The Woes of The mother Of a Teenage Daughter
As i streched out my hand for the cell phone to make a call to my mother,the landline phone rang.It was my mother,full of solicitous inquires about my well being.Well,what do you call it,telepathy or a mother's eternal concern?She had been thinking of me exactly at the same time when i had been thinking of her.Mothers will be mothers.No sooner had i stopped talking to her than a mini storm shook the very foundations of our government quarters.A voice boomed,"You are always chatting away on the phone,"it was my 15,going on 16,daughter,resplendent in a scintillating frown and a crushed uniform,just back from school.
"But i was talking to my mother,sweetheart,"i bleated."Whatever!!!"she said,rolling her eyes upwards and flinging her satchel on the bed."Keep your bag at the proper place,"i snapped.Oh,GMAB!there is no proper and improper,it is all in the mind",was her angry rejoinder.."GMAB?" i asked,gaping open mouthed."Oh,come on,mom,grow up,don't you even know what GMAB means,it means GIVE ME A BREAK."Enlightenment had just dawned when there was another resounding salvo as her eyes fell on the laptop in my lap."Why do you have to listen to these old songs on you tube,huh?""Old is gold"this cliche of mine received all the contempt that a cliche deserved. With one determined hand,she snatched the laptop from me,while my jaw fell."Was this your life support system,mom? You have an intensely deprived expression on your face,get over your Facebook addiction,there is a life beyond F.B."she said,dismissively and in no time got busy,listening to Justin Bieber and Enrique.
"Your Lady Gaga gets on my nerves."i hissed,now in a retaliatory mode."So does this lady on mine,the one who was singing, aaj phir jeene ka iraada hai,aaj phir marne ki tamnna hai.Why is she so confused,why is she so undecided about whether she wants to live or die,ugh,confusion,confusion!"Offence is the best form of defence,they say, so i was once again on the offensive."Why does this Lady Gaga have such a weird form of dress or undress?""Weirdness lies in the eyes of the beholder,mom,wake up from your slumber and evolve.""Evolve?" "And yes,this is Lady Gaga's way of expressing herself,there is something like freedom of expression,mom.BTW,i don't like these relatives of yours dropping in at odd hours,telling me what to do and what not.Do you expect me to sit here and listen to some golden oldie informing me how his/her hair did not get white in the sun just like that,i have better things to do,mom," she said,dripping sarcasm."Don't forget there is a world beyond the virtual world,inhabited by real people with real concerns."i tried to put in edge wise and the edge was only a sliver."This real world is so unreal,you should attend some counselling classes in teenage parenting,mom.A good parent is never so imposing."She flung at me,irritation written all over her face."Have your lunch at least,its getting cold,"i beseeched.But her eyes merely swept over me with the royal indifference of a haughty aristocrat and went back to her cell phone,texting away merrily.
Well,well,well,a mother and a teenage daughter relationship is indeed complex and confounding like the present Indo-U.S.relationship,stumbling and floundering,full of twists and turns and heartburns.Will the relations improve? I cling to hope and the lines which had been my status on F.B. for almost a week and which described the changing phases of a mother-daughter relationship,saying that the worth of a mother is realised only in the later stages of her life.I visualise the moment,when my loving daughter, in some distant future -ah,a fond hope-will lovingly propel me towards my bed or where ever octogenarians are meant to live out the remaining years of their lives and with a loving arm around my frail shoulders,a loving kiss on my sunken cheeks,will say,"Mama,i love you so much!"My parched lips will try to frame the words,"ah,i waited for this so long,sweetheart,i love you too."But won't it be too late then or will it?
"But i was talking to my mother,sweetheart,"i bleated."Whatever!!!"she said,rolling her eyes upwards and flinging her satchel on the bed."Keep your bag at the proper place,"i snapped.Oh,GMAB!there is no proper and improper,it is all in the mind",was her angry rejoinder.."GMAB?" i asked,gaping open mouthed."Oh,come on,mom,grow up,don't you even know what GMAB means,it means GIVE ME A BREAK."Enlightenment had just dawned when there was another resounding salvo as her eyes fell on the laptop in my lap."Why do you have to listen to these old songs on you tube,huh?""Old is gold"this cliche of mine received all the contempt that a cliche deserved. With one determined hand,she snatched the laptop from me,while my jaw fell."Was this your life support system,mom? You have an intensely deprived expression on your face,get over your Facebook addiction,there is a life beyond F.B."she said,dismissively and in no time got busy,listening to Justin Bieber and Enrique.
"Your Lady Gaga gets on my nerves."i hissed,now in a retaliatory mode."So does this lady on mine,the one who was singing, aaj phir jeene ka iraada hai,aaj phir marne ki tamnna hai.Why is she so confused,why is she so undecided about whether she wants to live or die,ugh,confusion,confusion!"Offence is the best form of defence,they say, so i was once again on the offensive."Why does this Lady Gaga have such a weird form of dress or undress?""Weirdness lies in the eyes of the beholder,mom,wake up from your slumber and evolve.""Evolve?" "And yes,this is Lady Gaga's way of expressing herself,there is something like freedom of expression,mom.BTW,i don't like these relatives of yours dropping in at odd hours,telling me what to do and what not.Do you expect me to sit here and listen to some golden oldie informing me how his/her hair did not get white in the sun just like that,i have better things to do,mom," she said,dripping sarcasm."Don't forget there is a world beyond the virtual world,inhabited by real people with real concerns."i tried to put in edge wise and the edge was only a sliver."This real world is so unreal,you should attend some counselling classes in teenage parenting,mom.A good parent is never so imposing."She flung at me,irritation written all over her face."Have your lunch at least,its getting cold,"i beseeched.But her eyes merely swept over me with the royal indifference of a haughty aristocrat and went back to her cell phone,texting away merrily.
Well,well,well,a mother and a teenage daughter relationship is indeed complex and confounding like the present Indo-U.S.relationship,stumbling and floundering,full of twists and turns and heartburns.Will the relations improve? I cling to hope and the lines which had been my status on F.B. for almost a week and which described the changing phases of a mother-daughter relationship,saying that the worth of a mother is realised only in the later stages of her life.I visualise the moment,when my loving daughter, in some distant future -ah,a fond hope-will lovingly propel me towards my bed or where ever octogenarians are meant to live out the remaining years of their lives and with a loving arm around my frail shoulders,a loving kiss on my sunken cheeks,will say,"Mama,i love you so much!"My parched lips will try to frame the words,"ah,i waited for this so long,sweetheart,i love you too."But won't it be too late then or will it?
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