Willpower

It is one of the most predominant quality in my mom. She is one woman who might give an impression of a 50 year old who is all of 5 feet tall and a little weak with all the running around taking care of us! She will walk with a limp when she says her legs ache with acute pain, but she will scale mountains once she decides it. Literally scale mountains! And her sisters are the same. I guess this will power is something that they have inherited from my grandma. The mountain climbing is a genetic thing, I sometimes wonder.

Before you get an impression that my mom is a trek enthusiast, please forgive me for I break your misconceptions. She is very much a homemaker with zero enthusiasm for any adventure sport. But she is a staunch follower of Jainism. There are many things, religion wise, which she follows that irk me no end and I don’t find reasons. But her conviction is unmoved and unfazed. She follows them with a strictness I am in awe of! I may not agree to everything she says, but nonetheless, I respect her choices. I have always believed everyone has their own way to communicate with God.

Before we change tracks, let me tell you that this post is about a feat that she has achieved which has left me speechless and spellbound. She has upped her benchmark conviction by leaps. A record of sorts for herself! She is on a pilgrimage to Shatrunjaya mountains (one of the holiest places for devout Jains) and has climbed all of 3800 steps; 7 times in 2 days. And that too without intake of a single drop of water or food! For the record, it makes an elevated journey of approx. 3.5 kilometers with a fasting for two consecutive days! Hats off. I am so darn proud of her. It is humanly impossible for me even to think of daring something like this. And she has done it, all by sheer willpower!

A shiver runs down my spine as I even think of what she must have endured during these two days. Rocky roads, parched throats, hunger pangs, swollen feet and more. She has gone through each of this just to put her beliefs and will powers to test! And all I can do in gape in astonishment when she talks to me with pride about how it was God who made this possible for her. And when I ask, how her health is, she replies with a smile, “I am all OK beta, just that my feet have swollen a little”

I salute and bow in honour of this fabulous and strong lady, whom I proudly call my Mom!

PS: She has undertaken this pilgrimage with 400 others of different age groups, all of whom have done similar fasts with 7 times climbing of  the holy Shatrunjaya mountain. A bow, for all of them!