“Mother is a mother still,
The holiest thing alive.”
Motherhood is the most exalted role of a woman. Woman even otherwise is strength personified but the role of a mother is venerable and above all. When a woman becomes a mother her capacity to love increases manifold.
The exception to a mother’s love is that it is unconditional towards her child. It is not as though mothers do not have expectations from their children, but the difference is that their love doesn’t dry up with unfulfilled expectations as in the case of other relationships. When the Supreme Power chose her as the harbinger and nurturer of life itself, it leaves little doubt to consider her as the soul of humanity. Motherhood is only one of the many demanding roles that a woman plays. She is a daughter, a sister, a wife, a daughter-in-law and a mother. But so is a man, a son, a brother, a husband and a father. Then why are women’s roles placed on a pedestal. The rituals of marriage are different in different religions, communities and countries. But one tradition that is universal is that the girl must leave her world of family and friends and the security of her home to accept a new home and family as her own and love them equally or more. This is easier said than done.
This kind of acceptance and ability to love proves that she has an intrinsic capacity to adapt and blossom in all surroundings. She is literally like a soul, that changes bodies and gives life to a new one every time. She lends beauty and life to the family she is born in, the family she is married in and the family she begins with her own child. A woman has been mostly given a secondary place in our widely patriarchal society. The seeds of this distinction were probably sown in the primitive age itself, where man set out hunting and woman waited in the caves looking after kids and cooking. Though it was not deliberate, this social setting created a mindset that women are not strong enough. It is true that men and women are created differently each having their own specific physical and mental attributes. And it is conclusive that men have physically stronger bodies.
But there is another fact that the labor pains which a woman undergoes while delivering a child is the most physically painful and exhaustive human experience known. So what gives her frail body the strength to endure the pain. There are no stimulants or supplements, what is there is her immense inner strength. The strength to bring forth a new life and be responsible for him. A number of times, the reason for a man and woman to part ways is the disagreement on issues of commitment. A woman wants commitment in a relationship while a man is unsure of giving it to her. It is correct that the desire of security and stability in life influences her to ask and look for commitment but at the same time she is also willing and ready to take the responsibility that comes with committed relationships.
It is the surety of mind and the strength of her self that makes a woman tread unsupportive on rocky terrain. A woman gives a man the privilege and pleasure of being a father. Call it her courage or ability, but a woman can become a mother without a man but not vice versa. Celebrities like Angelina Jolie, famous Hollywood actor, Sushmita Sen, former Miss Universe and Indian actor, are unmarried and part of a highly glamorous society, but have chosen to be mothers by adopting a young girl each and being responsible for her life. But we never heard of any man being single and adopting a child.
There are also innumerable women who give birth to children out of wedlock. Whether they give birth to such a child out of forced circumstances or choice is not the issue. But the fact that they muster up the pluck to face the world and raise the child is commendable. May be a handful of men will have such courage to accept their responsibility.
Today women are competing and excelling with men in all fields from law to literature, business to politics and environment to engineering. It is a vain debate to prove who is superior. Men and women are EQUAL BUT DIFFERENT. Both men and women are indispensable in the biological creation of life but it is through women that a new progeny sees the light. And hence even Gods honor her. A Sanskrit shloka read as follows:
“Yatra Naaryasthu Poojyante
Ramanthe Thatra Devathaha”
This means where women are treated with dignity and womanhood worshipped, there roam the Gods. God alone has the power to give life and life is nothing but a part of the Infinite Energy put into our body. And God chose woman as the angel to bring this life (i.e. a part of Him) on earth makes her a visible form of the Creator.
An embryo in a woman’s womb in its truest form is the manifestation of purest love between a man and a woman. It is through the love in hearts and the unison of bodies that a new life emerges and a soul enters. When a woman is the bearer of this life and soul, her existence is glorified on its own. A child’s first influence is also his mother. The lessons of love, courage and compassion must come from her because she is the living example of it. But today when the world around us is substantially lacking in love and tolerance it is probably because even women are erring in their values. Women, we have a greater responsibility to perform to change the world for better and a more mature humanity to present. What a woman enjoys is not a place of superiority but a place of reverence for who she is and what she brings – the gift of life and the soul to humanity. And it is a woman’s responsibility to hold this place with dignity and truth.
