- By Ridam Sharma
- Fri, 06 Mar 2026 11:21 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
As Women’s Day 2026 is here, I jokingly asked my mumma, “So what are you planning to gift me this Women’s Day?” She smiled and replied, “I’ll decide when you tell me what you’re giving me.” That playful comeback stayed with me. It suddenly made me realise it had been a long time since I had done something just for her. So I decided to take her out on a date.
Yes, in this fast-paced life, we sometimes need reminders to realise how privileged we are to have our parents around us. After all, she is probably the only woman in my life who will love me wholeheartedly. I remember how, during my teenage years, I was convinced she didn’t understand me at all. And now, years later, nobody gets me more than she does.
Date With Mumma (Image Created By Gemini)
When I told her to get ready because we were going out, she hesitated. After Papa got sick, she barely stepped out of the house. At first, she said, “No, I don’t want to go.” There must be a to-do list in her mind that she was checking if she even has the time to step out of the house just to enjoy some downtime. But when I reassured her that everything would be taken care of, she eventually agreed. It struck me then how reassurance is every woman’s quiet comfort.
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Soon she was excited, picking out outfits and asking, “Am I looking nice?” But almost immediately, the doubt crept in, “Don’t you think people will say I’m doing too much? My husband is sick.” For a moment, she almost slipped back into living the life the society expected of her. Eventually, she chose an outfit that my father had gifted her.
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Even at the restaurant, her questions continued, “Why do we need to do this?” “What will people say?” and the classic, “I could have made this at home.” Slightly irritated, I asked, “Mumma, why are you like this?”
Date With Mumma (Image Created By Gemini)
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As we sat there eating pizza, she paused and quietly said, “This is how we were built. We were taught to think about what people will say before we think about what makes us happy. Mothers’ selflessness has been romanticised so much that we forget we are allowed to choose ourselves.”
Then she looked at me and added, “You have the privilege to choose yourself. In my time, we needed courage for that.”
And in that very moment, I didn’t just see my mother. I saw the woman she had always been.