I come from a family of intellectuals, noble men and women of valour, gallant soldiers of the eastern jungle,
A wise man once said that an apple drops far not from the tree, a saying that perfectly befits my father’s lineage,
Even when life unleashes her fiery claws, my heart keeps pounding through the dark valleys of death,
An attitude that was inscribed on the walls of my heart by a strict mother of seven since childhood ages,

If there’s a person I feared most when I was a teenager, that “devil” was definitely my mum,
I would rather choose the option of swimming through a swamp of hot porridge than to face my mother after breaking one of her precious thermos flasks!
Disobeying an order that directly came from my mother’s pie-hole would attract a mortal chastening,
So my younger siblings took advantage of that indefinite gap to bully my fearful soul, “Mum has said that you should go and collect firewood!” Or else…

At first I would grumble, but upon meditating on the severity of the latter punishment, i would silently grab a panga and vanish through the thickets,
Ironically, these little ones would spent their twilight playing hide and seek, running all over the compound with mum on their look but was she even bothering?
That thing drained my younger self, I always thought Mama had a passionate hate towards me! Little did i know she wanted the best for me,
After all, I came to realise that she was building up a responsible man that my future self would thank me for, Thank you Mama, you’re phenomenal..!