Love

 Today the blog has to be Raju special as his birthday falls on June 7.  In our childhood, his birthday celebration would always begin with a spoonful of the mix of asafoedita and home made ghee. Those days the monsoon used to begin on time, with the onset of the Mriga constellation, and Raju's birthday, June 7, falls on the day of that onset.

Raju was Aai 's top favourite. Not that she loved Sanju less. In fact, she adored him. But she did have a special soft corner for Raju. In my opinion, Papa, too, loved him dearly though, of course, Papa's special soft corner was saved for Sanju.

A day would not pass by when she would not narrate stories of his childhood. Some of these anecdotes were her special favourites. She loved the fact that both of them used to help her even in household chores. Of course, Sanju was more in these stories because Raju used to sail then, in fact, early 80's onwards. She was very sensitive and touchy about his seafaring as those days there were no mobiles and no skype. But basically she was very proud about his achievements at a very young age.

That is a mother's love for you. It is "labha vina Priti" as Saint Tukaram defines it. The Marathi phrase means that it is a love that requires nothing in return. It is  a deep attachment from the soul, an affection without any demands for any return gifts. That is parental love which ever engulfs the child, even when he has grown up, in a warm embrace of emotions never openly voiced. Long live parental love!

Pratima@ When a child looks in to his mother's eyes, he gets to see the purest love ever possible, says Aboum Mitchell.