But when I think about my mother, apart from the fact that she makes amazing food, and gives the best hugs, the thing I believe my mother is an expert in, is in the art of providing expert consolation and listening to people and their stories, to make them feel happy.
Have you ever faced real, terrible grief, and not able to focus on the good things of life? Have you ever felt completely unhappy and upset and out of their mind? If you have, then you should come to my mother. She is an expert at making people happy.
Every day, I refuse requests from people who come to her for advice and comfort. You see, she is an expert astrologer, and her motives for taking up the art is not because she is in any way interested in finance. Once upon a time, my mother told me that it was a way of giving people comfort, bringing them out of their darkness, and making them realize that there was hope, somewhere.
In time, when I started studying astrology, and subsequently, tarot, I followed her advice. Many times, I have done exactly what she does, and listened.
Let me tell you about a little incident. A few years ago, a man came to my mother, absolutely distraught, and claimed he wanted to commit suicide after killing his girlfriend, who had cheated on him. He was so distraught, that I contemplated calling my father, to take him away. But, my mother, stoic and simple, looked at his face, and told him to tell her why he wanted to kill his girlfriend.
The man started to talk about the incident for the next few hours or so. My mother did not speak much – what she did was urge the man to keep on talking, and eventually, he talked himself out, and calmed down. He drank a big glass of water, and then, my mother asked, ‘So, do you still want to kill her?’
The man nodded a clear ‘no’. My mother asked, ‘What had changed?’
‘I don’t know,’ The man replied. ‘Somehow, I cannot feel the hatred for her any more. Maybe I needed to talk about it.’
Afterwards, when I asked mother whether she had known that the man had calmed or not, she said, very easily, ‘Look, he needed to talk. I allowed him to. In this world, there are too many speakers, and too few listeners. I choose to be in the second category, because that way, I ensure that people unburden themselves, and feel happy.’
The quest for happiness is elusive – it is a difficult path at best, and I don’t even want to know what it is at worst. But, if by listening, and counselling, one can spread happiness, then I want to be an expert in it, and that is where my mother inspires me.
For more such stories, go to http://godrejexpert.com/single_used_pack.php and check out how mothers can be an expert at many other things too! Also, check out the hashtag on Twitter, about #MyFirstExpert for more.
Disclaimer: Promotional post.
