MOM
What makes a mom?
Two eyes that resemble yours, a hand that's always there for you to hold and the reassurance that you can always come home to them. Everything gets better as you lay in her lap and rant about life.
You come home and shout out to your mother for lunch. And realise that she's not at home. just then, your elder sister walks in with a tray and feeds you. Looking back, you realise how your sister acted like a mother that day.
You get to class and realise you didn't complete your assignment. As you fret over what to do, your best friend hands you a completed copy. Thanking her, you cannot help but think how she looks out for you like a mother.
You are mad at your parents for not letting you stay up late. You run to your grandmother and complain. She listens to you and calms you down. Being there for on your rough days as a friend - you learn to look for mother in her.
You will find a mother in that roommate who stayed up to teach you for all those interviews despite having spent long hours at work, listened to your rants during break ups and hyped you in front of their friends like you were their family.
The couple next door, who knew about everything from your school while your parents were swamped with work. they heard you, held you, they even told you what to do when nothing else made sense. What is it if not motherly love?
When you would struggle to hold a pencil in your tiny hands, that teacher who helped you write your first sentence is etched in your memory. they were your mother, too.
You go to the NGO where you teach the kids, and they look up to you with love. You smile back at them, praying for their success just as hard as they pray for theirs. Have you not been a mother on a few occasions, too?
There are kids who were born at some places and brought up in others. There are mothers who had to let their children go but chose to hold on to their memories. maybe, motherhood is about letting go but still holding on.