Pratima Bhattarai
Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Dear Son,
Today marks the 6th year that you left me alone in this village and went away with your family. I feel so lonely today and always in this lonely village. I am always waiting for your arrival. No one is here to talk and listen to me. My dear, I feel completely empty without you, my daughter-in-law and my grandchildren. I wish you were here but you are not. I wanted to tell each and every moment we spent together to your wife and your little bravo but I can’t. What a fate this is!
Hoping of you coming back are almost over. I wish my daughter-in-law was here to take care of me and cook delicious food for me. I wish your little bravo (my nati) were here and playing with me, sleeping on my lap and forcing me to tell fairy tales “Hajurama aja euta rajkumar ko katha sunaunuhos na, please”; but here is no one to tell these things. I know your family is your first priority. But don’t you think that your mother is also not your second option?
My dear son, my asthma level including blood pressure is increasing day by day. These days, vision is also blurred, hearing capacity is also decreasing day by day. I am becoming weaker day by day but there is no one to take care of me. Same as, your father is weaker than me. I also have to take care of him. If we both are sick, who will take care of us? This suffered mother have to cook food, look after the animals, and there is no one to ask about hot or cold drinking water. I have to burn firewood to drink a cup of water.
My son, I remember those days how hard I took care of you and your sister. I used to cook your favorite food to feed you but no-one is here to cook my favorite food, to feed me. I still remember those moments when I used to shout at other children when they made you cry but at the age of 64 you are making me cry. Why can’t you look after me? Am I your burden? Why did I become so old that I have to rely on my children to live? What is the use of living in a big house where there are no children to look after? I have kept all your favorite things which you loved more than yourself but all these years I have been far away from the one whom I love more than myself.
I don’t want to say anything but my dear son, I hope your children won’t make you cry at my age. Wherever you and your children are, my blessings are always with you all. I hope your life blossoms like a beautiful flower. I know you won’t come; but I will never lose my hope. Every sunrise reminds me of the arrival of my beloved son. I hope one day you will realize how lonely each and every parent feels when they are not with their beloved ones and how hard it feels living alone without a child.
Yours lonely mom,
Devi Maya
[Pratima Bhattarai is a student of Grade XI at Koshi Saint James College, Itahari.]