Today is Mother’s Day. In general, I don’t subscribe to the idea of assigning specific days to celebrate our relationships. I believe we should cherish them everyday. But these modern traditions do serve one purpose. When we are caught up in the hustle and bustle of life, they make us pause and think about the people who we may be taking for granted.

My mom has always been an inspiration to me. Among the three of us kids, I shared her wavelength the most. Growing up, whenever I had a problem, she would be the first person I go to because she would speak the same way my mind worked, calming my fears while helping me find a solution.

I have learnt several values and habits by watching her. Like what it means to be a true perfectionist. Any task she takes up will be planned and executed in the best possible manner. She has an uncanny talent for giving just the right examples for situations. She is confident, bold, straightforward, honest and never shies away from saying or doing what she believes is right. I could keep listing the things I admire about her.

But in the last year, I have discovered new-found respect for her ability to manage her home and work lives skilfully. She was always an ambitious student who couldn’t take up the profession she wanted because her family was worried about finding a husband for a “too well-educated” daughter. But she shook away the disappointment and studied the course she was enrolled in. She was and still is the only daughter-in-law in the family to have gone to a full-time job. She worked until her day of voluntary retirement while bringing up three kids in a nuclear family.

I didn’t fully appreciate how hard she had to work and how well she must have managed responsibilities in all spheres. Partly because she used to make it seem effortless. And partly because I spent most of my time admiring my dad for being a supportive husband. But recently, I have come to realise that she was the focal point for these changes, how she must have dug deep and demanded more of herself in order to accomplish all this – being the sole working daughter-in-law, executing her “duties” at home without compromise, building reputation and respect at work, managing nay-sayers with grace, holding together all the relationships of an extended family and bringing up three kids to be good human beings with the right values.

Times are different now. We women have more freedom than what our mothers had. While there is still a long battle ahead, today is a day to take a moment and appreciate the women before us whose shoulders we stand on. I have always taken it for a given that I would go to work. I never struggled with the internal battle of whether I should compromise on my career for my personal life. I owe that freedom to my mother. She taught me to live a life that I was proud of, give it my all and always hold my head high. I don’t think even she realises the biggest gift she ever gave me. The confidence to be myself and push at that glass ceiling even harder.

Thank you, amma. I love you.