Opinion| Travel Diaries: 4 am Story of a Mother

Dr Shagufta Kazi

In an era where motherhood is becoming so politicized, with questions roiling about having a career versus staying at home, breast-feeding versus the bottle — even dinner-time choices are scrutinized — REMEMBER, you must be then living under a rock or ignorant like anything if you think being a mother is cakewalk !. The emotional and physical turmoil from which a mother goes through cant be comprehended in words . There might be mental challenges through out the journey of motherhood that might even force them towards depression. And physical challenges which are countless and trying to break their willpower . But the love affair mothers have with their children melt hearts . Here is the story of a young breastfeeding mom, the rawness of whom at airport, cracks my heart open wide .
Her feelings towards her baby come from the deepest love imaginable, yet can sometimes make me feel like I’m going crazy.

Read 4AM STORY PENNED DOWN BY ME IN A VAIL OF TEARS :

It’s long que at the Bombay airport at 4am (oh sorry Mumbai airport, I connect a lot to the word Bombay than Mumbai as it h as deep connection with my childhood). But it’s ok as it’s not about me. It’s a lotsa noise everywhere, some announcements going on, people are in rush not miss their flight, someone yelling at the person who is kinda try to manage people. Some are not at all listening to any of these, they are listening to something which is soothing them through their earplugs…..may be some music or maybe voice of some loved one at the other end. In midst of all this I hear a cry, cry of an infant so very loud, the baby is trying to tell something. The mother of the baby trying so hard to calm the baby down putting possibly the bestest efforts one can put to make something to achieve. I notice she has two bags one a baby bag (may be recently replaced with her usual purse), the other one is her cabin bag which looked to me heavier, n she is in the que. Ahead of her are around 25-30 people( Looking at her and her dismay l concluded the world is selfish). May be after 25-30 minutes of struggle she reaches the counter. The struggle of the mother, the security personnel asking her to keep the things on the tray one by one for the security check in, baby not stop crying, she has bags to get checked and she only know my baby is hungry, I need to feed, I can’t let starve my baby. From a good distance I could see her struggle, my heart was crying for her, but I was far from her, even if I wanted to help her people would have dragged me thinking I am going ahead of them, breaking
rule. Nothing is more important than following the rule being in the que n waiting till your turn comes. People were blind to see, the crying baby and the helpless mother. Finally she could somehow manage to do all the formalities,,,,,,still one more left, go through the female security personnel for her check up, but as I was expecting the mother sat on the floor there. May be her heart would have been sanging when her baby started making a distinct breast request noise. What else could have been more important for a mother – It was only her baby who was important to her, n the hunger she wasn’t deliberately ignoring. Just she got the chance and she started feeding her baby, sitting on the floor. Without caring who’s watching her, who’s judging her, who’s thinking what about her. She wanted to hold on to every single minute of motherhood. We as a society must remember that, A mother’s love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path.

As I gazed this all , I felt trimmers and my inner-conscience was jaebbing me to loud — Hey mother you are not a stranger to me, I connect a lot with you, I relate a lot with you. Much much power, respect and love to you. How I wish I would have hugged you. Sorry I pictured you without your permission, sorry I couldn’t help you, I couldn’t help you in calming your baby, I couldn’t help you holding your bag for a while, I couldn’t help you in anything n anyway. Mothers are not human they are the angels on earth. We all know it but we often forget that no one in your life will ever love you as your mother does. There is no love as pure, unconditional, and strong as a mother’s love.

Dr Shagufta Kazi is a Lactation Counsellor, Child birth Educator and is a practicing doctor in Govt sector since 2008.