Mother

I know I haven’t been an easy child, 

There is no way I could be tamed or be mild.
At times, I need to scream and be apart,
But your tender touch is always there to ease my heart.

I get frightened when you are not in my sight,
You are the wall; the force to test my strength,
The chain I hammer at with all my might,
And yet you keep increasing its length.

It’s tough, I know, to be so calm and not be mad,
To at once play both good and bad,
Your care and faith never cease to come along.
The love against all odds still stays strong.

© Ila Garg

Sunday Surprise!

It was an unusual, rather lazy Sunday,
Everyone labelled it as the Mother’s Day.
I pondered on what to gift her,
Cards and flowers, I didn’t prefer.

I wanted to do something exceptional,
For my mother is so incredible.
In good spirits, I entered the kitchen,
And put on an apron; ready for the mission.

I took half a cup of cocoa and two cups of flour,
Then, kept looking for baking soda for another hour.
At last, I found it and took a teaspoon with great vigour.
Next, I added a pinch of salt and lots and lots of sugar.

I pulled out the recipe and read it on repeat,
Carefully, I switched on the oven to let it preheat.
After greasing the pan, I sprinkled some flour,
Cooking seems to be one of my mother’s superpower!

I sighed and poured a cup of milk, some melted butter,
And a tablespoon each of vanilla extract and vinegar.
Could you guess what I was busy making?
Yes, it was a chocolate cake in baking.

With a twinkle in my eye, I gave the batter a gentle mix,
And precisely added a little more milk as a quick fix.
Content with the results, I transferred the batter
to the greased pan; careful not to spatter.

Soon, the aroma enveloped the air and I heard a beep.
Quickly and excitedly, I reached my gloves in a leap.
The oven was hot so I called my elder brother,
Putting on the gloves, we placed the pan inside together.

That was followed by a long dreadful wait,
From a distance, I peeped to check the state.
With one final beep, the cake was done.
I took a whiff. Oh, I had so much fun!

At last, I spread some melted chocolate on the cake,
And put some red round raspberries for decoration sake.
I placed the cake before my mother’s eyes,

And then ecstatically yelled, ‘Surprise!’

© Ila Garg

Dangerous liaisons: ‘Mum’s’ not the word anymore!

By Ila Garg

In Indian society, mothers are always seen as epitomes of sacrifices. They are a daughter’s best friend, a confidante, and a counsellor. It is said a mother goes through enormous pain during her child’s birth but what if this friend turns into a foe? What if this person who brought you in this world decides to end your life too? Sounds unthinkable, right? But the traditional Indian mother is no longer traditional and the modern version seems to be nowhere near to the old one. So what is making these mothers so dangerous?

In the country that claims to preserve its age-long traditions, the crime rate has increased like a tornado. People have suddenly stopped thinking rationally and let alone brotherhood, mother-child relation also has lost its sanctity. Cases of honour killing have suddenly stormed up too. With the daughters being raped by their own family members and mothers telling them to suffer in silence, it is evident that an accusation on the mother killing her own daughter is no surprise at all. 

NewsGram brings to you, some of these cases where mothers were accused of being the murderers, after all ‘Hell is right here’:

24-year-old Sheena Bora was murdered by her mother Indrani Mukherjee. This controversial case recently got the attention of media when some evidences were found. The case is apparently laced with several murky twists and turns with Indrani Mukherjee being the prime suspect. The most shocking issue is that she never fully accepted Sheena Bora to be her daughter. On the contrary, they were both referred as ‘sisters’ till it was finally revealed that Sheena Bora was Indrani Mukherjee’s daughter. Though the exact reason for the murder is still under wraps.

21-year-old Bhawna Yadav was killed by her parents too. Two love birds got secretly married. They were happily leading their life. And then the girl’s parents took her away, promising a grand wedding. What happened then? The girl was murdered. Why? Well, this is a clear case of honour killing, a very sad one indeed. Bhawna Yadav was murdered in 2014 for marrying a Punjabi. No, there was no khap panchayat involved here. 24-year-old Abhishek Seth when he married Bhawna Yadav was deeply shattered and demanded a death sentence for her parents.

14-year-old Aarushi Talwar was murdered by her parents. In 2008, at a tender age she left the world only to let her murder be a mystery. Her parents were convicted of murdering her and the case was dubbed as honour killing when the domestic help Hemraj came into the picture. The media didn’t let this case die down so easily but yet no headway could be made. Her parents continued to deny the charges and CBI did investigate the case but still many questions were left unanswered. So Aarushi’s murder continues to be a mystery.

26-year-old Deepti Chhikara was strangled to death by mother. This is another case of honour killing that came in records. Deepti Chhikara was a primary school teacher, who belonged to an orthodox family. They were against her wish to marry a man from another caste and thus forcefully married her to a man of their choice. She had returned home from her in-laws’ place a few weeks ago. It was then that her mother, brother and uncle strangled her to death and later dumped her body.

23-year-old Kiran Kohli was killed by her mother. This comes across as a shocking case. Kiran’s mother killed her only because of her outrageous lifestyle. Kiran apparently was addicted to smoking and drinking. She also loved to party till late hours. Her mother made a few attempts to kill her and she tried to poison her food and smother her with a pillow. It was then that she hired her brother to get rid of her daughter; and this is not all.

Every year, the number of these incidents is increasing. Some come to light while others are still shrouded in mystery. Instances like these are countless. The apathy is apparently rampant and shockingly mothers are the culprits this time.

This article first appeared on NewsGram.