The writer's mom, 82-year-old Radha Naidoo.
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As we celebrate Mother’s Day today, I find myself thinking about the kind of work that often goes unnoticed - the kind of work my siblings and I first came to understand by watching our mother. Not the big moments or special occasions, but the everyday things that quietly keep everything going. The routines, the structure, the consistency. The countless ways mothers show up - day after day - carrying responsibilities, nurturing families, and holding so much together.
My mother has always been one of those women. She never looked for praise or expected a medal. She simply did what needed to be done - for her family. There was a simple, steady way in which she carried everything. Things were done. The home was kept together, and the four of us were raised with values we picked up along the way, simply by watching her. She never complained. Never a word about an ache or pain, never a complaint about what she carried - she simply kept showing up, day after day, with strength, love, and unwavering commitment.
As a mother myself, I now see that same strength in so many women around me.
Life today is busy. There’s work, there’s home, and everything in between. The roles overlap, the days move quickly, and there isn’t always time to pause. Some days go well. Other days feel like you’re simply trying to keep up. But like the women before us, we carry on. Not because everything is perfect, but because it matters.
Motherhood, I’ve come to realise, is not about getting everything right. It’s about showing up. Being present where it counts. Doing what you can, with what you have, in the moment you’re in. It’s in the small things - the routines, the conversations, the consistency, the things we do each day without even thinking, almost as second nature - that the real impact lies. And maybe that’s how legacy works. Not through big words or recognition, but through example - through the lives we touch, the values we instil, and the love we give, day after day.
This isn’t only about my mother. It’s about so many mothers - my mum-in-law, my sisters, my aunts, my cousins, my friends, and countless women who show up every day in their own way. Women who carry multiple roles. Who manage responsibilities that aren’t always seen, alongside those who lead, speak, and show up in visible ways. Who keep giving, often without acknowledgment. Who, even when tired, still show up the next day and do what needs to be done.
There’s no single way to do this. And maybe, over time, we’re learning that it’s also okay to recognise our own efforts - with an understanding that what we do each day has value. It may not always be noticed. But it matters. And when I think about what strength truly looks like, my thoughts return once more to the woman who shaped all four of us - our mother.
When my father fell ill, she carried our family through that season - taking on responsibility with grace, dignity, and resilience. She carried so much, yet never complained - never a word about an ache or pain, never a complaint about how much was on her shoulders - she simply kept showing up for all of us with love and determination. Her strength, steady presence, and unwavering commitment shaped so much of who the four of us are today.
Her influence is felt daily - in the lives she continues to shape, in the values she continues to instil, and in the strength and resilience that runs through our family because of her example. For that, and for all that she is to our family, the four of us remain deeply grateful. Hers is a strength that shaped lives - ours most of all.
And to all mothers - This Mother’s Day, may you recognise the power in the ordinary moments, the love woven into the routines, and the strength it takes to keep showing up. May you know that in the lives you nurture, in the values you instil, and in the love you give so freely, you are leaving footprints that time will never erase. Long after the days have passed and the moments seem small, what you have poured into others will continue to live on - in who they become, in how they love, and in how they show up for the world.
That is the miracle of motherhood - a love poured out in countless ordinary moments, a strength that becomes someone else’s foundation, and a legacy that lives on in hearts, homes, and generations still to come.