I was listening to Premchand s story Maa on a podcast and felt empty. It is very touching and emotional. It was 2019 on my India trip to Puri temple, one of the principal Hindu Dhaam. I was standing in the enormous queue with my mother and heard my mother whispering to God that God, please make sure that Anurodh would stay in India with me. Anurodh is my younger brother and living with our mother in India we all moved to abroad. I was feeling bad and started thinking about past incidents. I remember in 2009, I was planning to move to Ireland for further studies. My father was happy and helped me to arrange all documents. One day mom told me her wish that she wanted me to stay in India with some hesitation. I got my admission letter for my Master’s at Trinity college after so much struggle. It was recession time, and I came from Chicago and lost my job. I was desperate to leave India. However, when she expressed her wish to stay, I decided to stay in India. When something goes against your desire, you don’t feel joy in anything. It was coming out of my behaviour. Life was good, but I always thought that I was stuck. My two elder brothers were settled in Ireland, so I felt like I made an extreme sacrifice for her wish. Time passed quietly, but my desire to move from India grew daily.

I stayed in India till May 2016 and got another opportunity in Ireland and moved, but this time mom did not stop me. Although I know somewhere she was not happy. She told me several times that she would miss good times with Atharva and us. She told me at the airport on the final day of departure that you did a lot for us, and she is happy about my success. In 2018 there was an opportunity for Anurodh in Ireland, and I asked him to send his cv. It surprised me when he said no to me. He did the right thing and stayed with our mother. Now when I was listening to her wish, then I realized how much she needed us and now wished to God. Premchand s story is more than 50 years old, but the story is identical. During the Covid disaster in May 2021, we lost her, and in her last journey, we were not there.