The Aurora
‘Change’ has been the buzz word of late — what with the changing climate, political arena and a disease that has brought the world to a standstill. This is not another article discussing the paradox called change. This is about the person whose routine is always oblivious to the changes outside.
Her day begins at the crack of the dawn irrespective of weekdays and weekends. Time for her is measured with the meals of the day — even before we finish our breakfast, she is already raking her brain for the lunch menu.
People try to confine her to the kitchen, little do they know that it is the place where she weaves her magic. She keeps an FM radio for company and yet the clatter of vessels and the clang of the cutlery is her music.
While we grumble about having no time, she is adept at balancing the endless loop of cooking, washing, and cleaning. When she is not busy with these, she is either dusting the shelves or arranging the wardrobe.
Whether she chose this way of life by her own accord or was forced into it, she has learned to love what she does and finds joy in the little things. Her family is her world and she goes to any length to see them happy. But it irks her when she constantly faces misogynist comments from men and even fellow women alike, for ‘happily staying in the comfort of home without the need to work.’
Though the lockdown has not brought any change to her routine, she is happy that she has her kids to fuss upon and pamper with love.
We all agree that “A house is made of bricks and beams but a home is made of love and dreams.” However, it is she who plays a phenomenal role in making this house a home, which is why she is lovingly called the Home Maker.
She is the early morning dawn, the evening twilight and the beautiful moon of the night. Without her guiding light, the home plunges in to darkness.
I vividly remember a chapter from Little Women where Mrs. March, (mother of the protagonists — Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy) fakes being sick to teach her daughters the importance of household chores. Only when confronted with such a situation do the girls realise their mother’s importance and are guilty of their negligence.
Like the Little Women, this lockdown is our chance at helping her. We have our work/studies to be done and we have a long list of movies to be watched and books to be read. But let us take a little time off what we do and give her the much-needed rest that she has not taken in ages.
