Motherhood : Poem - The Greatest of Joys - Still, Where Does It Get Lost Or Trapped, On Its Way From Doll-House To Home?

  .... I saw, birth-givers not becoming mothers and Motherhood craving in childless arms …. 

And I wonder, where did It get trapped? 
Where? ………..? 
Where is It struggling? On its way from doll-house to home? ....

To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colors of a rainbow.

— Maya Angelou

"We are born of love; Love is our mother."

- Rumi

Motherhood has a very humanizing effect. Everything gets reduced to essentials.

- Meryl Streep

Mother is a verb. It's something you do. Not just who you are.

- Cheryl Lacey Donovan

Motherhood

I was a little more than

Five years old,

Had not started

Going to school, yet.

Everyday,

I listened to the radio,

Heard songs –

Most of them Hindi Film songs ….

And was very impressed

By Lata Mangeshkar ….

One day,

Curious,

I asked my father,

“Pappa, does Lata Mangeshkar’s daughter

Also sing so beautifully? ”

“Lata Mangeshkar

Does not have a daughter.”

“Why? ”

“She is not married.”

“So what? ” ….

I wondered !!

I had the impression that

At a certain age,

Every girl becomes a lady

And a mother,

Bearing and rearing children ….,

A phenomenon as natural

And as matter-of-fact as

Flowering of plants, trees ….

“You are a fool ! ”,

My not-so-elder,

But wise brother quipped

And unknowingly spared

Pappa’s adult answerlessness.

Later on,

I grew up,

Accumulated age,

And I saw,

Birth-givers

Not becoming mothers

And Motherhood

Craving in childless arms ….

And I wonder,

Where did It get trapped?

Where? ………..?

Where is It struggling?

On its way from

Doll-house to home?

Vanita Thakkar (12.07.2009)

 

"Mother's love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved."

- Erich Fromm

"Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws."

- Barbara Kingsolver

A mother's love liberates.

- Maya Angelou

 

© 2009 Vanita Thakkar

Poem : Birth .... Ponderings On One Of The Most Contemplated Topics Ever ....

                         

Poem : Birth

Ponderings On One Of The Most Contemplated Topics Ever ....

An awakening

Or

Slipping into sleeping –

Intoxicating,

Invigourating …. ?

A new beginning

Or

A renewed seeking

Of answers to longing,

Eternal pining …. ?

A sparkling song

Of silent mystery,

A refreshing bout

Of innocent curiosity

For leaping high

And diving deep

Into unfolding, unwinding

Divine continuity …. !!

- Vanita Thakkar (January 29th, 2014).

 

Birth intrigues .... What does Shreemad Bhagvad Geeta say ?

Birth and death are as mysterious as they are inevitable. One who is born is bound to die.

Shreemad Bhagvad Geeta says that the body is the garment of the soul, in the 22nd verse - Shloka - of the Second Adhyaaya / Chapter. The soul - a drop, a speck, a unit - of the complete, infinite, eternal, timeless, indestructible and uncreatable consciousness - assumes the form of a body at birth and leaves it on death.

The body dies, not the soul. The soul leaves the body, along with the mind and the senses / tendencies accumulated in the world. The state of the mind attached to the soul determine the further journey of the soul - to be reborn as another body - as per the law of nature.

The cycle of birth and death continues till the soul overcomes ignorance of attachments, arrogance, ego and so on .... and becomes enlightened and pure enough to realize identity / oneness with the Supreme Consciousness, through various spiritual practices, called Yoga - which unite the individual soul - Jeeva - with the Supreme Soul - Shiva.