‘Thank You, Maa’: Children Of Healthcare Workers on Mother’s Day

This Mother’s Day, children of coronavirus warriors speak in one voice – they want to say “Thank you, maa.”

(Photo: Kamran Akhtar/TheQuint)

Video Editor: Deepthi Ramdas
Creative Producer: Shelly Walia

“I am staying away from my mother and I can't sleep next to her. I am proud of her that she is working very hard. Even when she comes home, she has almost 10 or 100 things to do,”says school-going Dhruv Mathews, speaking about his mother Dr Sujata Mathews who is working in Delhi’s RML Hospital amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Dhruv’s mother like countless others are risking their lives, fighting coronavirus from the frontlines.

Dhruv with his mother Dr Sujata Mathews.

This Mother’s Day, children of such coronavirus warriors speak in one voice – ‘Thank you, maa. For everything you are doing for us and for the country.”

‘True Corona Fighter’

10-year-old Soha and 6-year-old Ariz Jamal describe their mother as a “true coronavirus fighter.” A gynecologist in Sharda Hospital in Greater Noida, Dr Shehla Jamal goes to the hospital every day to tend to her pregnant patients, ensure safe birth of their newborn but also take care of her her two children back home.

“You know there is a lockdown and because of that our maid cannot come to the house. So our mother does every thing. She makes food she takes care of us. All mothers do this but my mother also goes to the hospital,” says Ariz, with pride in his voice.

His sister Soha describes their mother as someone who “dreams big, does big and achieves big.”

Soha and Ariz with their mother Dr Shehla Jamal.

‘Worried About Our Mothers’

While the older children of frontline healthcare workers are proud, they are also worried about their mothers. Like 35-year-old Anand Ramesh who is lives in London, while his 60-year-old mother Dr Jayashree Ramesh is seeing patients in a private hospital in Tamil Nadu’s Trichy.

Anand with his mother Dr Jayashree Ramesh.

“I am here (in London), sitting several thousand miles away from her and I am definitely, genuinely worried about her health and wellbeing. But I also understand that what she’s doing is absolutely remarkable. I firmly believe that people like her are the reason we are winning or even showing signs of winning this war against.”

Anand Ramesh

Similaryly, Sumedha Pandit is worried every time her mother steps out to go to the hospita. The head nurse at SSKM hospital in Kolkata, Shubhra Pandit even has to pull double shifts as the number of people working in such institutions has reduced drastically.

Sumedha with her mother Shubhra.

“Every day, whenever I see her leaving the house to go to the hospital, I immediately feel really worried because it is not easy, what she is doing. She is putting her life at risk, every single day. But not even once has she complained. So I think it takes a lot of courage to do that,” says Sumedha.

And this mother’s day, all that the children of healthcare professionals want to say is – ‘Thank you, maa.’