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 the young Anjali was in the film. But she did not have a mother. Rani Mukerji, who played her mother, is shown as having died while 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. I clearly remember that while watching this scene, I too would go into my mother’s lap and cry in exactly the same way. And then my mother would say, “Aga I am still alive.” The reason for telling this story is very small: the subject of mothers is a sensitive and emotional one. The thought of not having a mother is itself terrifying, and even more so for a young child. As someone who studied and worked in the media, this is the example that sprang to my mind when I began to think about the bond that I have with my mother. Perhaps everyone has pretty much…