मोठी आई Mothi Ai (The Bigger Mother)

लेखिका आधी आपल्या खऱ्या आईच्या प्रेमाची आठवण करून देते - ती खाऊ घालते, गोष्टी सांगते, प्रेम करते. मग सांगते की तिच्याहूनही एक मोठी आई आहे, जी आपल्याला लागणारी प्रत्येक गोष्ट देते.

The author opens with a familiar, warm picture - how a mother feeds her children, holds them close, and tells them stories, and how wonderful that ordinary love feels. She then springs a surprise: besides this familiar mother there exists another, 'bigger mother' who has already supplied us with everything we need to live, in one form or another. The author builds curiosity by not revealing at once who this bigger mother is.

लेखिका जेवणाच्या ताटाकडे बोट दाखवते - पोळी, भाकरी, भात, भाज्या, फळे - या सगळ्यांचे मूळ शेतात आणि पर्यायाने जमिनीतच आहे. साखरही उसापासून बनते आणि ऊस जमिनीतच उगवतो.

Next the author points straight at the dinner plate and asks - where does each item on it really come from? She explains that wheat, rice and jowar are all produced in the fields, and so ultimately are a creation of the soil. Even the sugar in our tea is made from sugarcane, which itself takes root and grows in the ground, and kerosene too is drawn from mines under the earth. Beyond that, favourite fruits such as bananas, guavas, mangoes, coconuts, grapes and jackfruit, along with every vegetable and flower, exist for us only because the soil exists, the author argues.

आपण घालतो ते कपडे सुताचे किंवा रेशमाचे असतात. सूत कापसापासून बनते आणि कापूस कपाशीच्या झाडाला येतो. रेशीम रेशमाच्या किड्यांपासून मिळते, जे तुतीच्या झाडावर राहतात. ही दोन्ही झाडे जमिनीतच वाढतात.

In the third part the author speaks about clothing. The clothes we wear are either cotton or silk. Thread is made from cotton, and cotton comes from the cotton plant. Silk comes from silkworms, and these worms live on mulberry trees. Both the cotton plant and the mulberry tree take root and grow only in the soil. So the author shows that even our clothes are, indirectly, a gift from the earth.

चांदी, तांबे, पितळ यांच्या खाणी जमिनीच्या पोटातच सापडतात. जर सोने-रुपे नसते तर आपल्याला दागिने मिळाले नसते आणि पितळ-तांबे नसते तर भांडीही मिळाली नसती.

In the fourth part the author speaks of the wealth hidden inside the earth. Mines of metals like silver, copper and brass are all found in the earth's belly. Without gold and silver, we would have no beautiful jewellery, and without brass, copper and tin, we would have no household utensils. Through this the author shows that both our jewellery and our everyday utensils come from deep within the earth.

आपले घर दगड, माती, विटा, चुना आणि लाकडाचे बनलेले असते. विटा लाल मातीपासून बनतात, चुना चुनखडीच्या दगडांपासून तयार होतो आणि लाकूड मोठ्या झाडांपासून मिळते. दाराच्या कड्या-बिजागऱ्याही लोखंडाच्याच असतात.

In the fifth part the author turns to house-building. Our homes are built with stone, clay, bricks, lime and wood. Bricks are made from red clay, lime is made from limestone rocks found in the ground, and wood is obtained by cutting trees from great forests. Even the door's latches, hinges and nails are made of iron, and this iron too comes from deep inside the earth. The author shows that an entire house is built from the earth's many different gifts.

जमिनीच्या पोटात लोखंड आणि दगडी कोळसाही सापडतो. या दोन गोष्टींमुळेच गिरण्या आणि कारखाने चालतात, आणि त्यामुळेच खुर्च्या, सुया, कात्र्या, मोटारी, आगगाड्या अशा असंख्य वस्तू बनतात.

The author then reveals another surprise - hidden within the bigger mother's belly are also vast mines of iron and coal. It is on the strength of these two that every mill and factory in the world runs, she explains. Without these factories we would not even have an iron chair or a bed; needles, pins, knives, scissors, buttons, glassware, cars, trains, aeroplanes - none of these things could ever have come into being without iron and coal, the author firmly states.

लेखिका शेवटी सांगते की जगातील प्रत्येक सुंदर वस्तू या मोठ्या आईपासूनच मिळते - अन्न, वस्त्र, घर, दागिने, धनधान्य, सगळे काही. म्हणूनच जमीन म्हणजेच आपली मायभूमी आहे आणि तिच्याबद्दल आपण नेहमी प्रेमभाव बाळगला पाहिजे.

The author adds one more example - the milk, curd and ghee we consume come from cows and buffaloes, but even they survive only by eating grass and fodder, which the earth ultimately supplies. From this she concludes that every fine thing in the world is born and nurtured in the lap of this same bigger mother. In her closing lines the author briefly sums up - food, clothes, jewellery, shelter, grain, utensils, or small items like sugar and slate-pencils - all of it comes from her. Recognising this generosity, and understanding that the earth itself is our modest motherland, the author ends the lesson urging us to always hold affection for her in our hearts.