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Remembering to Forget


Amma….uppu…..” ( Translation : Ma.. ..salt) Padma screamed from the dining table. She started taking deep breaths as instructed by her yoga teacher to control her seething anger. Her mother had prepared her favourite upma for breakfast today as asked by her but like every time she had forgotten to put salt in it.

Forgot… "she sniggered “How can someone forget some basic things just like that” Padma recollected her school days when her mother would forget to put sugar in her milk sometimes making her irritated early in the morning. Forgetting salt was perhaps the most common thing that she did regularly otherwise every day there was something new forgotten.


She clearly remembered her 13th birthday when she wanted a pink frock to celebrate the beginning of her teenage and her mother had conveniently forgotten that aspect. She got her a lovely red dress for which Padma got complimented a lot. But then it was not pink right… and only a teenage heart knew the pain of not getting what it wanted. And the mother of all events was when she had kept something on gas and had completely forgotten about it as she went about doing the household work only to come back to a completely charred vessel which was rendered useless thereafter.

Source: Google Images
Initially till the time she was 10 Padma did not notice all this closely. But since last couple of years she had began to notice it and it irked her to see her father, who was a man particular about discipline, adore his wife who could win the Ms. Forgetful title at the international level hands down.

Padma had begun her journey as a teen and she now understood the meaning of having a partner in life and the importance of being compatible. She had just started forming an image in her mind of a person she would like to have in her life and the first thing that she knew was he should not be forgetful at all.

Seeing her mother rushing from the kitchen with the salt dabba in hand brought Padma back from her reverie. She tried smiling meekly in response to her mother’s “Sorry chitti…” along with a peck on her cheeks.

Dejectedly she got up from the table and joined her father in the living room where he was reading the newspaper. “Dad… there is something I have been wanting to ask you since long.. Please don’t mind my asking you but today I want to know the answer.”

"Sure beta…” he replied folding the newspaper and keeping it away.

"Dad.. how on earth could you be with a person like Ma for so long. I mean she is good but she is so forgetful and you are so meticulous about things. Does not it get irritating at times to bear with her nature?” she blurted out in one breath.

He smiled tenderly and replied “ Beta when we got married times were different. We lived in joint families and there were daily instances of things happening which could be easily called the onset of war. I was very skeptical about this new entrant in my family especially because I also barely knew her. But your mother with her nature had not only won hearts but had drowned the war cries behind tinkling laughter. My mother had a very sharp tongue and a shrewd nature but she with her forgetful nature barely remembered any insults. She gave love and got in return, that made life simpler. Your mother taught me that many times in life it is not only important to remember but also to forget things. And as long as she remembered the real essence of life,which is to love a little bit of less salt or sugar can be accommodated upon. What say?

Padma was left smiling on listening to this as today her father had helped her redefine love from the otherwise rosy image she carried of it. 

P.S: This is for all those loving mothers who might not remember to add that extra dash of cream to milk, or that pinch of salt to food but never forget to love unconditionally! Happy Mother's Day <3


This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda

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