Salute You Mother-In-Law!

Just the blog that I was waiting to write and without further ado let me start by telling you about a girl who is an accountant in my office. She got married just 9 months ago. Thereafter, we started noticing a lot of changes in her, there are fewer mistakes in her work and a sincerity which can’t be missed. Evidently these changes had come after her marriage, but I never got an opportunity to speak to her till day before yesterday.

She came to my office and asked for my permission to go down for half an hour, promising to come back soon. By all means I allowed her, but asked for the reason. So she told me that she was going to drop her mother- in- law, who had come all the way to meet her. Since I know about the background of all my employees, I remembered that she stayed very far from my office. Therefore, I asked her to bring her mom -in -law to the office and discuss whatever she had over a cup of tea. This brought a smile to her face and she ran down to fetch her. She was back in a few minutes with an old but very elegant and graceful lady. I stood up to wish her and asked her to sit, calling out to my office help for some tea and biscuits. I started talking to the older lady, inquiring as to what was the urgency for she had to come such  a long distance to meet her daughter- in- law. The lady told me that her daughter -in- law Samira had forgotten her lunch at home, so she had to come because the girl was not used to eating from outside and would have to go hungry for the rest of the day.

While she was talking I noticed that she had a soft and loving voice, with eyes reflecting love and genuine concern for her son’s wife. This amazed me, for I was seeing a mother- in- law showing so much concern for a daughter- in- law after a very very long time. In order to start a conversation I commented that after marriage Samira had improved a lot and worked with more dedication and sincerity, which is normally the reverse in case of the newly wedded brides. Now it was Samira’s turn to speak and she told me that she had gone to the most unusual family. When she saw my questioning face, she smiled and told me that she would explain the whole thing to me.

Just before getting married Samira’s father had completed the construction and interior of their new house. Since this house was more spacious she had a room all to herself and its interior was also done as per her choice. She had taken care of every small detail whether it was curtains or the flooring or matching furniture with a beautiful dressing table, the lights, fixtures, etc. But as fate would have it, her wedding was fixed and she would not get the opportunity to occupy a lavish bedroom filled with every comfort and luxury she could think of. She barely spent a few days in that house before she had to say goodbye and leave for her new home. As every young bride she was upset about leaving her parents, siblings and home, but this unhappiness didn’t last long, when she was given a very warm welcome by her parents- in -law and husband’s relatives at his newly constructed house too. As she was tired she was taken to her room in the new house and when the door to the bedroom was opened, she was completely aghast to see that it was an exact replica of her room in her parent’s house. It was indeed a very happy shock for her, for she didn’t feel like an unhappy uprooted tree, which was far away from its home because this room WAS HER HOME and the credit goes to mom- in -law for taking in every detail from her previous house to complete the interior of her new bedroom. Samira told me that day, that within a short span of an hour she was crying once again, but these were tears of joy, of belonging and heartfelt gratitude to her mom- in -law, no mother that’s what she had become for Samira that day.

Samira told me that things didn’t end there, for she doesn’t have to wake up early in the morning because on the first day of her office after marriage, she had set the alarm to get up very early in the morning, so that she could complete the household chores before she left for office. She was standing sleepy eyed in her new kitchen wondering what to do and where to start , when her mom (in law) came in and told her that there was no need for her to wake up so early in the morning because she was there to take care of the things herself. When she saw the surprise on Samira’s face she remarked that she too had been a young bride herself and always longed to sleep a little longer, specially in the morning. Since her mother- in law was very orthodox she never had the opportunity to enjoy such a privilege. So she wanted Samira to wake up at her regular time, so that she had rested well before going to office, as younger people tend to sleep for longer hours than older ones. She also explained that she need not wake up so early in the morning, as she herself was getting older and was unable to sleep for more than a few hours. When I heard this I was very shocked to sèe this the old lady. Looking at the amazement on my face she added that Samira was like her daughter, because you can’t treat a girl differently or have another set of rules for her just because she may be your daughter or your daughter -in- law.

Hearing the warmth and sincerity in her words, that hit the depth of my heart I stood up from my chair and asked her if I could touch her feet. Hearing my question she was taken aback, but she responded quickly by saying that there was no need to do so ,as her blessings would always be with me. But I could not stop myself from touching her feet as they belonged to a pure soul. I got so carried away that I told her that I wished to make a request again and there was again a question in her kind eyes. So without wasting a moment I requested her if I could eat the lunch she had prepared for her daughter- in -law. Now it was her turn to look surprised, I told her that I had lost my mother many years ago and missed her love, care and her warmth. Amazingly these qualities were present in the lady sitting in front of me, so I did not want this experience to end just then.  Therefore, the request was made by me to have the food made by her. She smiled and assured me that she would cook something nice and send it for me the next day as there was nothing interesting but a simple meal that she had brought for her daughter, to which I refused as I wanted to taste the food which she had made with ao much love and promised to share my tiffin with her daughter and not let her go hungry. She watched me lovingly as I enjoyed her simple yet delicious cooking. I told her that I salute her, for she is a lady of substance and an example of an ideal lady for all the women out there.

As she took my leave, I instructed my driver to drop her and Samira home in my car for I couldn’t allow such a fine lady to
travel by an auto in that hot and sultry weather. I can only hope that all mothers- in- law could show a little more care and concern to their daughters-in- law, who become a part of their families and they would definitely reciprocate their love many times.