Maa Tujhe Salaam!

It is said that God could not be everywhere so He created Mothers! And rightly so!

Through our da-to-day life experiences, we observe number of occasions that humble us with the greatness of a mother. Be it our own mother, or somebody else's. A mother's heart beats with equal emotions and feelings for all.

I realised this very fact through a very unique experience couple of days back. After doing my day's work when I came back home in the evening, aai narrated an unusual incident that happened at home. A cat had entered aai's bedroom through the window with her just born baby in her mouth. She found the cupboard open and gently placed her baby inside it and left thereafter.

Aai and pappa started building their own guesses as to why the cat left her child in the cupboard. Maybe that was a safe place that she found for her child to protect it from the pouring rains. Besides, the place could also provide it with the much needed warmth that a new born baby needs. Whatever the reason was, the caring mother had definitely found a place for her child that would satisfy her concern.

On the other hand, aai was concerned too. She was worried about the kitten's safety inside the stuffed cupboard and also because there were all chances of anyone opening and closing the cupboard in a hurry, unaware of the presence of teh kitten inside. The best that they thought could be done is that to remove the kitten and keep it safely under a roof outside the house, but a little farther. Accordingly, it was placed on a mat outside, hoping that the cat could locate it though the place was changed.

Unfortunately, the cat couldn't find her child and kept making rounds of our home and particularly the cupboard where she had placed teh kitten. We all were frightened about the kitten's whereabouts, as the cat kept knocking the window glass the whole night with a hope to find her kitten at the very place where she had kept it safely. Her number of rounds to our home were reason enough for us to realise the pain that the mother's heart was going through as she could not see her baby anywhere. She spent a sleepless night for her child!

We did not take it up seriously enough initially and thought that she will eventually stop looking for the child in the house and start looking for it outside. But, in the night when the worried cat-mother still kept a watch at our home through the very same window that she had entered, made my aai feel sorry for her and also made her guilty of commiting as grave a sin as to part a mother from its child. Often, we humans take the other species for granted (many times mistakenly or unknowingly) and consider that all will be well eventually. However, this very incident sent us in a shock and we cursed our inhuman act shown toward the poor animal.

The first thing in the morning that my aai did was, to make way for the cat inside the house and in teh cupboard for her to be assured that her child was really nomore present there. Aai then offered the cat a bowl full of milk to drink as she was sure that teh cat must have left all her hunger and sleep aside, in search of her child. My mother's guess was right and the cat drank all the milk in no time! After all, a mother's heart was understood by another mother, but sadly after the cat-mother had to undergo immense pain for the loss of her child.

Aai then asked the neighbourhood gardener to fetch the kitten from where it was kept, (a supposedly better place than its mother had spotted in teh cupboard)! The kitten was safe and sound and that left my aai with a great relief from any untoward incident that our wild imaginations were haunting us for the entire night (and also must have haunted the kitten's mother too, to a larger extent). The cat was not around, but aai was sure that she would visit our house once again, in hope! The kitten was placed on the mat at the entrance of our house, this time in the open and under all our vigilant eyes for the kid.

Within a splash of time, the cat appeared from nowhere and took away her child, far away from our sight. It was then that the cat once again showed us that a mother's heart beats for the well-being for her child, always!

This incident was an eye-opener for us and it made us realise that though we act with an intent to help others in our own ways, it might still prove to be a dampner for others. Mistakes happen unknowingly, but if we work toward rectifying it, there is no other way to put down the burden of the sin from our heart. Also, a mother knows what is best for her child, even a cat-mother!