Journey of Motherhood

Mother is a synonym for optimism. Mother always believes things will be better. There is a great song, coincidentally from

the movie, Mother India - Duniya mein hum aaye hai to jina hi padega

There is a line in that song that was always difficult for me to accept.

Gum jisne diya hai wohi gum dur karega (The one that inflicted pain will cure it too)

I struggled with that line. Now, I know it is just optimism - again from mother.

Now enroute to my maiden journey of motherhood, I wonder why God made it so difficult for humans to birth a child. Carrying a child for 9 months with all the pain, discomfort, social caring offered by strangers, the bottles of pills, difficulty in sleeping, waking up in the middle of night, frequent trips to the restroom, feeling thirsty, every person in the world giving unsolicitated advice, eating vegges that you don't like, etc. Why? God Why?

So, i started googling and reading how do other species go about with their journey of motherhood.

Monarch Butterfly: The lifespan of these species is only a few weeks. The female lives her life and dies after laying eggs. So the mother does not even get to see her offsprings. During the few weeks of their life span, depending on the weather, some have to travel hundreds of miles to go to another place for the right environment and climate for their offspring to be born and have food. With no midwife or doctor, with just the nature giving them signals, these insects are able to live their own life and put their offsprings in the needed environment for their growth and development and without any expectations from the children, they die after laying eggs.

Humback Whales: These are the monstrous mammals, ranging 50 to 60 feet in length and weighing in tons. The gestation period last for 11 months. During this period, the female travels thousands of miles from northern hemisphere to southern hemisphere. During the travel and the birth of the child, the mother does not eat anything and travels protecting herself from the predators and sea storms. The mother nurses the child and takes care of the child as it grows for 6-8 months. The father doesn't help out with the child rearing. The mother gives birth of the child all by herself, pushing the child out. Again, nature providing the signals for the sequence of events.

Otters: Recently, at a local university, an otter gave birth to a child. The otter rolled herself and was feeling uneasy and finally pulled her baby out with her mouth and then started carrasing. The complete gestation period is 10-11 months with the baby formation happening rapidly in the last 2-3 months. Otters usually delivers two to three kids at a time.

Elephants: The gestation period of elephants is 22-24 months!!. The mother gives birth to a obviously heavy child on her own.

So what drives the moms of other species to carry heavy babies and fight all olds during a long gestation period. Is it the Optimism, the undeterring faith in Mother Nature or the absense of MIL

And here we human moms-to-be complain with all the technology and comfort thust open us.

Sharing one of my poems here.

har subah nage paav jo gagri bhare

jaane maa kyu aisi hoti hai

dur rahkar jo har pal fikra kare

bachoki khusi se aapna pet bhare

jaane maa kyu aisi hoti hai

bachoki hasise jiska yovan nikhre

bachoke liye hi jo jiye mare

jaane maa kyu aisi hoti hai

hasi se sahe gar ho bachhe bure

aapni umra jo bacho ke naam kare

jaane maa kyu aisi hoti hai

ishwar, yam, dev danav jisse dare

ma ishwar se badi hoti hai

isliye maa aisi hoti hai

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Journey of Motherhood