Mother’s Love

Mallika holds her daughter's framed photo

Yesterday was Mothers’ Day. We witnessed an extraordinary outpouring of love everywhere towards mothers. Mothers were feted, entreated, invoked, glorified, beseeched, deified… because that’s the proper thing for children to do on occasion. And as usual, all of that was gone with the wind by the end of the day.
But a mother’s love endures. It survives even the life of a child and is always in silence. We were witness to this phenomenon this morning when someone presented Mallika Kagzi a framed photograph of her daughter who is no more. Followers of this blog may recall Mallika, tears streaming down her face, ‘celebrating’ the girl’s last birthday posthumously (ref post November 5, 2014).

Kajal Babani (in green) celebrates wedding anniversary

That was when we learnt how the 19-year-old, newly married, met with an untimely death in her husband’s place under mysterious circumstances.
Last week Mallika was spotted with an old, faded photograph of her daughter – obviously cut from a larger photograph. It was a shoddy job. But it was also obvious that there was no other copy of that picture. So Srichand Arora held it against the sun and a picture of the picture was clicked. Then through a fairly intricate process of digital restoration, the picture was cleaned, color-corrected and enlarged before being mounted on a beautiful frame. Mallika never asked for it. So when it was presented to her early morning today, she became speechless. She gathered herself quietly with the framed photograph in hand, lost in thought and looking longingly at her daughter’s face for well beyond 20 minutes... she even skipped the first half of the exercises.

Mohar Singh

Bihari Milwani leaves for LA today

We let her be. Nobody can fathom what goes through a mother’s mind in such moments.
Meanwhile, we were informed of another distressful case of diabetes in our midst. We were so taken in by Arun Patil (ref post of May 9) last week that we did not notice that Mohar Singh too had stopped reporting for the exercises. Turns out that he lost consciousness at home as his blood sugar level suddenly shot up to an alarming 600 mg/dL and he had to be admitted to Aasna Nursing Home, Four Bungalows (near Versova Telephone Exchange). He was discharged after 15 days, last Friday. Things are supposed to be under control now, but Mohar Singh is a shattered man – a shadow of his former self. Let us pray for his speedy recovery.
Bihari Milwani:
Kajal celebrated her wedding anniversary today. When is Dilip celebrating his anniversary?
Harish Wadhwa:
* Get well soon, Arun Patil and Mohan Singh. All my prayers for your quick recovery.
* I guess this must be a Silver Jubilee wedding anniversary. Don't worry Dilip-bhai and Kajal-ji, I am told life is smooth after the 25th anniversary only (LOL). Eh, have a great time and wonderful years ahead of togetherness.
* Congratulations for the blog crossing the 400,000-viewership milestone. Hats off to the dedication and good writing.
Srichand Arora:
WOW! CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL BIG LAAF MEMBERS. THE BLOG HAS CROSSED 400 THOUSAND VIEWERSHIP. THIS ACHIEVEMENT IS POSSIBLE ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BLOG MONSTER. CONGRATULATIONS, ONCE AGAIN.
Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
* It is good to know that Big Laaf has crossed 4 lakh viewers. Big congratulations to all members of and especially for the good coverage provided.
* Mom is the best gift given by the Almighty. She provides shade during rainy days and blessings during hey days.
* It is distressing to learn that diabetes is taking a toll on our members. It is time to take precautions. I wish speedy recovery to those affected and good health for everyone.