The Perfect Mother
Meira sat in the darkness, sipping her coffee with a sombre expression on her face. Nitin walked into the house and was surprised to see the lights turned off. He switched on the lights wondering what had made Meira skip her daily routine of switching on every light in the house as soon as the sun set. His surprise doubled seeing the sombre, quiet and brooding form sitting in the corner, this was so unlike Meira.
“How was your day? You seem different.” Nitin exclaimed as he pulled a chair to sit down beside her.
“You should have figured out by now how my day went. And what is this different, now you also have an issue with me?” Meira snapped back. Nitin braced himself to face his wife’s temper.
“Where is Koyal?” Nitin asked with an attempt to change the topic.
“You call and ask her. She has been accusing me of been messing up her life plans, from now on I am going to stay out of her way.” Meira’s response cleared the picture.
“So, what is the fight about this time?” Nitin asked putting an arm around Meira.
“Madam wants to stop attending her dance classes for the next six months. Says she needs to focus on her exams. All I told her was that she needs to learn to balance things and she goes of on a monologue saying I am a reckless mom out to jeopardise her academics. Such an ungrateful child I have.” Meira was sobbing.
“Relax Meira, you know Koyal gets a little dramatic when she is worked up, I will talk to her” Nitin’s re-assurance didn’t work.
“I put in so much effort at being the perfect mom. I always heard her out, encouraged her talents, but she only has complaints from me. She should have had the childhood I did, heavily monitored and strictly scheduled. Hobby classes were unheard of luxuries, my mother never indulged in. But I was never rude to her.” Meira continued sobbing.
“Tell me something, what’s with this perfect mother? Was your mother not a good mother? You have never had disagreements with your mother? Nitin asked Meira with a knowing smile.
“Disagreements are one thing, but being downright hurtful is another. I never put down mom, I was just trying to say, I ensured Koyal got a better life and more freedom than I did.” Meira seemed to be calming down.
“Whether, you were hurtful or not is something only your mother can tell us. Meira, don’t we all wish to give our children the life, we never had. But they might seek other things, seek more from life. Your mother also probably was giving you the best she could, but you have complaints. Can any of us really be perfect?” Nitin’s questions got Meira thinking.
“Come let’s pick up Koyal and head to the ice cream parlour. That would be the perfect setting for your peace talks.” Nitin said nudging Meira.
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