Family or Travesty?

Built on her sacrifice - a family?
Or merely a pathetic travesty?
One person the lynch pin?
And this is a reason for celebration?

If on just one pillar stands an edifice
Should we not fear this foolishness?
This phenomenon is actually a calamity
This is the societal equivalent of Mount Fuji.

No, a mother, just her, can't be the bearer
Of love, togetherness, family and culture.
It is not a lesson to teach humanity
That one can and should live off a mother's bounty.

NO more sacrifice. No more martyrdom.
No more false smiles. No more tears hidden.
No more diplomacy, when she wants to break free.
No more working through pain, when she wants to sleep.

No more someone I feel sorry for. No more pity.
NO more someone I admire, but want NOT to be.
No more the worn out, tired, LOVING entity.
No more the one without her sense of PERSONAL  identity.

No more the doer, deferring to a 'higher' authority.
No more a professional compromising for the family.
No more just a woman waiting to be a wife, a mother.
No more just a girl, growing up to please the other.

NO. NO. NO. NO.
NO. NO. NO. NO.
No more. No more.
No more. No more.

- Written on 7 April 2015 

- I just could NOT stop at the earlier one. :) I don't know if I am shivering with ragr or fever, but this sort of wrote itself out too. :) 

Mother

I wish a mother taught us right

To NOT sacrifice, but fight

To help others, yes,

But not be selfless.

To keep the peace

To NOT carve herself piece by piece

Guilt she inspires in women

False expectations in her family, her son

I wish she had not.

I wish she had fought.

I wish she had not people managed

When fathers stupidly ranted and raged,

Each time she ate what was left over,

Each time she pleased the other.

Is this the legacy that she wants us to emulate

This constant need to self-deprecate?

I want to scream, NO LONGER PLEASE.

You have a right to just be.

You have a headache, for God’s sake retire

You don’t want to cook, let others light the fire,

You are NOT the clean-up crew, others are there too,

Instead of jumping high, raise the bar for the family, do.

You DO NOT, SHOULD NOT come last,

I do NOT want to be in your this dye cast.

And those who blindly take and take,

Fathers, parents, children, Grow up for Pity’s sake!

-          - Written on 6 April 2015

-          - In response to the UMPTEENTH Stupid forward on the Greatness of the All-Sacrificing Mother. She is someone I NEVER WANT TO BE and actually do not even respect as much.

-          If the stupid father ranted, she should have brought him down instead of massaging his ego and keeping quiet, if the kid wanted extra classes, why did ONLY the mother have to sacrifice to get him/her the same, why was the food she ate AFTER everyone had eaten MORE than their fill, instead of ensuring that ALL sacrificed? Are these the lessons she should teach, one pays the price that ALL may prosper? I would so rather not have that selfish prosperity built on one person’s exploitation. And this systemic victimisation  is revered, not reviled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!! 

-      

       -   You know what, my mother DID NOT COOK when she did not feel like it. She did NOT cajole us, anyone of us, when we were being unreasonable, she did not let us win just because, she did not let us eat that extra dosa when there was a limited supply, she let us make mistakes AND PAY for them, and HER I respect. I would far rather have a friend, a human, a mother in my life than some Martyr!!!!!!!!!!!

-

Ill Again

Huddled under covers

Wrapped in layers

Wracked with high fevers

And with sneezes and coughs and tears.

Losing their crispness, these freshly washed sheets

As sweat and shivers destroy the washing machine's feats.

I would like to give up, but then see

My father, aged 73, plodding to office ceaselessly

My mother, a heart patient at 63, working tirelessly

And I resolve afresh to stop this self-pity.

So the bone-jarring coughs, the breathless sighs

Can do their worst, but I will continue the fights

Yes, it is hell, but I am getting well.

Of this travesty too, a merry tale I will tell.

-          - Written on 1 April 2015

-          - Self-Explanatory