Thursday
I asked her before falling asleep, "Mummy ap karogi kya kal pura din, I'll be in office and you'll be alone".
I live in Pune-a stint of 3 months. I live in this small place of one room, an unfurnished kitchen and all the neighbors are my age, working or studying. The rent is one-fifth of what there is in Mumbai and I spend half my day in the office and rest of it by sharing bed with my laptop. I have figured it all.
"Tu chinta na kar. I have my iPad :D", mom replied with a smile. Wow, she too has figured it all and better.
Friday:
"Hello mom, I'm having lunch. Apne kha liya?", I WhatsApped her from the office cafeteria. "No, I'm sleeping. Tere message ne neend tod di. Ab nahane jaungi".
This was a 180° U-turn in events. Usually mom would call me from her work and I would respond like this from my college hostel's bed, which was very uncomfortable during nights but heavenly during afternoon lectures.
After dinner, mom asked me to play her favorite movie Kabhie Kabhi on laptop. God, I love that movie too!
Saturday:
"Vinti, doodh ubaal diya hai. Mug de daal du". I handed her two beer mugs. Why do I have beer mugs? Let's just say they are Rs.29/- a piece and it wouldn't hurt to break or throw them away. Yes, let's just say that is the reason :D
In the evening, I took her to Rock-On Concert, sponsored by my company. "It is Farhan Akhtar's movie", said mother and I nodded. She loved Dil Chahta Hai, and she maintains Farhan Akhtar is a better director than he is as an actor. Anyway, it was an evening well spent.
Sunday:
After talking about a 1000 different things, including the very irritating idea of "Tu boyfriend bana le, hum teri shaadi us se kara denge happily", we talked about the concept of "Urban Poor". I told her about how the world is now mostly about showing how 'happening' one's life is on Facebook. Although she's a tech-savvy mom, better at gadgets than I am, thankfully she's not on Facebook. It's a proud achievement, given most people her age are hooked to FB. We talked hours and hours, and I couldn't help but smile. For someone who goes to bed at 9.30 pm, mommy chatted with me animatedly till 1 am.
Monday:
The background story here is that Mom has a 20 day vacation post Diwali which she spends every year with her parents in Delhi. But this year she decided to spend some 10 days with me. Meanwhile, my father's company has sent him and a few others to the company headquarters in Dehra Dun. These are the employees who are nearing retirement and it's a week long program on "Happiness After Superannuation". Basically moh-maya se dur Himalaya pe gaye hain.
Dad called and talked about how lovely his day was. He spent the day with people like him, who have spent 30-35 years working, taking care of families, worrying about bills and taxes and children's education and career and marriage and what not. They all now have to 'chillax', be healthy and happy. Yep, that's Himalayan talk. And he is really looking forward to this.
Whereas, mom and I spent our evening e-window-shopping, something neither of us are interested in. I have never shown any interest in anything girl-like and she always buys sarees from unke jan-pehchan k logo se. But this exercise turned out to be fun, as we basically laughed at every customer review. I'm stating this: Customer Review sections and YouTube comments are the best sources of comedy :P
In between watching old movies, talking about US election, being horrified by pollution in Delhi and enjoying mom's cooking, I realized how both my parents are living a great life and that just makes me happy.
I asked her before falling asleep, "Mummy ap karogi kya kal pura din, I'll be in office and you'll be alone".
I live in Pune-a stint of 3 months. I live in this small place of one room, an unfurnished kitchen and all the neighbors are my age, working or studying. The rent is one-fifth of what there is in Mumbai and I spend half my day in the office and rest of it by sharing bed with my laptop. I have figured it all.
"Tu chinta na kar. I have my iPad :D", mom replied with a smile. Wow, she too has figured it all and better.
Friday:
"Hello mom, I'm having lunch. Apne kha liya?", I WhatsApped her from the office cafeteria. "No, I'm sleeping. Tere message ne neend tod di. Ab nahane jaungi".
This was a 180° U-turn in events. Usually mom would call me from her work and I would respond like this from my college hostel's bed, which was very uncomfortable during nights but heavenly during afternoon lectures.
After dinner, mom asked me to play her favorite movie Kabhie Kabhi on laptop. God, I love that movie too!
Saturday:
"Vinti, doodh ubaal diya hai. Mug de daal du". I handed her two beer mugs. Why do I have beer mugs? Let's just say they are Rs.29/- a piece and it wouldn't hurt to break or throw them away. Yes, let's just say that is the reason :D
In the evening, I took her to Rock-On Concert, sponsored by my company. "It is Farhan Akhtar's movie", said mother and I nodded. She loved Dil Chahta Hai, and she maintains Farhan Akhtar is a better director than he is as an actor. Anyway, it was an evening well spent.
Sunday:
After talking about a 1000 different things, including the very irritating idea of "Tu boyfriend bana le, hum teri shaadi us se kara denge happily", we talked about the concept of "Urban Poor". I told her about how the world is now mostly about showing how 'happening' one's life is on Facebook. Although she's a tech-savvy mom, better at gadgets than I am, thankfully she's not on Facebook. It's a proud achievement, given most people her age are hooked to FB. We talked hours and hours, and I couldn't help but smile. For someone who goes to bed at 9.30 pm, mommy chatted with me animatedly till 1 am.
Monday:
The background story here is that Mom has a 20 day vacation post Diwali which she spends every year with her parents in Delhi. But this year she decided to spend some 10 days with me. Meanwhile, my father's company has sent him and a few others to the company headquarters in Dehra Dun. These are the employees who are nearing retirement and it's a week long program on "Happiness After Superannuation". Basically moh-maya se dur Himalaya pe gaye hain.
Dad called and talked about how lovely his day was. He spent the day with people like him, who have spent 30-35 years working, taking care of families, worrying about bills and taxes and children's education and career and marriage and what not. They all now have to 'chillax', be healthy and happy. Yep, that's Himalayan talk. And he is really looking forward to this.
Whereas, mom and I spent our evening e-window-shopping, something neither of us are interested in. I have never shown any interest in anything girl-like and she always buys sarees from unke jan-pehchan k logo se. But this exercise turned out to be fun, as we basically laughed at every customer review. I'm stating this: Customer Review sections and YouTube comments are the best sources of comedy :P
In between watching old movies, talking about US election, being horrified by pollution in Delhi and enjoying mom's cooking, I realized how both my parents are living a great life and that just makes me happy.
