Mum is the word! - Ajay Gehi - Article

Come Mothers' day and one finds a plethora of articles ranging from what gifts to give dear mom to a nostalgic piece about Ma when she was much younger, to what Mamma means, to how Mothers' Day should be celebrated..blah blah.

The fact is the urban mom of today is made of steel and butter: she plays a dual role, one at work where life is tough as hell. And the other at home, where she has to keep keep things spic and span, apart from making sure that the kids are in control and feeling loved. Of course the kids reciprocate by betting that their mom is the best. .

However in my mind all Moms are the same. They all tell you the same things repetitively, talk in a hilarious concoction of Hindi-Marathi-Gujarathi-Sindhi-Konkani and what have you to all the fruit and vegetable vendors, they address every one as beta, embarrass you in front of your friends by reminding you of your childhood habits and of course are providers of free food 24/7, for the most bhukkad (perpetually starving) of your friends!

What do the stars of the small screen have to say about their maternal parent? Do they believe they have common traits and which one of them immediately brings to mind Mama?

Rohit Roy aptly states just that, "All mothers nag, they will keep asking you to do certain things in a certain way. It's their attempt to make you better or improve your habits. I think it's just a mother thing. It works as their defence mechanism and their way to show how much they care."

On the other hand Ajay Gehi reasons that "all moms are identical in two aspects; first being that all moms cook very good food, that's why we are so proud of our ghar ka khana! Secondly they feed you the mandatory dahi with sugar before your exams and on all your important days, no matter how old you become!"

As we talk about certain habits that are typical of mothers irrespective of the century they belong to, Gautami Gadgil Kapoor points out a factor that puts mother on the pedestal she is. "A factor that separates mothers from the rest of the people in your life is love, her unconditional love for her child that is you . All mothers will try to be as fair as possible but they fiercely defend their kids at all costs and till the end."

Gaurav Gera echoes that sentiment adding that "all mothers' have a single goal: to get their child married. "When you reach my age (28) they want you to settle down, they keep asking you to get married. And every other female friend of yours appears to be a potential bahu and is assessed in that light too," he says with a laugh.

It's something that all mothers are: they worry about you, they stay up for you to have dinner, they treat your friends well - sometimes even better than they treat you! But they are the comfort zone you can get back to when you are down in the dumps, they take all sorts of nonsense from you, they tolerate you when you dress down, when your room is a mess and even when you just ignore her nagging.

"Take time off tomorrow, make it special for her! After all, she is one of the two reasons, you exist! Give your mum a kiss, a hug and tell her you love her so much," says Pawan Shankar, who's throwing a party on the eve of Mothers' Day.