THE “MOTHER'S” LOGIC

Those who live away from your mothers must be familiar with their concern regarding your appetite and food intake. Before every meal you get a call asking whether you have had your food or not.  A simple 'yes' will never suffice, you need to sound convincing enough and state specifically what you had and whether you liked it. 

When they cook your favourite dishes (which they usually don't when you are not around), they remember you. When they go past your favourite fast food shop, they remember you. When they attend some wedding without you and the chicken roast tastes very good, they remember you.

Every time I visit my mother, she packs a whole lot of food for me. Her list goes something like this-

One box of munchies that I can eat during my journey, a box of food that I can eat right after reaching Dhaka and many other boxes of raw or half-cooked food that can be kept in the refrigerator and can be consumed after heating, for as long as needed. 

I don't eat much, she knows. The city has food and we don't starve here in Dhaka, which she is aware of as well. 

Yet she takes all the trouble to prepare that huge amount of food, just for her children. 

“Mothers do things which do not require reasons,” she said to me once. 

 Not only your favourite dishes, your belongings also evoke an emotional reaction everytime they see them.

They make sure your room looks exactly the same as when you left it. Your favourite t-shirt that you used to wear frequently is now her favourite. She often flips through the fictions that you used to read under your textbooks so as not to get caught. She preserves everything- your handwriting, your smell, your existence.

I have seen and heard my mother doing this. My mother, like many of your mothers, loves to time travel with her children's belongings that we leave behind. Her collection is even more fascinating- my first blanket, my brother's panjabi from when he was 6 months old, his first pair of Bata sandals, my sister's first school dress, my last college dress, our report cards, all my dolls and their belongings, our kitchen sets, the toy cars, - she has everything in her treasure trove.  

For years now she has been carrying a room full of memories of her children which are never going to be of any use. This is the 'mother logic', I believe.

Perhaps they know deep down in their hearts that they cannot keep their children with them all their lives. These items will then give them company. Perhaps they hope that one day, when their children are all grown up and famous, these items will be on display in a museum. Perhaps they keep these memories to show their children how their parents were like, or perhaps, they keep them just for themselves.

They are mothers after all, and mothers do things that don't need any reason.