Women, in general are stronger than men. Stronger in spirits, emotions, cognition. On the slight chance that this statement instigates men, this is but the truth. A female finds her strength constantly transforming when she accepts motherhood. As a teacher, my mother found her maternal instincts attached to more than just my brother and myself. She had over 30 children, all just as special and unique to her. I have memories of her treating each one as she did us. It had its drawbacks, of course.
We were invincible. Arrogant, the kind who walked an inch above the ground because we were Seena Paniker's children. The vanity soon resonated with all the students who came to study under her. She was never the kind to coddle. No mistake could pass by unnoticed and undetected. The behaviour often had us young ones question her loyalty. Today however, we realise where she came from and what she intended for us to learn.
“I really saw clearly, and for the first time, why a mother is really important. Not just because she feeds and also loves and cuddles and even mollycoddles a child, but because in an interesting and maybe an eerie and unworldly way, she stands in the gap. She stands between the unknown and the known,” wrote Maya Angelou in her autobiography, Mom&Me&Mom. This is what a mother is capable of. She can shake the earth to its core with her sheer determination and force of love, the kind that is so strong, no man living can withstand. But this is also the kind of love that makes the world go around.
A wise woman once told me to “evolve”. To grow, and to never stop. To adapt and never apologise. To do right, and be right. To follow what I have been taught, and not for one minute question what I am capable of being. I find myself lucky for having the right female role models who loved and lived. From a very young age I have been taught the importance of supporting other women. Hollywood's #MeToo, and Time's Up campaign is one such example of what happens when women stand up for fellow women. When women support each other, incredible things happen.
March is special to me. With Women's Day celebrated on the 8th and Mother's Day set to be celebrated on the 11th, I find myself filled with love. Having been surrounded by some of the most spirited, sharp-witted women, each year I celebrate these two occasions with a lot of free-willed eagerness. If you or our organisation has or will celebrated women and mothers, feel free to share your joy, and we will publish it for the world to see.
