//Written for hub pages on November 18, 2011...//
It was going to be a long day. I knew it the moment my mother woke me up at 9:00 AM. On any other day waking up at 9 would mean that I have missed my office cab and now would have to beg my father to drop me off. But today was a holiday and my mom never woke me up early on a holiday. The fact that she did led to my prognosis.
I tried to shake the ominous feeling and concentrated on what she was saying. “….have tried everything but now I just have to sleep for some time. Can you take care of the maids while I try to sleep my headache off?”
Oh. So that was it. My mom is 52 years old and her headaches are only getting worse. During such days there is nothing to be done but just to endure it. I nodded my head and tried to get up. As I rolled to the other side of the bed to get up I felt the Maggie I ate last night roll too. I wondered where it could find any space. My craving for food at night is a lot like Edward Cullen’s craving for Bella’s blood. Why am I making a reference to a vampire movie? Maybe it was because I read the whole e-book last night. That’s another thing I always wondered at: how come these books have so much power over me? They influence my moods, my responses, even towards normal things. A happy book makes me happy, a sad book spoils my day, makes me fight with friends and family and a rebellious movie just ruins my already-volatile relationship with my parents. I am a born-and-brought-up-in-India person; vampires, werewolves are not a part of my 5000 year old culture. How can I now feel sympathy for a vampire? Or feel sorry for a werewolf whose love is not reciprocated? Or jealous of a fictional character who has found the love of her life? Twice? That Bitch.
Just then I hear a scream like someone had actually seen a vampire. But I can’t see anything. Wait. My eyes are closed. Why am I still lying down? Didn’t I just wake up?
“….26 years old and cant even provide her mother comfort for even two hours?...what can be done with her? She is hopeless….i specifically told her how bad am feeling today but NO…it is too much to hope!”
I open my eyes and there she is. Yelling. I shake all my dreams off of me and this time manage to get up in the real world. Real world? What would Neo say to that?
Its already 9:30, my maids have come and begun their morning madness. All the sheets are being tossed, the floor is being swept, the utensils are getting washed mom is muttering to herself and the others while they work noisily. I brush my teeth quickly and leisurely eat the food that has been prepared for me. Here’s another thing about my mom. She could be dying and she would still cook food for me. For as long as I can remember, and that is before Tupperware, my mom would pack in my lunch everyday with great care.
By the time I finish eating the house is spick and span. The maids are finally leaving.
Its 11:00 am. I am in the guest room and working on my laptop. Mom comes in and asks me ”Where do you plan to study? I want to sleep”. Since I was already in the guest room, I knew she was really asking me to vacate the room. Still, I told her that I would be studying in the same room. She leaves and comes back in some time like a petulant child. “I can’t sleep in that room…there is too much light….” and switches off the tube light in the guest room. I don’t leave the room. I know she would like me to stay. A few minutes later she asks me to open the windows as there isn’t enough air in the room. A few minutes after that she wants me to switch on the AC as it’s too hot. So I close the windows, switch the AC on. After a few minutes she asks me to shut off the AC as well as the Fan, next she asks me to switch on the fan.
After a few minutes she gives up and takes her pain medicine. Maybe the day won’t be so bad now.
Its 12:00 PM. Mom is yet to sleep and I am yet to start studying. The doorbell rings. I open the door and see the washer-lady (called dhobin) standing with a baby girl. She asks for my mom. I instantly know she wants to ask for money. That’s another thing about my mom. She gives. I remember one time when my sister who had graduated college came back home and saw that her desk was gone. She has given away sofa, scooty, chargers, money, clothing and food. I tell my dhobin that mom’s not feeling well and is sleeping. She walks away giving me the look that says “the apple has fallen far from the tree”. I go back into the room and mom’s there asking me the question with her eyes. I tell her and she immediately hops off the bed and yells “Stop her….why didn’t you ask me??” Forgetting all the pain in her head and joints and everything mom immediately puts some milk in the pan, takes bread and fruits out and tells me to give some money. I make a face and she explains “Today is mata’s* day!...and a young girl has come to our doorsteps for food and you turned her away! Silly girl!” She is so happy, it’s almost comic. She goes out, mollycoddles the little baby girl and then touches her feet and says” Jai Mata Di”. “Oh Gaawd” I say. “Yes..God Exactly!” She says back.
Finally, she goes to sleep. This time for real. I know I can hear the snores. Maybe it was divine intervention. Or maybe it was the medicines, but she is finally sleeping. With a smile on her face.
*--> Mata in Hindi means mother, also used to refer to goddess Durga. Young girls in India are treated as “girl-goddesses” on some special festival days.
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