5 Things my Mom taught me!

That's me - before puberty hit me and
my mom - pretty as always :)

Puberty hit me good!
My mom still the same :')

The context behind this very special blog is because it's my Mum's birthday today (PS: You can wish her in the comments below). And to do something special for her I decided to write things that she has taught me knowingly and unknowingly. I think that the most special feeling for anyone would be that they have made an impact, an influence on someone. That feeling is just more than money or love. It's a feeling of respect, and how the days you've talked has to lead to that breakthrough. And being my mom, she knows me for 19 years now (and 19 days, but not my point). I have mentioned her and my dad in many of my blogs but they both have taught me so much more. So, here are the 5 things I learned from my Ma:

1. Hustle as much as you can when you are young - this will ensure a comfortable life later!

Now, I know this contradicts the point of 'Life is too short and live every day as your last', but still we plan each day, right?. We study for years for some entrance exams, we plan to get a job just because we can start living on our own independently, we plan a trip way before months and so much planning. This thing my mom has told me for years now and she truly believes this and over the past few years, I've even seen her making this true. Whenever I feel overworked and exhausted, she reminds me that it's all worth it in the end, even though there is no end but we do like to believe, right? that there is a finish line - a deadline as in assignments.

2. Learn to take B R E A K S!

As said above, I do feel exhausted many times and this has increased especially since last year coz it's exhausting to sit in front of a laptop all day and just run your brains. But this lesson comes from way back in my life. The back story is when I was in my school - as far as I remember this incident happened in 10th standard. So, as you know in the 10th standard - the BOARDS - we were pushed a lot in our tuitions for academics. I used to stay there from 2 pm to sometimes 9:30 pm at night while attending school every day. (Note: I wasn't in a coaching institute but I was in regular local tuition classes - that part of my life is another story - will share sometime else). Yes, so back to it again, so on Sundays, I never studied and I didn't touch my books the whole day. It was like my weekly break day. I used to do this unconsciously. I'll just watch TV the whole day, help Ma in the kitchen and just chill.

But somewhere, I used to feel so guilty that I'm not studying and my friends are all studying and they'll move ahead, etc. So, when I told my mom that I was feeling this, she told me, 'It's okay to take a break. You are working as hard as you can on the rest of the days so one day will not bother you much. So, just enjoy and get all the energy refilled before starting the next week.' And this line has stayed with me to date. Now, when I'm feeling tired I take breaks - it can be a complete day or an hour and I try to do things that calm myself. And this has helped me a lot, to be honest. It's very important to take breaks. Lesson learned!

3. No knowledge ever goes vain!

This lesson dates back to my coaching for JEE days (11th standard to be specific). So, while all my friends used to score damn good marks, I used to be not even in the top 20 of the class. I used to study and watch all these videos I can get my hands on but my marks, they just never seemed to differ. And one day, while feeling extremely upset and hopeless about studying I told my mom and she said, 'Learn as much as you can. Even if that knowledge feels useless right now, it'll make sense to you one day. So, don't stop learning just because you feel no result is coming out of it.'

I was disheartened, to be honest at first but again trusted my mom and went back to studying. I made notes of all the videos I watched or anything I learned. In my 12th standard, when JEE exam was near and we had to revise all the things we learned till date before the exam, I had a big pile of notes but I gradually went through all of them and I remember that there was this one question in my JEE exam that came from the extra notes I made. And that one question compensated all the doubts in my mind and I adopted these words.

4. Good things take time, be patient but don't ever stop trying!

My mom is a firm believer in destiny. She believes that God has plans for everyone and it'll come true. And whenever I feel what if I will never do well in this thing, she reminds me that try my best and stop worrying about the end results. Things will pan out on their own. God has his plans, trust him/her (Don't know which gender God likes). And over the course, I've made myself come to terms with these words.

A simple example would be that we had this course called Data Structure and Algorithms in my 2nd year. And if you know me personally, you'd know that I don't like to code and I don't want to. I used to cry while doing my assignments. My friends will be so enthusiastic about it but there was me - a noob. But, these words came and I started from scratch. I watched videos of topics which my friends were pro in it. I even cried before my exam (Ps: My mom had to take leave for my examination day because I wasn't feeling good). And guess what, I got a B in that course! For many, it'll be like blah but trust me getting a B grade in the course I hated -- BEST FEELING (not best but it was too good to be true). And the more I practice this, the more I believe in this!

5. You'll Grow

Now, this lesson she taught me unknowingly. The story goes like this: My mom got back to work when I was very young, and as kids do they fuss a lot and so did I. But my mom figured out a solution to leave the house for work without me fussing. And that was to send me to get a packet of Cheese ball with the maid. And this trick has worked successfully for years till I grew big. On returning, soon I would forget that Ma is not home and before realizing she'll be back. But that was when I was a kid.

Then, my school started and at school, I saw that many kid's mothers used to come and drop them at school and pick them up. And they all had a friends group as well. They all will stand in a circle and chit-chat. Now, being a kid I also wished that my mom could come to pick me up and know my friend's mother but due to her working hours being so long she couldn't. I used to go in a rickshaw to school and would come back in it too - note that this was very common but I used to feel bad. And to pretend that it's no big deal, I made up a perception. I would say that I am an independent girl and my parents trust me with this. And trust me I was a dramatic kid back then (Still am but okay) and I used to tell this to every friend of mine whose mom's used to come for pick up and drop. But beneath those words, I was still sad. And some days my mom used to take half days and would come to pick me up and they were legit BEST days of my schools. I used to sit in her car, would turn ON the AC. And to top it all, there was this fruit stall near the school that served delicious fruit dishes. It soon became the ritual that whenever mom would pick me up we'll go there. I cherished those moments a lot.

Growing up, I realized that my mom wasn't wrong going to work even though she has a kid. She is living her life and being independent and that's how things should be. Just because she has me never stopped her from doing things she wanted to do. She went on to this girl's trip and a conference and even though my child-soul never liked it but now I feel really proud of her. She has been teaching me things even before I knew it and before she knew it. So, that's on growing. But again that's the influence our parents have on us, right?   

These are just 5 things out of 100s of other things my mom has taught me. People say that I look a lot like her but to be honest, somewhere I wanna be like her too. 

So, thank you Ma for all the hugs and lessons! And a very Happy Birthday!