Ha.

My mother..Through my eyes..
I was in the 7th standard. (12 years old)
Amma was in her mid 40’s. My youngest sister was around 5.
Amma had gained a lot of weight after giving birth to my youngest sister. Obviously none of her old saree blouses fit. So in order to save money ( for the eternal dowry for 4 daughters) she got the tailor to stitch cream colour blouse.
At one stage Chechy and I counted 7 cream colour blouses!
Amma had a cupboard full of sarees. ( 90% of my family lived overseas at that time and the usual gift when anyone came home was a new saree)
When the mothers of my friends, who probably had less  sarees compared to my mother wore matching blouse, mine wore a cream blouse with all her sarees. It was embarrassing..plain and simple. to make it even more traumatic, amma also had hair the same thickness as a rat tail, which she looped and twisted in to a bun that looked like a ball of mangled limp spaghetti.. She also applied hair dye that came like a lip stick on her grey hair each morning..The hair dye made her hair stick to her scalp..
Oh, don’t forget the plastic bata slippers..the ones that last for years..If  my father had come home, replace the bata with the gulf slipper..those plastic ones with green straps..
My mother believed that she looked like Padmini Kolhapuri..and I promised myself then that I will never embarrass my children.

Through Yaya’s eyes.
She is 13.
Last sunday, I was laying down in my hammock and reading and she came to lay down next to me. After a few minutes she told me
“Mom, you have Midlife crises”.
Since the statement came without any prior warning, I was a bit taken aback..So I asked her what made her think so..
These are the reasons given by oldest daughter. ( Me pitted against all her friends mothers!)
1. You wear heels
I have been wearing heels from the time I went to medical college..The only time I stopped wearing heels was when I was pregnant. I have exceptionally tall sisters and being a midget was not that interesting.
2. You wear skinny jeans.
I own one ( 1) pair of custom made Levi.
3.I can wear your clothes.
I am not sure how that makes me suffer from midlife crises. ( But it is a reason for my midlife crises)
4. You always paint your toe nails.
Yes, I paint my toe nails each week. I wear heels and it does look nice.
5. You drive a flashy car
No excuse for that. ( apparently one of her friend’s dad also had a midlife crises and bought a similar car!!!)
6. You are skinny.
You are only 7 kg heavier than me.

And to think that my child would have been happy, if I was fat, wore ill fitting clothes and gulf slippers!!
You can’t win..

4 thoughts on “Ha.

  1. hahaha 😀 … this post will touch many 😀 .. My mum is gorgeous .. there was a time in my teenage years where I actually wished that she looked ordinary and a little less pretty (i know pretty awful thought)… and when I grew up I so wanted to look like her .. wanted to hear people say that I at least remotely resemble my mum 😀 .. … its a stage in early 15 … this too shall pass ….

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