A true Emotional Mother’s Day Story

                                    Welcome Friends

Today, we will tell you a Story

A Story of a mother

The story starts in 1947

on Today's date

May 7th

A cute

little, beautiful girl is born

very peaceful

Parents name her

Salam, which means

peace

The little girl is indeed a peacemaker

She just learns to coo

Starts to smile

when her parents look at her

gives the most engaging smile

August starts

THIS IS AUGUST OF 1947

After ruling for 300 years

England is leaving the subcontinent

The biggest migration of times

starts

From all over India,

millions of Muslims

begin to move

to Muslim dominant Pakistan

Politicians

Faith Leaders

spread such HATE

that

extreme bloodshed starts

This is not war

This is not a time of war

in which historically there is bloodshed

People,

are just trying to move

from one place to the other

Even in war, there are rules

to leave little kids and women out

But

at this time of partition

there is no rule

that is followed

Not 100 or 200

not 1000 or 2000

Almost 10 Lac (a million)

or more than that people are killed, at the time of partition

The neighbor is chasing the neighbor

in the same community

at this time

is blinded to

kill each other - Us vs. Them

In group and outgroup

Human doesn't keep humanity

and is just 'enemy'

In that enmity

little kids, infants

are not an exception

The little girl's family

were Moghul

And, Moghuls had a history

in India

The family lives in Amritsar

It's not too far from Lahore (Pakistan). It's in North India

Her (little girl's) father comes home, shaken

at night time

Tells everyone at home, we must leave tonight in the dark

People,

are killing each other. Mobs

are chasing

Someone says that the baby, Salam will cry

Babies cry. we will all be caught

The whole family will be killed

even she won't be an exception

Her mom's heart sinks

How can I leave my baby behind

A lot of families had to leave babies behind

A lot of

tragedies happened

But this mom and her elder sister

somehow, hide Salam

under their shawls

And

in the dark of night

the family leaves from Amritsar to Lahore, hiding here and there

Every second

is heavy

Anytime, all could be killed

all their life's earnings, gatherings

They leave. They leave that behind

They take a few things they can carry in hand, to save their lives

The whole family leaves with that

Somehow, finally, they cross the border. They reach Pakistan

They're relieved and thank God

that at least no one is chasing us anymore

We don't have anything in this new land, but no one will kill us

They left everything behind

The family settles in Multan

Multan is about 200 miles from Lahore

Towards south

Little toddler Salam

slowly begins talking

She sees her elder siblings, she is the youngest in the family

She sees her elder siblings

going to school

other kids in the neighborhood

She is fascinated by that and loves learning from a young childhood

But, when her school starts

The first day she goes to school, and

And what she sees is

The teacher is physically disciplining a kid

She sees that and runs back

rolls over from under the gate, and back to her home

I'm not going back there

This

This is

very painful dilemma

Anyhow, parents enroll in another school

she starts to go there

She studies passionately, with all her heart. At that time

Education isn't easy. Still, girls education

is not easy in many parts of the world

It's not a priority.

And obviously, that impacts. But, Salam

loves to learn from within that

that she

studies for her own passion. If someone didn't want to study

No one is going to say, back then

This is the 1950's. No one is going to care

or say that you have to go

Salam is not talkative, complainer

From infancy, she learned that if you cry

you get killed

You focus only on your work

Work hard

She wishes to be a teacher

"I want to be a teacher"

Like teachers, how they change people's worlds

Like my teachers taught me

Education is so hard

This is the way - I'm going to choose

for my future.

It's not easy at the time

because most women mostly

didn't work (outside the home). But there were few teachers

Female Role Models - who she made

her role model

That

School

it got done successfully till 10th grade

in a way that was a straight path for the kids

who went to school and stuck through it

College - going to college is a whole new level.

there is more resistance to go to college

There was a girls college in Multan

So with her passion, seeing

her

determination and heartfelt tears

her parents tell her - Okay

But, never let us hear any complaint from anyone

And, only focus on your work

Study

And follow a straight path. If you look around

if people started gossiping

we won't be able to continue

your education

But, what did Salam learn since infancy

Don't Cry, Focus on your work silently

And, work hard

In College

She completes her

education that way. She knows her books from front to back

Her favorite activity

was her

curiosity and learning

desire to be a teacher

She completes her Bachelor's

In the meantime

there comes a marriage proposal for her

The irony is the proposal

although it's a great proposal, the guy is a lawyer

But

He is Rajpoot. His family also

migrated from India

From Hisar (Haryana)

family is really great, but

Historically, if you know India, Moghuls

and Rajpoots fought several wars

But

here they're getting married.

She moves from Multan

to Chishtian, with her husband

And,

For a woman, in a new

place, in a new

Culture

She has to make her place, get herself accepted

is quite a process of its own

particularly

Salam is very soft-spoken person

and focuses on her work

Rajput

are more impassioned in

nature. If family, usually

even if

they're just talking, from the other room

someone listening might say, hope they're not fighting

But, Salam

with her adaptation, her adaptability

in a new environment

to modulate herself -

She has a good proportion of adaptability

And she in her new family's heart

makes her place

What was her passion? To be a teacher.

