 Thanks, Ma, but…
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 Now here's a whole new twist to Mother's Day.
It's a new trend all right. Setting aside a day to remember a particular event/person or phenomenon. So it started with the various 'jayantis' that India is famous for and then the retail industry discovered Valentine's Day - then there was Teachers Day, and now finally there is the phenomenon of Mother's Day.
Just read an article where the authoress paid rich tribute to her mother - and that gave me pause to think. And to feel somewhat envious. Envious - because I wish I could have been that fortunate to share that kind of bond. So here's my own slightly quirky take on this whole Mothers Day phenomenon.
I remember my childhood - the predominant sense was always of not being wanted. And found out somewhere along the way that I was one of those accidental conceptions - who came on the scene within a year of the first child. That was one piece of the jigsaw puzzle in place then. The predominant emotion that I attach to the term 'mother' is - this vague misty figure always clinging, always preaching, always telling me why things would go wrong - or telling me "I told you so" when they did.
So thank you, ma - because I am what I am in spite of you. With distance and time I can tell - that what I needed - you weren't able to give - but this made me reach deeper into myself.
Your insubstantial values forced me to think through my own - reject and accept whatever I saw on the basis of what my conscience alone dictated - irrespective of what "others would think".
Thank you for helping me see through hypocrisy at an exceptionally young age - and to appreciate the truth in Shakespeare's truism - "This above all - to thine own self be true"
Thank you for providing me with the strength to chart my own path in my personal life and my professional life - because I had such a clear idea of what I didn't want my marriage and my life to be like.
 Thank you for helping me understand that actions always speak louder than words - and being able to read people like a book - it's a talent that is of immense use to me professionally.
And, above all, thank you for the risk-taking capacity that I have today - because were it not for you always pointing out all the things that could possibly go wrong I would not be able to plan and execute complex financial transactions to the extent I am doing currently.
More than anything else - thank you for helping me grow up quickly - to the point where the equation feels turned on its head - I feel like the mother in our relationship today. I guess Freud would have a field day with that one!!
For me, the concept of mother has become the goddess mother - the all-pervading Shakti - the eternal feminine force - the force which can shape countries, continents and destinies.
Thank you for turning me away from the path of the straight and narrow - without you I would never have been able to discover her.
Vidya Hariharan
Business Development Manager
Swiss Re Services India Pvt Ltd
Phone: 91 22 5661 2161
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