Amma's prayers

Since a very young age I had been seeing amma standing with folded hands in front of the photos of the many Gods, placed in a niche that is assumed to be our pooja room. As she grew older , She began chanting all the shlokas and ashtothara namas from various books. On busy days, when she has no time to read, the audio cassette helps her remember the lines of her prayer and she then chants the 'Lalitha sahasranamam' along with the Bombay sisters. Her prayers are endless and so are the offerings she makes to her Gods. A bad dream, the twitching of the right eye , no weekend phonecalls from her children... all this makes her dread some mishap looming over her family.

And then comes a series of offerings to God. We children tease her that she is bribing God to get Him to do things for her. In all these years she has said enough and more prayers for the well being of her husband, children and her grandchildren.

I believe it is those prayers of amma that see us children through all the hardships in our life , cures us of every ailment and agony , assures us of passing every exam , chases away all our little tensions and worries. Her prayers hug us and keep us safe everyday .

These days I pray to God too.. not in shlokas and hymns ... it's a simple monologue. And I ask Him to take care of Amma , to keep her healthy and happy always .