Mother's day

Dear Amma,

Eighteen years ago,when you first held me in your arms

the day you brought me to this world,the day you became a mother,my Mother.

That moment when I first opened my eyes, 

I saw your divine face which greeted me with a smile.

I remember the day when you first held me,
when I took my first step,you watched patiently.
The first words I uttered
and the first fall I encountered,
you were always there.

The endless sacrifices,countless excuses you  made,
just to be there for me, to take care of me.
You hated me for my grade,
yet you let me live comfortably.

The childhood days, I will never forget,
though I have made things hard for you
troubling you has filled me with regret,
now I understand, your words which I ignored back then were true.

The Transition phase

He has just turned 18. Thrown into the adult world, with endless responsibilities, he was confused. Not the teenager-like hormone-induced confusion, but confused as in what decision he would take. For the first time, in his life, people have recognized him(as an individual) and accepted his opinions.  Kids started addressing him as 'Uncle' (a word commonly used in India for adults) or other adults start calling him 'Sir'. At first, he was surprised that people are treating him with respect. He realized that he is not that rebellious teenager anymore. He cannot hang around with friends all day and waste time. He has responsibilities. He wasn't happy with the fact that he has been wearing the same length of trousers for the past year. His height has been static since he touched 6 Feet. His facial structure has changed. He lost his cute baby-ish face. To sum it all up, he has become an adult. Physically and mentally. But what about his emotions. He is still confused and helpless. As helpless as a new-born baby. But as a mature individual, he has to have opinions. It need not be everything under the sun but only the essential. Even this, he should have an opinion, the transition phase. He will not survive if he always sees the glass half empty. Neither will he, if he sees it half full. He has to be realistic about life and take everything as a challenge, not as a threat. 

Transitions exist everywhere. In nature, universe, human life, man-made phenomenon etc. The simplest
example of transition is Metamorphosis. Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation(Wikipedia).

 As I mentioned before, this phenomenon exists everywhere. Human life also represents metamorphosis. Not in a literal way but metaphorically. The adolescent phase represents the phase in which a butterfly emerges from a pupa(plural- pupae). Their slender bodies and long thin antennae represents maturation of body and mind. The intricately decorated wings represents a person decorated with unique characteristics. Fluttering around, the butterfly fascinates everyone around it. Every butterfly is unique. Wings are of different shapes and sizes and they have different features. Every individual is colourful in their own way(not in terms of skin colour). The similarities to a butterfly are many. But of course, we can find similarities with any other animal, species, objects, celestial bodies etc. I just wrote about butterflies because they are the most beautiful insects I could think of. Also, their life cycle, though different from humans, it is similar to the way we live our lives.

Now coming back to the topic of adulthood transition. There are many challenges one has to face. Some may be perceived as trivial but those trivial challenges can teach you things. By facing small challenges, you will be well equipped for a bigger and more important one. Students can relate to this easily, especially Indian students. They have tests throughout their academic year and at the end of the year, there are exams. Now only if we put effort in each test, we can prepare for the exam without any fear. Life is full of tests. There is no exam, only a bigger and more challenging test. Sometimes we successfully overcome it, sometimes we fail and sometimes we avoid it. The third one, in my opinion is a bad habit because if we avoid every test, we will be clueless during exams. If we are successful, we celebrate it. If we fail, we try to learn from it. That is the best way to live life and survive through the transition and then the joyous world of adulthood. It is what we choose to do, what decisions we take, we create our own circumstances. So, we need to deal with things ourselves, whether good or bad. It is also important to know that we are humans and it is acceptable to make mistacks mistakes. Imperfection is not a flaw, but it is our characteristic. A characteristic which cannot be changed by anyone. But we also have the ability to strive for something. Striving to be perfect is achievable. It is just like the speed limit of the universe(speed of light). There is nothing in this universe which can go faster than speed of light but it can achieve 99.99...%(add infinite 9's)of it. 

Equipped with these words(as told by his elders/teachers/parents), he can live an adult life independently. He is just another individual who is 1 in 7 Billion. He can choose his own fate, mark his path to success. He can look back at his past without brooding over it and plan his future without worrying about it. Living in the present and staying happy is the most important thing. His mission is to spread happiness around him, celebrate life and live happily till death. Not like fairytale endings which wrongly says "...and he lived happily ever after". Death is inevitable and mortality is another characteristic of humans.