Rough Sailing

One of Razia's recurring questions is when my mother will come to stay with us again. She seems to think that I'm in dire need of some help. It may be so but I don't want to admit it and I'm deriving some satisfaction out of imagining that I'm proving my mother wrong. Anyway, since things like personal choice, individual freedom etc don't make sense to Razia, - it doesn't to many - I tell her of my mother's tangible problems. Like how my parents are currently busy getting their home painted and in another week my mother will go to her in-laws' place to help in my cousin's delivery and subsequently the baby's naming ceremony and then after another ten days she'll be in her mother's place for her father's shradhdha...and I don't know what else can come up meanwhile. But Razia is not to be convinced easily; she says my mother has more time for everybody else than her own daughter. I tell her it's not fair to have such expectation on my part. Actually I'm of no help to her and whatever she did to help me for five years was more than I could ask for. But I guess Razia is kind of drawing her own parallel because she's upset with her folks who she says only bank on her but never help her even in her worst times. The other day she was cursing her mother for having given birth to nine children in a line because all she did in her childhood was taking care of younger siblings. Then she got married at fourteen and has been working as a help since the age of seventeen. She is one superhuman really and knows it too.

Summer has hardly stepped in and my mother has started campaigning for having her grandchildren during vacations. As I said her calendar is full and I chide her that she's simply asking for more trouble but she wouldn't listen. But this time I've put my foot down; children will stay only as long as I do. That is for two weeks.

And... Razia has gone to native because her brother passed away and I am a little more helpless.