It was about this time when the call came from the Hospital .. a choked voice of the nurse looking after my Mother at the Leelavati Hospital … come over she said, Ma is not looking good .. the moment may have played through my mind a million times .. and a million times I may have run through a sequence of acts necessary to be done if and when this situation arose .. but no amount of preparation works on the day .. you stay stunned for a while, unmoved and almost unable to think or conduct your mind to think in the way it is supposed to … until reality strikes and before long you are in the midst of it … helpless, incapable, with a prayer on your lips and your most loved possession struggling desperately to prevent life from ebbing away for good ..

Later in the day today I lost my Mother… and I do not wish to remember the year that she went away nor the time nor the circumstances .. she just went away .. forever ..

The grand daughter of a class mate of hers sent in a request to meet her for a project on wild life and when I did she gave me some books to sign of my Father’s which he had personally presented to the grandmother … inside too were some photographs .. of my Mother in College in Lahore .. the freshness of youth .. the glow of a young maiden on the face … the innocence of just acquired maturity in the eyes .. and the indisputable beauty of her presence ..

She resides in our hearts and in our mind and in our thoughts forever .. practically though she sits beside my Father in the room downstairs … in her wedding attire and limited jewelry .. shy and angelic .. I meet her every morning and touch her as I set off for the day, as I would have on any other .. I ask her to give me strength .. that is all .. that strength of a Mother, any Mother, is our greatest prize and possession .. it enables you to take on any adversary, any obstacle, any one .. I live in that strength .. its constant close embrace and courage is what drives us all .. does it not ..? Mothers are our most valued blessing .. we live work and exist in them and about them ..

I am with her every day every instant .. but today .. I shall miss her .. and think of her more than usual … Ma, Ma ji, Amma, Amma ji … you were the best and shall remain so ever … !!

Lovingly ..

Munna , as I was endearingly addressed by her …

Amitabh Bachchan