Skip to main content

I named u 'MAMA'

courtesy: blog.dictionary.com
Most common syllable the entire world utters when they take their first breath is [ma]. Philosophical implications of sound are immense. And the real wonder is that, most of the world's recognised languages has 'ma' sound in them, whether it is Mama, Mummy, Ma, Amma or Mom. Is it bcoz of that 'aa' is one of the easiest sound to produce? What ever may the reason be, it is the sound our entire species is familiar with. There are a lot of emotions entangled with this sound. May be that's why we think there would be a  divine intervention in the bonding between mother and child, as the child seems to utter the word even before it could think and reason with the outside world. In Indian culture sound 'Ma' and 'Amma' conveys  lots of emotions, whether it be respect, love or kindness. One will find loads of stories about motherly love and sacrifice in our culture, and any culture for that matter. Its "matha(mother) pitha(father) guru(teacher) daivam(god)" according to Indian philosophy. Mother is allotted with the highest status among the four and god comes last even after teacher. So what could have triggered the trend for such a view? Putting something human before god. Everywhere nature is considered as mother, why? bcoz nature provide us with everything we need, just like a mother? We equate everything that gives and cares with motherly love, Why couldn't it be fatherly love. Is it that love of father is any less? There must be some other reason, something deeply engraved in our subconscious. Hindu goddess "Parvathy" is personification of perfect beauty and power, but she have an other side too. A strong motherly side where she react vigorously to other gods and even her husband Lord Shiva in a hostile manner, defending her son "Ganesh". We knew about the furious side of motherly love, that's why we concord nature and goddess with this 'mother' status, we regard motherhood higher than almighty himself. May be that's one of the flexibility we have with old belief systems rather like new religions, beliefs can be improvised according to arising needs. Contradictions are tolerated.


courtesy: www.thebubblebox.com.au
All animals show motherly attachment to their siblings, its a natural process inevitable for the survival of the sibling in this tough world. There is not a straight answer to why a mother is called Mom or Mamma. It wouldn't be easy to triangulate when and why this 'ma' sound is assigned to the 'mother' in linguistic process. Does this commonality in sound show the single root of  all languages or does it bcoz, humans think alike everywhere. What ever may the reason be, we must've noticed, the first sound a baby can easily produce is 'aa', then after a little, more refined 'maa' sound. A baby usually use such sound to call out, the person who is always in contact with it,  that would usually be it's mother, for getting attention. So there is possibility that the child could be the reason for the assignation of the sound, to the person who cares and manages them. Before the linguistics were developed, before the grammatical intricacies of the languages, a small helpless child looking at the person, extending it's arms to whom it trusts, produced a sound which only it knew to make, revolutionized the entire philosophical and religious fraternity for centuries to come.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The bloodsucking Yakshi

When I was a kid, April and May fell in the list of my favourite months. Not because it's going to rain and there would be mud all around, but those are the months my cousins would be here at our family house, in our hometown in Kerala. Those are the memories I would cherish forever. My grand-mother has 5 offsprings, 4 boys and a girl. My father is the second eldest of five. Then, he was the only one staying in Kerala and everyone else was in different parts of India, a Pan-India Family one could say. We were all present, it's like Parliament, shouting, laughing, scolding children, people everywhere, busy doing their chores. An outsider entering the home can still go unnoticed. Life was less complicated then. We were just ........just ourselves. Everyone you valued dearly is with you. It's like, the world has shrunken to a square block of bricks and mortar. Now it's all feel like a fairy-tale, one of the best things about joint-family. We are all tired of day's...
Post a Comment
Read more

Youth and Politics

Our political system is crippling and burdened with over aged hypocrites. I honestly believe our politics  need a revamp. Don’t you think present is ruled and governed by the ghosts of past. There is big difference in past and present  social values.  Don’t get me wrong, when i colloquially put it as older people coz you might think i am some kind of Nazi. When i say older, i meant our over-the-hill politicians, you can say they have experience and all, but right now what we need most is not experienced minds but bold minds who can accept the change happening around and those who are willing to break free from the old traditional format. The average age of our Parliament is over 60 years. How many leaders are there in our parliament who are not from a well-off and don’t have a criminal background. Most of our politicians and executives for that matter are sycophants. Being rhetoric and sycophancy are the trademarks of most of our statesmen. This sycophantic behaviour de...
1 comment
Read more

Legacy of Balasaheb Thackeray

I hope everyone has noticed the excitement created by the death of Bala Saheb Thackeray. Its just fine if you want to pay tribute to Mr.Thackeray and call him a great visionary and all. India is a democratic country you have every right to do as you please as long as it doesn't obstruct someone else's right. But when Maharashtra govt. arrested two girls charging them, of hurting religious feelings(Section 295 (a)) and IT Act for posting anti-Thackeray comments in facebook, any man in his/her right mind would agree, they have over-stepped their boundary. What religion are they talking about, he is a political leader,whose motto was to carry off non-Maharashtriyans from Maharashtra. Actually what the girls did was, one among them posted some comment on facebook wall and the other girl liked it. Those remarks showed their anger against the "bandh"(strike) on the day of Thackeray's death. If that wasn't enough shiv sainiks vandalised one of the girl's uncle...
Post a Comment
Read more