[From: Cloud 100]

This time I pushed it even harder.

The expressway was clear ahead of me. The vehicle in front of me at least half a kilometer away. The terrain near flat. I knew this was the moment. My car was doing a little above 115kmph. I cleared my mind and depressed the accelerator to max depth.

It’s a city car. Santro Xing. It’s not made for the highways and the high speeds. It’s a simple car made to navigate city traffic efficiently and to make parking a breeze. It’s body is to accommodate people of all weights and heights. And as such it’s not very aerodynamic.

120 – 130 – 135. The needle hovered around 140 for a while and finally crossed it. I kept the accelerator fully pressed; the car won’t go any faster. That was my vehicle’s top speed. Being a city car and a bit old, it began to shake up a bit. The steering wheel was vibrating and it took some strength to keep it under control. I was on the fast lane, leaving vehicle after vehicle behind. I was taken over by sheer exhilaration. Of course, I knew I had entered the danger zone and I was completely focused on the road ahead of me and the car traveling ahead of me. The distance between us was decreasing rapidly. But, I was driven by speed; I did not want to drop below 140. I wanted this drift to last eternity.

The brake lights of the car in front of me glowed up. With a heavy heart I applied the brakes. There’s nothing more painful than watching the needle backtrack the dial of the speedometer.

A mother caring for her baby is an act of love purest in nature. No other form of love comes close. Not the love between a father and a child, a husband and a wife, a girl and a boy. Nothing comes close in purity, sanctity and eternity.

It’s one of the nature’s most basic insticts and one of the human’s most selfless emotion combined.

Human babies need to be cared the longest. They take months to start crawling. A year to start walking. And decades to learn the way of the world. They need caring, protection and handholding through most of this period. The result: a wholesome adult. Responsible for his/her decisions, actions and life. A grownup, yet learning to grow more. Pursuing life for its purpose.

It can be a lot of work getting a baby to a person. And fortunately, we get a lot of years to mould them, help them and discover them. In the initial years, mother is close, physically and psychologically. As the baby is growing up, the father also starts mothering him/her. And together, the parents shape a life. Nothing else in life offers such an opportunity for love, work and long term commitment. It’s awesome.