Mom

Motherhood is the most beautiful and satiating moment of every woman's life. The mammoth task of rearing a child becomes the sole driving force behind every woman once she attains motherhood.One of the most beautiful moments of my life was also undoubtedly when l had 21 years ago seen the face of my first born for the first time and another was when the Almighty had blessed me with my younger born 19 years back. Since then the centre of my life became the two children born to me. Day in and day out a silent prayer for their health and well-being goes on in my conscience, and that's what every mother does.

My profession the sublimest one i.e teaching has mostly female staff who have a strong motherly instinct and are thus able to relish strong bond with the students. Present day teaching demands rigorous in-service trainings. The teachers like me attended various workshops from time to time in order to enhance their skills. During these workshops we got to interact with the teachers of the various schools which fall under the cluster to which we belonged. It was during one such seminar we, me and my two colleagues cum best friends got to meet one teacher from a near by town. She is a fair, tall lady in her late forties or early fifties. Initially she became a good friend of one of we three. I appreciated her undying spirit of being an active participant. I would be ok with just casual 'hi' and 'hello' with her. But one of my dearest ones soon became extremely fond of her. We kept meeting three to five times per session. Gradually we the other two also started to like her a lot. We would look for her in every workshop. 

We were amazed when we got to work at the same school for CBSE marking. She impressed us with her culinary skills. She began to bring lunch for us almost every day. She became dearest to us. Then came Covid. Our interaction stopped.  Online exams, online webinars kept us away from eachother. Once the Covid time with the Almighty's grace was over and it became feasible for us to be back in our classrooms and later in workshops, we met our favorite teacher from other school. This time though she was as usual an active participant still we couldn't miss noticing that something was troubling her. We all were concerned and inquisitive. Since, she lived in a joint family with a bed ridden mother-in-law we thought may be her health wasn't ok. But, from our constant meetings we knew that she is someone who isn't afraid of household chores and that she loved her family a lot.

Finally one day she broke her silence in front of one of my two friends. Later on our friend told us that her elder son was having a serious medical condition. Mam has two sons. Her elder son is 28 years old and younger one around 20 years old.The eldest son of mam is as handsome as Punjabi singer Mankirat Aulakh, a tall and bearded handsome boy.

One day, during CBSE marking l couldn't help noticing the moisture in her eyes which was refusing to leave her though she was trying very hard to conceal that.On being forced mam gave vent to her pent up sorrow she told us that since childhood her son who was otherwise quiet active had a medical condition related to some nerve pain in one of legs that made it mandatory to get him some injection at the intervals to relieve him from the excruciating pain. Inspite of that painful condition he grew up to be a very successful young man. After completion of his studies he started to work in some company in Gurugram . He as mam told has been very particular about workout  and diet. He went to gym regularly. 

It was around the time when the news of pandemic in the certain  countries of the world has made it mandatory for lndia to also head down towards it's first lockdown. Mam's son came to stay with his family and to attend the wedding of one of his maternal cousins.  During that wedding there wasn't anyone who could miss the charm of the handsome lad.He was centre of the attraction of the people especially the ones whose daughters were of marriageable age, while the young man had already lost his heart to a beautiful damsel who was looking forward to him for joining her in Canada where she had shifted a couple of years back .

After the wedding when mam and her family returned back home little did mam knew that the longest and the darkest night of her life was awaiting her. At night not only her family but almost the whole of the small town woke up to the heart wrenching cries of mam's eldest son, who had unbearable acute pain in one of his legs. Neither pain killers nor pain relieving injections were helpful. Next morning  as per the prescription of one of the best local medical practitioners a blood test was conducted, the revelation of that report was going to be something really devastating for mam and her family.  On local level the doctor just hinted at the gravity of situation and guided them to rush their son to either PGI or Delhi. As recommended without delay they rushed their son to PGI Chandigarh where two bombshells were dropped on them all of a sudden. One that her son was diagnosed with the blood Cancer and another that he was admitted and isolated as a Covid positive by the hospital authorities. The strong first born son of mam called her from that ward and bitterly cried for help stating that he won't survive in isolation ward. The family was alarmed and ran from pillar to post and with some political aid got their son out of the hospital. 

Since, then a battle against the deadly disease has been constantly going on. As per doctors it was a miracle  that mam's son was fighting  every day growing more attacking medical condition. Mam's struggle  brought tears in my eyes. Her struggle  on daily basis to keep her son's morale boosted, looking after her old in- laws and giving her hundred percent  devotion to job is something matchless and praiseworthy. The sort of attention mam was giving to her son's diet , her boiling even bananas to free them from pesticides before  serving him was a sort of motivation  to us the incompetent mothers.

