SALUTATIONS TO MY MOTHER

SALUTATIONS TO MY MOTHER, MAHAMATESHWARI,
AND TO ALL THE MOTHERS OF THE WORLD
ON MOTHER'S DAY
If it were not for the mothers of the world, today mankind would have ceased to exist.

The first Face of Selfless Love that we saw in this world was the Face of our Mother. It was God revealing to mankind that He was in fact Love, and that it was His Love appearing in the Face of the Love of the Mother.
When He sent us into the world He sent us fully protected and loved by a Face called a "mother".
Yet when we think of our mothers we cannot do so without a measure of sadness. For we know that as time passes we are going to lose them. And those who have lost their mothers know best how unbearable the shock is.
As a child I had seen a black and white Hindi Film in which a little girl, who had just lost her mother, was sitting next to the cradle in which her mother used to rock her, and she was singing:
"Ma, pyaari maa..
Bhoole na jhoole ke din.."
"Mother, O Dearest Mother!

How can those days of the cradle be ever forgotten."
I used to be filled with acute sadness whenever I thought of that song, and I used to follow my mother around my room to room in our large house, afraid that I might lose her.
And I did, many years later when she left the world. Although my father and my brother were also present, yet it was I who was destined to hear the terrible words from the hospital:
"Mr. Mehta, your mother just died!"
My mind became completely detached from the world. I left my job in the USA and quit Harvard and returned to India to live with my Father.
Although our house is filled with old photographs of my parents, and they bring back the past to some extent, yet they are no substitute for the reality that remains when both your parents have left you.
The words of another song fill my heart"
"Thy picture cannot console my heart,
When I speak to it, it does not reply,
When I embrace it to my heart,
It remains ever in silence.."
So to those whose mothers are still with them upon this earth, I shall say, value them as the greatest treasures of your life, and to those who have lost their mothers, all I can say is value those memories as the most precious treasures of your life.
And yes, remember, their Love for you was so great that even after changing form, they are still there in spirit form, looking after you!
And once again I bow my head in Salutations to my Mother and to all the Mothers of the world, as the least of homages on Mother's Day.