing them. So, with curiosity, I asked her what these keys are for – are they for any secret locks which I didn’t even know about? My mother replies with a smile, 'Yes!' These keys are of the secret locks. “Really, Mummy! Where are these locks?" Show me, nah! Mummy. She told me, “That secret lock is linked with the key, dear; it contains a lot of memories of the lock." Memories of Lock – what is this for, Mummy? I didn’t understand. Beta! These keys have so many memories with them.
She picked up the bag and sat on the bed and spread all those keys on her lap. Then she picked one and told me that this one is of your father. When he was young and living away from his home, that time he used to live in a small room which cost 250 rupees at that time. He barely survives during that phase because he couldn’t afford two meals in a day. This key was preserved by your father because it reminds him of the struggle of his young times. And with the smile on her face, she asked if we buy a lock today and what it will cost. I answered it is around two hundred rupees, maybe. At that it was one hundred and five rupees, but your father had no rupees for that to buy because at that time one hundred and five rupees means fifteen hundred approximately. It means he had to leave on the roadside if he bought the new one. Then he saw an old lock which was unfunctional and was thrown near his room. He picked up the lock and opened the lock's mechanism and repaired it by himself. That was the story of this key and lock associated with it.
My mother asked why I’d told you this story. I answered, 'I don’t know, Mummy; maybe you just loved to tell these stories.' Nah! Beta, that’s not exactly whenever I or your father tells you any from our life experiences, then we mean to teach you the life lessons for your upcoming future when you’ll be liable to decisions for yourself and for your family. Thereafter she explains whether you've got the money to buy something which you need, then you've got to hold on for a breath and ask a question to yourself every time – if you buy this, will the rest of the money be sufficient for the survival? If not, then just go for the alternatives, if possible, instead of buying that. Because maybe your work can be done without the newer lock, but you can’t survive without the less money properly.
August 20, 2026
Mummy, you were right at that time; I must have had to save the money for the emergency purpose (“Aap Sahi kehti thi mujhe hamesa paise bchane chaiye”). Today, I broke another lock in the room because I misplaced the key. You know I’ve only left with some pennies, and still I’ve ten to eleven days to pass. And this headache came upon me when I lost the key; I thought that I had to buy a new one. But then I thought – can I break this lock in the way so that I can use it again with the spare key? I tried, and I got successful in that, and still my lock is functional, and I need not invest in another lock. Now I can live the left penny for the next some days. Mummy, thanks for teaching me these lessons in my childhood. You know, Mummy, I learnt the way to live in these difficult situations. I’m being able to understand the situation in which my father lived in his past.
After some years, when I was in my postgraduate degree, I got to understand the actual meaning of the story and the moral behind this story. During those days, I forgot my key many times or misplaced it. Rather than finding that key, I usually broke the lock and used another lock. When I’ve left with less money with me and I again misplaced the key, then I broke the lock, but, in a way, so that my lock can be reused with the extra key. The moral which my mother gave years ago, I use that after long years.
The role of the mother in every family.
The role of a mother is not only to raise a child and feed them; instead, their role is very vast with the responsibility of moralising them. Moralising means to shape and nourish the character by teaching them – how to behave? How to empathise? How to live with independence? How to love the people who never leave their hands in any situation? How to be resilient towards the unworthy people? There are many more ways in which we even can’t express or be able to understand about the role and nature of our mother. As I believe in God, some philosophy says that GOD knows that they can’t be available every time, so they create a part of themselves which we all are blessed by their role and nature, i.e., our mother.
_*Chapter - 2, will be soon to be updated here!*_
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