Inspiration: Mighty Mothers
Quite often, the wind beneath the wings of a successful person is a mother who raised him or her. Here are three shining examples of mother power.
[Left] “Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure that you are not the last,” said Shyamala Gopalan, mother of Kamala Harris, laying the foundation for a daughter focused on the greater good of society. (Photo @kamalaharris/Instagram)
The Sanskrit phrase “Bahuratna Vasundhara” means that Mother Earth has many diamonds springing from her womb! Many of these diamonds are the human mothers who keep our planet sacred.
To commemorate Mother’s Day (May 11), I want to recognize and celebrate the legacy of three mothers: two are mothers of contemporary icons who have had an outsized impact on our lives, and one is a missionary from the past century who won over hearts in South India while raising a son who became a world-famous orthopedic surgeon.
Shyamala Gopalan: Mother of an American Vice President
Kamala Harris, who ran a spirited campaign for the American presidency, despite getting just a few months at it, came so very close to making history! Had she won, she would have become the first woman, the first African American woman, and the first Indian American to become an American president.
Harris has frequently credited Shyamala Gopalan, her mother, for her success—most famously at the Democratic National Convention last August.
Shyamala, who came to the U.S. in the ’60s sporting a sari, and went on to become an accomplished scientist, was quite a maverick. Her independent spirit was evident in her decision to marry a Jamaican immigrant, a bold move for a Tamil woman of her times.
Although it is her daughter who seems to make her famous, I want to emphasize how it was Shyamala who sculpted the character of her children that led them to that fame.
Of course, Shyamala herself was highly accomplished, but she exercised her power of motherhood judiciously to expand from personhood to motherhood. This culminated in the creation of a great leader of a great nation. What impressed me the most in this dynamic relationship is that Shyamala not only implanted ambition in her daughter but also an idealism that blossomed into her great personality. When she told her daughter, “Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure that you are not the last,” she laid the foundation for a daughter focused on the greater good of society and mankind instead of someone self-serving and ego-driven.
This is a prerequisite for true leadership. Altruism runs deep in the fabric of Indian culture, and that is quite evident in Kamala Harris. After becoming a well-known American public official, she revisited some of the places in India where she had vacationed as a child, at the homes of her maternal relatives. This shows her sense of gratitude and appreciation for heritage, undoubtedly seeded in her by her mother.
Shyamala deserves kudos for coming to America all by herself at the young age of 19 and then going on to achieve great professional and motherly success!
[Right] Patricia Noah. In his book, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, Trevor Noah highlights what a mother can do to salvage her son from a noxious nadir and deliver him to a glorious pinnacle. (Photo: Nhlanhla Phillips/African News Agency).
Patricia Noah: The nurturer of sharp wit and social conscience
Mother of the now-famous Trevor Noah, ex-host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central, Patricia Noah had the character and courage to not yield to the atrocities of apartheid in South Africa. She exemplifies a lotus growing from the mud. Even as a Black mother lacking in money, she still managed to cultivate integrity in her constantly challenging child. Trevor (who admits to being a “terror” for her mother) was saved by his mother’s inexhaustible patience and indomitable faith in Jesus. Both mother and son were unfailing visitors to the church, sometimes going in their decrepit car, sometimes walking their way through a perilous path that was replete with risks and dangers.
Trevor often resisted these visits but eventually adopted his mother’s dedication to the divine spirit of Jesus. Patricia exemplifies the value of perseverance and the pursuit of excellence while passing through a dreadful conundrum of overwhelming episodes. In his book, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, Trevor highlights what a mother can do to salvage her son from a noxious nadir and deliver him to a glorious pinnacle. This savior of a mother was able to lift her son from the dark shadows of the lives of Blacks during apartheid in South Africa. Patricia is still living in Johannesburg, running her own business. A salute to this mother!
Evelyn Harris, “Granny Brand”: An English woman who sacrificed her life to serve others in India
I came to know of this incredible mother through the book, The Gift of Pain, written by Dr. Paul Brand, her son, who had an illustrious career as an orthopedic surgeon. This moving book is full of medical, personal, and spiritual accounts of Dr. Brand from his practice of orthopedics, leprosy, and plastic surgery in Vellore, India. His lifetime dedication to the abandoned and afflicted leprosy patients of South India is touching and can be traced back to the inspiration and example of her exemplary mother.
Evelyn, a young, attractive fashion model from suburban London landed in India, following her husband, Jessee. The devotion of this missionary couple is evident in the fact that their first “romantic” night, when Evelyn came to Southern India to join Jessee, was in a malaria-ridden area described as “Mountains of Death”!
[Left] The metamorphosis of Evelyn Harris, “Granny Brand,” from a personal mother into a communal mother serving humanity is spiritually uplifting.
Their dedication to the mission was so complete that even after the death of her husband due to malaria, Evelyn decided to remain in India serving the villagers in that afflicted area. By then, her son had become an orthopedic surgeon in Vellore, Tamil Nadu. She could have easily moved to a life of comfort there.
The changing interpersonal relationship between a dedicated son and a mother adamantly devoted to her own idealism and vision, described in Dr. Brand’s book, is divine. It stirs our souls in an unforgettable manner. The metamorphosis of a personal mother into a communal mother serving humanity is spiritually uplifting.
We have read about mother Yashoda getting a glimpse of God by peeking into Krishna’s mouth, but here, it is the son who is exposed to a comparable vision by looking at the worn-out, withered body full of fractures that belonged to his mom. She had renounced every earthly ease of life, deciding to stay until death in a land riddled with dire difficulties, serving downtrodden villagers!
”Never in my life did my mom look so beautiful,” pondered the son. This observation is eternally etched in my memory. Despite a compelling desire to whisk his mother away to a sheltered, secure home, the son did not dare dissuade her when he saw the villagers carrying “their” Amma on their shoulders!
Why did these three women come to the forefront of my memory? These three are not exclusive but inclusive mothers who integrate the meaning of motherhood. They are like the many other mothers who keep our planet sacred. “God could not reach out to everyone, so He created a mother,” goes the insightful saying. As we say in India, ”Matru devo bhava” (Mother is divinity itself)!
Dr. Bhagirath Majmudar, an Emeritus Professor of Pathology and Obstetrics-Gynecology at Emory University, Atlanta, is also a Sanskrit Visharada and Jagannath scholar, the highest academic honor in Sanskrit. He is a poet, philosopher, Vedantist, actor, and playwright. He can be reached at: bmajmud1962@gmail.com.
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