These days of lockdown have made me realize how much less time I gave to my mother. Even when I was at home, I would be mostly indulged in my work. I never realized we had so much less interaction. It would be mostly during dinner and those 5-10 minutes of conversation before bedtime. At that time I would just complain about what all went wrong or excitedly talk about what all went well. She would guide or celebrate with me accordingly. I realize now I would never ask how was her day and she never complained about that because, it’s important to sleep on time. But this lockdown as completely changed my relationship with my mom.
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On 25th March our Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus. No doubt, I supported the decision but the idea of staying at home was not very exciting. But then we had to. The idea of my dynamic life coming to a sudden halt wasn’t very pleasing. When will I get to see my friends, get to eat outside? These were the questions troubling me. But trust me, I have found a friend in my mother.
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Quarantine improves child-mother relation
Life has slowed down. This lockdown has taken a lot of our freedom but in exchange has given us a lot of time. With no maid at work I decided to help my mother in her daily chores. And this was the very beginning of our new bond. We share household work and together we cook everything we crave for. I spend most of my day with her, learning from her all her cooking techniques. We crack jokes and laugh together. While doing any work be it cooking or house cleaning she loves to play songs in the background which of course I knew before but now I know her favourite songs and guess what we dance at some of them in the middle.
With friends not available all the time I resort to my mother and tell her about all my stories which I keep thinking about, all my problems which I have faced once or I am facing. And no doubt she deals best with them. From playing games and challenging each other to watching movies and series together. I listen to her and she listens to me. We have developed a deep understanding of each other.
No doubt we have our differences on some issues but now it is easier to solve them than before. I have come to appreciate her contribution in my life, in our family’s life, way more than before. That’s maybe because I am now closely observing her daily struggles. As a millennial I have also been complaining about poor understanding with parents but it looks like the solution was spending time together. We both needed time to understand each other better.
This lockdown is surely giving me a lot of beautiful memories. The support of my mother has made this tough time a thousand times better. I am definitely coming out of this lockdown as a better person and with a stronger bond with my mother.
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Saumya Tiwari is an intern with SheThepeople.TV