Santoor Mom!

 Don't we get to see hundreds of adverts and reels in a day, which claim that by doing this-and-that you can stay young, your skin will glow, wrinkle free faces, zero figure, lean bodies, puffed muscles, getting rid of grey hair and so on and so forth. All this is mushrooming around us so much so, that we try to follow the skincare routines blindly.

"What! Korean glass-skin routine? Well, let me try". But the fact that we have a different climate than those countries, we have different skin textures, complexions, these facts go for a toss, and we take a chance...For what? To look young and bright!

People used to call my mother a 'Santoor mom'....you remember that advert right? Santoor mommy wala? No? Let me quickly recall it for you...the lady that doesn't look like a mother (I don't know what the criteria to look like a mom is? As, there are 15 year old moms in present times so to speak, anyway), so a small kid comes running towards her and calls her "Mommy" and Saif Ali Khan who thinks that this lady is a college going girl, but once he hears the kid, gets surprised.....

ha! Woh wala ad.

My mom always looked younger for her age, one, she got married early and other, that I came into this world, when she was quite young.

Even so, my mother rarely goes to a beauty parlour. She's not into those facials, nor any other skin or body treatments. I guess its the genes, my nani was a beautiful lady, blessed with wonderful complexion and by that I don't only mean fair looking. She had this healthy skin. My mom got those hereditary traits, which she forgot to pass on to me though!

But, yah, my mother is what you can call forever young. Not just because it's her face. Apart from that, she is a very kind human being at heart. Lends a helping hand to whomever is in need, always on her toes.

She is a minimalist. Doesn't shop in expensive stores, doesn't splurge on unnecessary things.

I sometimes complain about my backaches and how I can't keep going up and down the house and how my kids make me do it and then I get exhausted. But she happily climbed the stairs ten times a day not just for me but still does, for my kids too. She would never say 'No' to any favour asked of her.

Her fitness mantra is no gym membership, nor zumba classes or Tabathas. She seldom skips her morning walks, her yoga and her meditation. Yes, that's her daily ritual. Spirituality is her top priority. Chanting 'Shree Ram' is what she does inherently.

She keeps herself busy either with friends, or dubbing for some advertisements for radio or reading for audiobooks or discussing some good books that she had read with her group called 'Hitagooj', (Hita means something that is beneficial and Gooj means chat).

She's is very good writer herself. Aaa! Now, that trait she has certainly passed on to me!

She sports her grey, now actually silver, hair with confidence. She says "One must age gracefully". And that credence of her, carrying herself with dignity is what makes her blooming and fresh. She has raised two self-reliant daughters, which certainly is a matter of pride for her.

She loves to learn new things, explore technologies, in with the new trends, keeping herself updated.

My sister and me always derive inspiration from this forever enthusiastic and young woman that we are watching since our birth. Our Santoor mom's stamina to do things on her own without asking support or assistance, especially from men, makes her a modern woman (that feminist nowadays refer to). Nevertheless, she is a soul that's traditional, teaching her daughters to stick to the ways of society.

Forever young is what we all desire to stay, but the creams and lotions, treatments and therapies will only act superficially. It's our hearts that have to feel young enough!

PC: My gallery.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: 'To remain always young, we only need to do at every age what harmonises with it' ~ Max Nordau.

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