Summary of the poem Mother by Lankesh

Mother 

P. Lankesh

P. Lankesh (1935 – 2000) was a famous poet of modern Kannada literature. He was a great short story writer, novelist, playwright, and journalist. In his lifetime, he won Central, State Academy, and National awards. He wrote "Avva" when he lost his mother. His poems "Avva" and "Avva 2" were sequels written twenty-five years after the first one.

In Avva poem he pays tribute to his mother, a rustic woman who lived a uncomplicated life. In the second poem, the poet reflects on how much of his mother still lives within him after having lived a civilized life in the city for many years.

 The poet initiates the poem by likening his mother to Mother Earth, portraying her as a fertile black land. Through clever metaphors, he showcases her remarkable productivity and strength, depicting her as black earth, abundant and green like a festival of white flowers.

The poet reflects on how old the peasant woman was and ponders how many times she celebrated the new year, baking sweet cakes in front of her earthen stove. The poet also wonders how many times she shed tears—for money, for a crop that was destroyed, for a calf that died—and how many times she went chasing after a buffalo that ran away.

She was not a Savitri, Sita, or Urmila. She was not the placid, pretty, and serious woman we come across in history. She was unlike the wives of Gandhiji and Ramakrishna. She did not worship Gods. She did not listen to stories from the Puranas. She did not wear vermilion on her forehead even when her husband was alive and kicking.

She lived like a wild bear, raising her children and caring her husband. She counted her pennies and amassed a bundle. Like a kicked dog, she barked, complained, and fought her way through life. All her pettiness was not without reason, as she had to care for her family and would not tolerate her son falling into bad habits or her husband cheating on her.

She was unfamiliar with the Bhagavad Gita. Her primary concerns were her meager possessions, farming, taking care of her children, having a roof over her head, a square meal, a warm blanket, and living respectfully among her fellow folk.

Lankesh describes how his mother passed away while working in the field, continuing her labor until her last breath. Not every mother can be worn out by work and never grow old; she devoted her whole life to caring for her family. He pays tribute to his mother .

“I shed tears of gratitude and praise

For having given me the gift of life, for bringing me up

For having lived in the soil

And for having silently departed

Like she were going from her home to her farmland.”