LOVE KNOWS NO LANGUAGE

A friend of mine, Naresh, recently narrated an incident which touched me. His younger brother, Vimal, is an Indian and has married a Britisher, Carolyn. They have four children, all in their teens. Carolyn and the children do not understand Hindi, the language spoken at Naresh's home. Recently, Vimal along with his family visited India to meet his mother, who is around 72 years. Vimal's mother understands English, but is unable to speak fluently. The family would meet during the breakfast and dinner as also during the day, when they were not sightseeing or shopping. Naresh and Vimal would take turns acting as a translator and have the conversation between the mother and Carolyn and the children move on. But most of the time, it was limited to pleasantries or the mother asking them to eat some food stuff she had fondly prepared. Sometimes, the mother would look at Carolyn and the grandchildren and smile, saying nothing. It was left to Carolyn and the children to understand the meaning of the smile. Days passed by and finally came the night when Vimal had to leave for UK. The entire family had gathered over dinner. The mother, as usual, was smiling and offering each one of them the food stuff she had prepared specially for them. When the time came for leaving, she hugged everyone goodbye. The expression of her face had changed. The smile on her face, evident minutes earlier, had vanished. She was getting more and more sober and emotional, trying to control her feelings. Carolyn was keenly observing her mother-in-law's changing emotions. Her expressions were also changing. Finally, when the two of them met and hugged each other, the mother-in-law could only say "goodbye and thank you". Carolyn could not control herself and tears came flowing down her cheeks. For some moments, both of them remained embraced and silent. Then they looked at each other ..then a final hug and the mother-in-law could not control herself, she moved away saying in Hindi.."I wish she keeps loving me like this, I cannot withstand the parting"..and wept. Carolyn stood motionless and as if trying to pull out all her strength, could manage to mutter, "Mom, I love you."