Mom turned 80 today. And she ran off to Chennai a couple of days back, to avoid any potential hoopla around her birthday. And I wondered whether I should put this news up in a public forum. But then, there is no other way I could say all the things I want to say to her, without either embarrassing me or her. So here goes... Savithri, as she was known to all, was the epitome of hard work and perseverance. Made to stop studies after her 10th grade back in Madurai, she got married to my dad and moved to Lucknow for a year in 1956, and then to Calcutta, which was my dad's home base even before. Mom was keen to study, and dad encouraged her. She enrolled for private classes for her PUC, and then joined Shivnath Shastri/City College for her BA. Somewhere along the way, dad's business took a nosedive. Amma would be up by 4.30am, cook breakfast and lunch for us by 6am, and be in college on time. And then she would be on her rounds doing tuitions to school kids till late a