Mother's Soul

 

This morning as I stood in my balcony, sipping tea, my attention was drawn to the cacophony of cawing, cooing and flapping wings. 

I peeped out and saw a crow trying to enter the balcony below, through a narrow gap. There were five pigeons surrounding him, not very close, and flapping their wings as if to scare him. 

They maintained a safe distance from the crow. 

Then I saw the reason behind all the commotion. Inside the balcony, in one of the pots there was a pigeon trying to ward off the crow's endeavor to grab her egg. She was using all her strength to protect her egg. 

The crow was not succeeding as he could only put his head inside the small opening but he kept trying. And the five pigeons did not attack the crow but kept watching. 

Although they outnumbered the crow, they let the mother alone fight her battle. 

After a few unsuccessful attempts, the crow grabbed his meal and the mother was left alone, circling the empty place where her egg was earlier, a few minutes ago. 

The incident made me ponder over the silence of majority and the valiant Mother's act. 

Such is the Mother's soul, soft as the clay for her offspring and tough as a warrier for their protection. 

And as always, I bowed before my Mother's soul, remembering all her selfless acts, sought pardon and prayed. 

Ruchitaa Dalal

May 8,2021