Humans of my life- My Mom!

Humans of my life- My mom

Kalpavalli Vemuri

In every untenable situation I am in, and it seems as if I am in a lot of them lately, I look to my mom and I immediately see a path forward. She is not only the most positive person I know, she is also the most righteous I know, and I could not have asked for a better inspiration for my life!

Today, my mom turned 70. I could not go to India and celebrate this very special day with her, but she's all I have been thinking about, literally, for the past few days, as I attempted my first ever Telugu poetry describing the phenomenal individual she is.

I knew I wanted to write something in her honor and the first thought that came to my mind was Goddess Lakshmi, the one with eight forms to give us strength in eight different contexts of life. I decided to go with eight poems describing the way my mom gives us strength in our lives. An octet! Ashtapadi! I got super excited! The only trouble is- I never wrote any poems per meter, Telugu or English, and to accomplish 8 poems incorporating my mom's traits, in perfect meter, under two weeks, felt just as daunting as it is exhilarating.

I turned to my Telugu mentor, @Madhira Murthy garu who taught me the basics of Aataveladi (analogous to haiku) meter, suggested adding a makutam (the repeating last line of each poem), and most importantly, infused the confidence I needed to take a stab at it. With his continuous support with spell-checking, meter-checking, and proof-reading, I wrapped up the eight poems with just a few hours to spare before it was Jan 16th in India.

Here's the result:

అష్టలక్ష్ములకు ప్రతీక అయిన అమ్మకి,

సూర్యునిచుట్టూ భ్రమణాలను ఏడుపదులసార్లు అద్భుతంగా పూర్తిచేసి ఎనిమదవ దశకంలోకి అడుగిడుతున్న శుభసందర్భములో ఈ ఆటవెలది అష్టపదుల అక్షరసుమాంజలి!

ప్రేమతో,

జ్యోతి

*ఆదిలక్ష్మి:*

ఆదిలక్ష్మి పుట్టెనైదవ చూలులో

తండ్రి నారసింహ తల్లి అమల

పెంచె కాకినాట ప్రేమగ యామెను

కల్పకంబు తల్లి కల్పవల్లి

*ధనలక్ష్మి:*

తనది కాని సొమ్ము తనకు వలదనెను

పరుగిడె వడివడిగ పరుల సేవ కొరకు

ఒరుల హితమె ధనము ఓర్పుయే నిధియనె

కల్పకంబు తల్లి కల్పవల్లి

*ధాన్యలక్ష్మి:*

శ్రీపతికి పతికిను స్త్రీలు గోవులకును

పిల్ల పెద్ద బడుగు బీదలకును

పెట్టు అన్నపూర్ణ పెక్కు సంతసమున

కల్పకంబు తల్లి కల్పవల్లి

*గజలక్ష్మి:*

వీధికుక్కల కని విలవిలబోవును

చేతనైన హితము జేసె సతము

ఐదడుగులె కాని ఐరావతంబేను

కల్పకంబు తల్లి కల్పవల్లి

*సంతానలక్ష్మి:*

పాప వలెనె ఆడిపాడె పిల్లలతోడ

స్వాతివెలుగులైరి సవిత హసిత

యజ్ఞజోతలాయెననురాగ తారలు

కల్పకంబు తల్లి కల్పవల్లి

*ధైర్యలక్ష్మి:*

ఓర్చలేని కలతలుండవనెనిలను

ధర్మనిరతియె తన ధైర్యమనుచు

హనుమకు బలమునిడు నభయమహాలక్ష్మి

కల్పకంబు తల్లి కల్పవల్లి

*విజయలక్ష్మి:*

విజయమునకు నాంది విశ్వాసమని పల్కు

కార్యసిద్ధినొసగు కదలని మది

సానుకూలత దరి సాకారము కలలు

కల్పకంబు తల్లి కల్పవల్లి

*విద్యాలక్ష్మి:*

పట్టుబట్టి చదివె ప్రతికూలమైనను

వాటుసాపువాడి వాడి పెంచె

ఏడుపదులలోను ఈ నిత్య విద్యార్థి

కల్పకంబు తల్లి కల్పవల్లి

Translation:

1. Adilakshmi (The first Goddess)

Born to mom Amalavati, and dad Narasimharao as their fifth child and the first of five daughters, she was raised with immense love, and was nicknamed Kalpakam, the wonder tree that gives you everything you ever ask for.

2. Dhanalakshmi (The Goddess of wealth)

She never once coveted the riches of others. She never once hesitated to run to the aid of the needy. She believes that there's no greater wealth than the wellbeing of those around her and that there's no bigger treasure than her patience that can handle any difficult situations in life.

3. Dhanyalakshmi (The Goddess of food and harvest)

Whether offering food to God, her husband, women or men, kids or the elderly, rich or poor, servants or cattle, she's always serving them with the same love and care, regardless of her health or the time of the day.

4. Gajalakshmi (The Goddess of animal wealth)

When she sees stray animals struggling on the streets, she does not sit still until she does what she can to soothe them. She's not even five feet in height but her kind heart is larger than lord Indra's elephant Airavatam.

5. Santanalakshmi (The Goddess of progeny)

Her older daughter Swathi married Ravi and has two daughters Savitha and Hasitha. Her younger daughter Yagna Jyothy married Bhaskar and has two daughters of her own, Raaga and Taara. Whenever she is with children, she becomes one of them.

6. Dhairyalakshmi (The Goddess of courage)

She breathes the empowering concept that we will only ever face the kind of difficulties we are capable of wading through. She is the living example that the biggest strength we can have is the one we get from living righteously. It is with the strength of her enormous will power and goodness of heart that she has become the biggest strength of even her husband, a namesake of Hanuman, the lord of strength!

7. Vijayalakshmi (The Goddess of success)

She believes that the first step towards victory is optimism. There isn't a dream in this world that cannot be fulfilled with positive attitude and unwavering focus.

8. Vidyalakshmi (The Goddess of education)

She grew up in a society that did not think that girls needed higher education. She challenged the status quo and secretly went for college education with the help of her older brothers. Age is just a number for her, for she is on top of the gadgets and technology, whether she is keeping in touch with friends and family over whatsapp, paying bills with GPay or booking herself a cab on Uber. She is learning music, and Bhagvad Gita when she is not updating herself with the technology, she is always reading or reciting every second of the day, and is a role model for the relentlessness needed in every student.