The Footprints of Gautami Mahaprajapati

I must have been seven or eight years old when I saw the film “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”. I was about the same age as Anjali was in the film. We are told that her mother, played by Rani Mukherjee, died giving birth to her. All Anjali has is a framed picture and a letter, both of which she guards with her life. When she needs to cry, she hugs the frame to herself and gives herself over to her tears. When I watched that scene, I burst into tears, then I went and found my mother and kept weeping. I remember this moment clearly, as clearly as I remember my mother’s response: “Aga, I’m still alive, you know!”

I’m telling this story here because the subject of mothers is a sensitive and emotional one. That someone, anyone, should not have a mother seemed like a terrifying prospect to a young child. As a media student and as someone who has subsequently worked in the media, the example that sprang to mind when I began to think about the bond that I have with my mother came from the mass media.

In truth, perhaps everyone has pretty much the…