No Regret

Affectionately calling me
the apple of her eye,
telling me stories of flowers,
plants, butterflies and fairies
and lullabies under her stole
while making me sleep,
teaching counting and tables
while cooking in the kitchen,
keeping her hand from behind
on my head while studying,
putting her arm around me
to comfort me,
are the luxuries
that I couldn’t find anywhere
till date…

She raised us
with great difficulty
even during the harsh days,
after our father’s sudden demise,
but we never saw her sad,
always saw her doing
something or the other
without complaining to anyone
for anything…

Maybe it was her way
to forget her sorrow and
gather happiness for all of us,
she might never have celebrated
her happiness,
but treated our every achievement
as her own,
by making and offering
halwa and delicious dishes…

Even when we grew up,
she kept worrying about us,
if we were a little unwell,
or a little late,
she was always awake
and accessible…

Three years have passed,
but whenever I think of her,
I do not regret
that I have not seen God…

P.S. Today once again I remembered my mother, and wrote whatever came to my mind. But what has been written here applies to every mother.

–Kaushal Kishore