She reminds her husband

that

I want to continue my education

continue my education

At that time, graduating from Bachelors was quite an accomplishment

Her husband

obviously, he

also valued education

He knew at the time of reaching out for the proposal

that has completed Bachelors

He agreed and supported

She completes her Masters

And, at that time when not much girls studied

till Masters', she completes it

She completes her heart's mission of becoming a teacher

makes her dream come true

"Having kids"

in our society, there is a demand

to have kids, and

it should be sons (boys). There is a huge demand

Even though, the woman has no

ahmm

part in it (in gender determination)

There is always X chromosome from the woman

From man, sometimes it's X and sometimes it's Y

If it's X from father, it's XX - daughter

If it is Y

then XY

son is born

It's God's will

how He grants. But in society, there is

a demand to 'give sons'

She has

first daughter, then son, then

daughter, and now there is a lot of pressure that

it should be another son

When

the time comes,

from God's will

she gets

a son

Everybody celebrates happiness

and with that

she gets relieved that

okay, now another

crossed another stage of life successfully

to complete the family

By the time

that

little baby boy is just

only a few months

he, hmm

gets infected with Typhoid and Cholera at the same time

He gets severely dehydrated

Over there, still

Infant mortality rate

is quite high

hmm

At that time,

it was extremely high, more than 10%

of kids

and according to some estimates up to

25% in some areas

rural areas

didn't survive

First, the family tries their best at home to

hydrate the baby, but can't

take him to the hospital in Chishtian

They try there, but can't find the vein (for I/V fluids)

They tell the family the nearest bigger hospital

where you can take the baby is

in Multan

Nishtar Hospital

Those 4, 5 hours, every second

baby is drowsy, going

in and out

of consciousness

She hugs her

little baby tight with her heart

take him to Multan

Both parents

In Nishtar, fortunately

they are able to

hydrate the baby just in time, start the treatment

and the kid survives

That kid --is - me

And - Salam - is my mom

Very Loving

very nurturing

very caring mother

If you ever come to our

home

eat a meal with us

my mother

is going to say

please take more, you didn't eat much

When I was little, I was a very picky eater

A lot of food types

with certain kind of textures

I had a problem, as a

grown-up you think differently, but

in childhood

I didn't eat many different types of foods

Mom tried telling me a lot to eat balanced

food. You need balanced nutrition

And, when

despite all efforts, if I still didn't eat

she used to cook separately

just for me

Cooking twice is still difficult

but back then, if you

remember or have ever seen a kerosene

stove, cooking used to be far more difficult

From the present time, 10-20 times

more difficult - you could multiply

And, for mom, she would work at her job all-day

then cook for everyone

cook and feed everyone, and

still, if I hadn't eaten

even with all the difficulties, she

always cooked and never

complained

If

ever got sick

she stayed awake at nights

In winter, she often used to say, you

throw your blanket down

She would wake up, check and would put the blanket back

Very caring mother

When went to boarding school,

hostel, times when I would come home

she would always ask, 'You must be hungry'

Let me cook food for you

Food - cooked from mom's hands

And, mom knew very well

which

foods are my preferred foods

and would always

cook my favorite foods

And

She always believed in me

that

I knew that Mom

believes in me

which is a very significant thing, for

success

it's a necessary element

And at times it was such that, when I said

I want to become a doctor

even many class-fellows, friends

they don't believe in you, at times they even

discourage you, or laugh at you

but mom always said, work hard

you can do anything on which you

set your heart to

it and work hard, you'll succeed.

When

in Medical School, actually

fortunately matched at the same hospital, Nishtar Hospital,

(got my merit) where mom had brought me in infancy

now, matched at the

same hospital

So, that's where I completed my medical school. After

finishing, I said, I want to go to Lahore

I want to work in Neurology

Because when I was choosing psychiatry

so many people were objecting why are you choosing that

I wanna see if I'm interested in Neurology, there is an excellent institute with Mayo Hospital

which

is considered the state of art

in Neurology. I wanna see

if I like that better, instead

I'll pursue that. Mom said okay, go

Never held me back. Even though, she loved and cared, never held back

that

You reach your potential

(At Mayo) I really liked Neurology

But my heart stayed in Psychiatry

then many people

said all kinds of things that

"Working with crazy people, you'll go crazy"

This will happen, that will happen. So much

ignorant talk

But mom

said if your heart is set on that, then pursue

She believed

And

When

planned that I

want to go to the United States. Mom asked me Why?

I said, there is better training over there

I will get to learn more

Mom didn't stop

She said, okay, pursue

Reach your potential

At the airport, when

holding her tears back

she said bye

When I arrived

got here

I get a call from back home

then

Mom asks, Son!

You must be hungry

Make sure to eat something good

Time passes

very fast

10 years have passed

Facetime is a very good thing

You

Mom still worries, don't know if he ate or not

She is a very loving mother

Today is her birthday

Mother's day is also coming

so though, that today

say thank you to her and

share her story with

you guys as well

Moms are very special

Your

mom, if she is close to you or

you could visit them

then must

go visit her

Give her a hug

After every mother's day, usually

a lot of mothers

come to us

that kid

after they grow up

don't reach out. don't visit

You try that you

contact

your mom. If you

are away or in another country, call her, facetime her

do it(contact) regularly, do it other times

but now

every day is mother's day, but if one day

is special with the name of Mother's Day

then you must reach out.

And

for your mom

serve her

So, friends, this was the story.