I opened my mails this morning while dealing with insomnia.
I glared at a mail which said “80 Euros Flight gift certificate” from Opodo. I click on the link ....
....and there was the next one “New York for €299”….
I looked at it and looked at it and then sighed. I had just booked my tickets to New York at a much higher price a couple of weeks back for Parmanu’s and my first holiday together at my parent’s place since 2003.
……………….
Yep… It is 5 years since my husband and I went together to visit my parents. All my parents friends think that my parents are hiding something with respect to my marital status since they never see the two of us together.
My parent’s friends are not the only ones – a couple of weeks back:
A friend: “How are you?”
Me: “I am fine…”
(You know the usual pleasantries..)
She: “How about a movie this weekend?”
Me: “Oh… Parmanu is here this weekend – so I think I would prefer to spend my time with him. We get so less time together”.
She: “How about next weekend?”
Me: “I am off to Germany – looking forward to it so much”.
(You see a justification pattern here… but that is not what I was talking about).
She: “Oh… that is so nice. If you had not been looking forward to these visits I would have wondered about the two of you – whether you were separated or thinking about it”.
Uh Uh Uh… I am glad she mentioned it out loud. Perhaps many think that and not mention it.
In anycase, Parmanu visited my parents last year in between an official trip. My parents use his availability to fix all their technical computer related problems. Nevermind that in Germany we have about 3 PCs and one monitor that are not working and he is trying out his 100-th Wifi modem with no success since we have a really special internet provider. So there he was on a Saturday morning in front of their PC in the basement on the telephone with the Sony call center trying to fix my parents problems.
A friend of my mother’s from her school days had dropped in.
Auntyji: “R…, so what about Colours and Parmanu?”
Mummyji: “They are fine” (always cryptic and knowing how much Parmanu loves his solitude).
Auntyji with the dreaded question: “Don’t they want any children?”
Mummyji – a little untruthfully – “Oh H…, I do not really ask them. You know the children these days”.
Auntyji, who has children with minds of their own having grown up in the Unites States, different from her own when she was young, empathized – “ Of course, but they are also staying apart for so long. Should she not move back?”
Uh! WHY SHOULD I MOVE BACK? Can they not ask the other way round?
Mummyji: “All in due time” – with a patience she never exhibits with me (uh.. I must say she has been most supportive of my living in Brussels).
Auntyji: “Parmanu never comes here….”
Mummyji – jumping at the chance: “He is downstairs now – I think he is doing something on the computer”.
Auntyji: “Oh..”
Later my mom was in the kitchen Auntyji walked down the cellar stairs – something she has never done before. Parmanu looked up from the telephone to see an unexpected apparition walking down.
Auntyji: “Oh.. Hello Parmanu”.
Parmanu, who hates multitasking, with the telephone in hand half the sentence through “Hello”
And pointed to the telephone….
Auntyji ran back up – in my mother’s words “After having ensured there really exists a son-in-law. Never mind that he also was completely engrossed in the computer strangely non-communicative in her terms”.
Auntyji: "... They never come together?".
- So my mother has planned huge party for all her friends this time when we are there. As you see it is a sensitive topic on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
………