mother's day

[padmanabha]

(In connection with mother's day I met a few mothers who are above ninety and still active).


The calendar has a specia'l day to remember the ‘Earth’,
‘Environment’, ‘Health’ and many more. Now it’s even come closer home, we need a ‘Mother’s Day’ to remember our Mothers. Stop for a moment to ask yourself whether we need such a day to remember them. It is a vehement, “NO” that is the response we receive for many who believe that “Mothers are Forever” and theirs is the omnipresence we just cannot confine to just one day because the Mother is Life itself.

1. HH KT:-
“I disapprove. Mother’s Day is an alien concept and for us everyday is Mother’s Day. In our way of thinking it is Maatha, Pitha, Guru, Daivam. Top priority is given to Mothers” said Pooyam Tirunal Gouri Parvathi Bayi the elder daughter of HH Maharani Karthika Tirunal.
‘Our mother is a home maker. If she desired she could have accompanied her husband Col. G V Raja, all over the world. She concentrated on our grooming. Public demands took a back seat. She diced vegetables and cooked food. She actively participated in sports games and dramatics. With the demise of her son, in 1944 she withdrew from all extra activities.
She is 90 plus today and still she sits along with us on the floor while eating. She is a strict disciplinarian, and a structured personality. She does things as per her schedule. You can call it a kind of regimented discipline. She is keen on attending to her great grand children. It keeps her further active and alert. Her only grievance is that she cannot keep pace with the kids.
In my opinion, one should not sideline the elderly especially when they are disabled. Aging makes many hard of hearing or it affects their mobility. It is the duty of the children and grandchildren to ensure their participation in all domestic and outside activities.
She was born during the First World War. She witnessed the Second and the sweeping changes including the Man’s landing on the Moon. In Vienna, I visited an old age home which was part of an apartment. The ill fated elderly people never feel isolated. They can see children playing around. They can watch the flurry of activities going around.
2.Valiamuthassi: -
“She reads National Geographic Magazine, Reader’s Digest and Sportstar, even at 94!!!” says P A Goda Varma Raja about his mother Ambalika Tamputratti of Poonjar and Valiamuthassi of the entire family.
“She had no formal education. Her elder brother Alakkode Raja taught English. In spite of her blurred vision and feeble sense of hearing she still wants herself to keep abreast of happenings around us. We all admire this quality. She was introduced to Kalidasa, Banabatta, Bhasa and the likes in Sanskrit literature, at a tender age. Influenced by these great scholars she too ventured into composing Sanskrit verses. From the age of 16 till date she makes it a point to compose a song praising Goddess Saraswati during Navarathri. “Ramayana Sthuti” in Sanskrit is her only published work. She laments for, “the flow is less these days.” She is like a huge banyan tree. I do not no how many relished and took refuge in its shade and protection. She often says “Just like the hornbill awaiting showers, I am waiting for the slokas and hymns to reach my feeble ears” reminisced her daughter in law Vrinda and added “Her wish is to complete the ongoing work on “Guruvayoorappan” in Sanskrit.”
She is the sister of Col. Goda Varma Raja. “krishnovathu nathaanasman/ vrishni vamsa vibhooshana:/Prushnathu hrudayae bhaktim/ Sashtangam Pranamamyaham” is her recently composed verse.

3. Rajamma Amma Thampuran of Mavelikkara :-
The earliest image of my mother was one of fear. My father C K Kerala Varma was a calm person it was my mother who executed the punishment part. At seven she gave up that too may be because she thought it was useless, or, I was improving. One thing which had always attracted me and still makes me awe struck is her enthusiasm, for creative artistic and literary works. She started weaving colorful mats. Then she started playing with pen. She has authored poems, musical compositions and plays. Then she started playing with colors, which still she does and in these days she finds refuge and solace, from bereavement. Her daughter’s untimely demise was a blow. She finished her last work on12.8.06. The next work is in progress. Playing with colors is inherent for she is the only surviving direct grand daughter of the world renowned artist Raja Ravi Varma!! She is the living inspiration in all my endeavors.”

4. K KAMAKSHI Amma: -
“What we are today is because of our mother only” said one of the celebrity trios of music, Dr. K Omanakutti. “Decision to settle in Thiruvananthapuram was her wise move. It is this city which identified, nurtured and encouraged the talents of M G Radhakrishnan and M G Sreekumar and mine” she recalled with gratitude.

Aged 96, Kamashi Amma was a popular Harikatha Kalakshepam artiste. Our father accompanied her on the harmonium. During interval she would ask Radhakrishnan and me to sing one or two songs. We got rid off stage frights. A disciplined personality she insisted on things like the weekly oil bath. She was very bold and could shoulder the entire domestic responsibilities, and faced the ups and downs with equanimity. She is a strong-willed person. Like every mother, the affection she showered on all was the hallmark of her personality. She had a routine. I think that is what keeps her healthy even at 96.”
Parvathi Antharjanam: -
5. Parvathi Antharjanam of Sucheendram Vattappalli tharavad is ninety. She recites the hymns with clarity, and has a strong memory. She remembers to this day, the car festivals and the performances of Mohiniyattam by Devadasis at Sucheendram temple” said Dr. V S Sarma. My father Sahityahhushanam Vasudeva Sarma of Harippad taught her Bengali, Hindi and English. She is a great fan of MS and GNB and has seen their films. She is good in music as well. In spite of being a member of a huge aristocratic family, she took to a simple life style. She seldom wore jewels and colorful costumes. She is very strict and expected her children to obey her. She lost her husband at a very young age. Recently, she lost her son the renowned surgeon Dr. V P Sarma. During conversations she quotes scriptures with ease. She is a pious and observes fast. Her strict grooming made us what we are today. She is visually handicapped for the past 15 years and we read out books and scriptures for her” said Dr. V S Sarma, renowned writer and an authority on the performing arts of Kerala.
Aranmula Ponnamma: -
6. “Though I was her grandson, it was she who brought me up as I lost my mother at a very early age” said Aranamula Ramachandran. “I am so attached to her that once I left home at the age of eight to see her at the shooting spot in Chennai. I knew where she normally stayed. The news of me missing reached her, before I reached Chennai. In panic she sent people to railway station and bus stand. They could not spot me. I reached her place safely. I could not forget her mixed reaction. She cried, she scolded and sighed” explained Ramachandran, now working in the crime branch. She is like bacon light. Great artistes like Satyan once said ‘If there is a rebirth I want to be born as Aranmula Ponnamma’s child’. For every body she is Ponnamma and for me she is PoNNAMMA.”
When we come across the lives of these Mothers, we realize that they have never been idle and without expecting anything in return they have been engaged in their hobbies and activities for which the children and grand children extended full support. Getting old is not easy. But their lives can be made more meaningful!