We parted ways once CBSE marking was over with a prayer in our hearts for her son's long life. Next time when we met  mam told us about the golden hearted girl whom her son had selected for himself. Though mam's son hadn't completely recovered and had to go through multiple follow ups post treatment specific for leukemia, the girl had brought the topic of their alliance in front of her parents.  Her parents on their level had sought permission from their priest for the wedding. We were very happy to see mam's happiness. But, mam told us that while the girl was willing  her son had refused to marry until he got fully cured. He didn't want the girl to suffer.That time mam told us about her younger son as well who had recently gone to Canada for studies after completion of his twelfth grade. This time we got to know more about mam's eldest born. Though the family already owned a car her son had bought a Thar.Mam told us that her husband hadn't approved of that purchase but, her son had requested the parents to let him live his life to the fullest as long as he could. Mam's son's love for life is really commendable.  He had resumed his official duties and had taken work from home. For a while there was a sort of happy illusion created that the young boy had finally killed the serpent of deadly cancer.

Next year again we got to greet mam for CBSE marking.  That time she was looking pale . She had lost her younger brother and mother-in-law. She told us that cancer was back and this time it was much more ferocious.  As per doctors there was nothing more to help her ailing child, all therapies were proving ineffective. His platelet count was dropping down and he would mostly run in very high fever. Still mam's family was letting no stone unturned to get her son cured. Only treatment at hand was bone marrow transplant.  This treatment was straight away refused by her son. He had done a lot of research and concluded that in any case he won't let his parents hard earned 50 to 60 lakhs being spent on him while the success of treatment wasn't hundred percent granted. Mam told us that the first step of the treatment would have been an injection worth rupees 10 lakh which was to be administered drop by drop. Secondly, only the bone marrow of her younger son matched and that meant he would have to leave his education mid way and return back to lndia. Her younger son was ready to do anything to save his sibling but the side effects of transplant  would have kept  him in isolation for atleast six months  and the treatment could impact donor also negatively.As far as her elder son was concerned she told that he might lose his eyesight forever, for which he wasn't ready at all. Mam's family  was trying  to procure indigenous medicine told by a few people for cancer treatment from as far as Bangladesh. They paid 60,000 for first lot of medicine  considered effective in such cases. This was first time when mam broke down in front of us. The thought that she knew  her son was heading towards a destination from where no one returns step by step,  and the helplessness she has to endure was leaving every  heart sad . As a mother even the slightest hint from my children about their being ill leaves me shuddering and fact that mam couldn't be but a silent spectator of her son's counted breaths gave sleepless nights to me.

Life keeps on moving  and again we got back into our own shells after marking was over. A few days back the friend who was the reason of my introduction to mam called me and told me that mam's son was battling with the last stage of cancer and that doctors  at AIIMS were trying some experiment on him. Day before yesterday l called mam to get the updates. Mam told me that when there seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel they received a call from a senior doctor from Ambala who was one of those doctors  who had attended on her ailing son. He told them about CAR T - Cell therapy meant for  cancer patients.  The cost of this treatment was also around  50 lakhs.But so far on this kind of cancer it wasn't done. This treatment had proved effective in case of shoulder and neck cancer. He offered them to arrange interview of her son with AIIMS doctors , since only after interview with the patient and disclosing the portent outcomes could they select patient for any experiment. This was perhaps the last hope for the family. With the Almighty's grace her son was  selected and since a month or more finally the CAR T- Cell therapy was started. Mam told that the team of doctors won't leave her son even till 2 or 3 a.m.at night. Atleast thrice even doctors lost all hope when 105 degree fever won't subside and his blood count dropped to as low as 6 gm. He was kept  in an ICU and no one was allowed to meet him. But the day before yesterday when l had called mam he was shifted in a ward and is now under observation for a month. His father is staying there with him. After a month a bone marrow test will be conducted which would tell about  the outcome of the treatment. Mam's family is keeping the fingers crossed.

For writing this blog l had taken prior permission from our dearest mam an epitome of unwavering  strength and resilience and today l request everyone who reads this blog to pray for mam's son's miraculous recovery. Since, if he is to win this battle with the cancer lakhs and lakhs of moms around the world will be spared from the pain that mam has to endure.