I am my mother

 

There are just so many times I feel exactly like my mother.

When we were kids, we weren’t the best to listen to her. She used keep telling us the same thing a billion and one times. Keep the empty glass away, clean the table, turn off the fan in the other room, switch off the TV, go to study NOW!, come to eat NOW! – And so so so many more. We never EVER listened the first time. Then she would say again. Then again. Maybe on the fifth iteration which would definitely be at a very loud decibel level, we would finally heed. As we would drag our lazy selves to do what ever she had asked us to do, she would invariably say “How would you feel if I don’t do immediately what you ask me to do? Wait when you ask me to do something, I will also do after you have said a million times.”

Lately I see myself saying the same especially to Chiyaa so much! When Mummy used to say that to us, my sister and I would giggle quietly 😃 Now I am just the same and I think my daughters definitely giggle quietly 😃

Being a professor, Mummy had to study late at nights for classes or for research work. She had a 6 day working week too. So Sundays used to be her day to rest. She used to cook a lavish lunch and around 2pm would go to take a nap. We sisters were supposed to be quiet. But. Were we quiet? 😉 We moved around her, playing, giggling, trampling her. She would endure it for some time and then! Bam! Her dam would burst and she would give us a massive scolding.

And guess what? That’s my Saturdays. Saturday is the day I feel more relaxed cos Sunday involves more prep work for the coming week. After a lavish lunch, I feel like curling up in bed with a book. The kids are quiet ok, but they do about playing, giggling and trampling over me. Life has definitely turned a full circle.

As my kids grow, I see myself growing into my mother and my kids into me. The absolute enigma called life.

All so new

 It is all new. It has been the same since March, but still it feels all new.

There are days when Pumpki demands an omelette in the morning. And I make it! I had never imagined sending my kids to school with hot breakfast (unless I was on holiday). But that happens once in a while. When Chiyaa had started school, I was working from home. So I used to get her hair done in a different plait every day (as much as time permitted) Lately it had all watered down to 2 French plaits or a pony tail. Since we are working from home, I can invest some time in making Pumpki’s hair. Not that she is keen on getting anything done. Which is a far cry from her elder sister who loved her hair done in different styles. But if the girls are in the mood and I have creative juices flowing and time at hand, they go to school with a nice hairstyle. 

 But getting them ready and their hair styled, does take time. Upto 30 minutes. Which means I start work at 6 and take a “break” from 0730-0800 ish. It is an unearthly hour to start work. It was very hard initially. But gradually I have gotten used to it. In fact some days if I am unable to wake up (the weather is getting colder you see), I feel the same rush I used to feel running to get to the bus last year. I rush downstairs and heave a sigh of relief once logged in.

 The big changes are still with respect to the kids though. They do not go to after school care. Which means they have to be picked up as soon as the school closes. With after school we used to have a window to pick them up by since the care used to run till 6pm. But now, either of us has to make a dash at 3pm to pick them up. But once back, they are served any food that they might have asked for the previous day. It is fun discussing and deciding what they would want to have the next day.

 K and my weekend runs are a thing of the past. But work and weather depending, we are able to squeeze in 2 runs during the lunch hour. Beggars cant be choosers 😃

 In the midst of all this, I cannot help think about the lovely summer I had with Mummy and Papa. As I reach out for a bottle of spices labelled “Mummy masala” (it is a mix of coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chillies and some other spices, mixed in ‘mummy’ proportion), or make a cup of tea for myself (which Mummy used to make for me for so long) or clean the windows and panes (which Papa had totally taken over), I cannot help but think of my parents, who were so close and are so far away now. It is still a new feeling getting used to their absence.

 Well… this new is here to stay.  As a popular saying on social media goes “Remember the time when you wished for what you have now!”