A dose of Mom's love as a flu medication?

Down with flu and trying to catch some sleep, I kept looking up at the ceiling all night, thinking about one person - My mother. Why is that we miss our mothers more when we are down and out? Isn't it just amazing how better you feel just by the very thought not to mention their physical presence. Last night I wished I could be in her company, running her fingers through my hair and comforting me with her magic words, she has this astonishing ability to make me feel good.  Not that yesterday was a particularly bad day - what is a wee bit of flu in life's overall scheme of things and yet I wanted to be at home with her.

I think Moms as mood-lifters are one of the life's greatest yet often undervalued pleasures.  She has made my worst days into joyful moments by sitting beside me listening to my rants without letting me ever feel silly. There is nothing to beat 'mom-made' when it comes to comfort foods - the taste of her Aloo-ka-paratha with generous helping of butter and Rajma-Chawal still lingers on my taste buds. And yes, the Hot Rasam with Pappadom used to be just the perfect cure for the cold wintery evenings in Delhi. See, you can't really blame me for craving her company.

From a willing listener to the word's greatest cook, my mummy thoughts then drifted on to an uncharted territory - spirituality. My mother’s life has always been infused with an element of spirituality which she tried her best to instill in a care-free daughter. Like any other teenage-rebel, I never paid much attention to this during that time but have since come around acknowledging the importance of it. The power to forget things and forgive people, that most problems could only be solved with a clear head, to be god-fearing and that karma is knowing that every action of mine will have an impact on my life.

I know I have not been the best daughter she could have asked for, letting her down every now and then. But I also know, now that I am mother to Smera, the role she played in my life. True it took me an occasional flu and a bout of home-sickness to reflect on some of these things. But hey, maybe that's the point.