How do you define an expert? I am sure we can Google up a fancy definition from the Oxford dictionary but I want to know what you truly think. WHO is an expert? Hmm…while you mull over it for a while, let me define my first expert for a.k.a. my Ma.
Well, to be frank I never really knew that she was an expert when I was a little toddler. She was just a lady who would feed me and keep me clothed.
Then as I grew older, that fuzzy image started changing. She would whoop with joy if I would make a few mangled sounds. In fact one day she burst into tears when I said mama. All I wanted was my Teddy Bear; that’s no reason to cry now, is it?
Then years seemed to pass by and I started realizing that there was a special bond between us. We were stuck to each other like glue. Always!
Then as I grew up; my first expert turned into my walking talking encyclopedia. I could ask her any number of questions and she would have an answer. Plus she was also a tape recorder! She could sing and recite poems at the drop of the hat.
When I started growing up more and more and my tiny little legs strengthened, she often doubled up as an Expert Marathon runner.
But alas, like all good things, my image of a goddess mother also came to an end. The minute I hit the growth spurt, she turned into an angry monster!
But alas, like all good things, my image of a goddess mother also came to an end. The minute I hit the growth spurt, she turned into an angry monster!
No matter what I asked her, she would say a big NO!
Can I have ice cream for dinner?
Can I go to the parlour?
Can I have a night out with my friends?
Can I have multiple piercings?
Extra pocket money please?
Yep…for these teeny tiny things…
To me she became a Sea of Contradictions.
You see she wanted me to become independent yet would insist on accompanying me to a market that was just five minutes away.
She wanted me to learn the importance of money but her heart would melt if I would cry for a pair of shoes that I REALLY wanted.
She wanted me to see the world but I was never allowed to go for outstation picnics!
She wanted me to free and independent yet I did not have the freedom to play and run for as long as I wanted.
She did not want to be a disciplinarian but she couldn’t stop herself from being strict.
I would be frustrated with her. I still am! She can drive me nuts. But when I reached the ripe old age of 21 and had to move away from home, I realized that whatever she did, would stem from her fear for keeping me safe and protected. When I was a little girl, she could hold me in my arms and offer me all the protection in the world. As I grew up, she found that her arms were no longer strong enough to hold me and keep me safe. She had to start doing things she felt would ensure that her little one was doing okay.
At the end of this fairly longish post, all I want to say that for me #MyFirstExpert is
“A loving cuddly being who can get angry at the drop of a hat but her heart melts the minute she sees your eyes swell up with tears. She has the largest heart and the smallest brain in the world sometimes, but whatever she does, it is for your good. And therefore I trust #MyFirstExpert implicitly” Do you?
This post has been written for a contest hosted by Godrej. You can read about them here: http://godrejexpert.com/single_used_pack.php
We remember the day seven years back when were travelling in a Mumbai local trying hard to come up withe a name for our blog when struck us; Khushboo was always called a Jack of all Trades. The name stuck (with a slight modification, of course) and Minni was born. Six years, over 100 collaboration, lakhs of readers and several awards later; our love for blogging continues to grow. We continue to write on an eclectic range of topics from the funniest autorickshaw signs that we have spotted in Mumbai to how to bathe an elephant. We are true blue Munni of all Trades and we hope to continue on this joyride with our fellow Munnies and Munnas.