Weekly
thrice the dotty daughter makes calls to her parents. Conversation during
weekdays are limited but on Sundays, it stretches up to an hour, topics range
from day-to-day events to friends, to health and finally comes the most awaited
topic of the tiger mom, the academic part.
“So, how did
you do your test dear?”
“It was okay.”
‘Okay’
was something the mother couldn’t stand. To her, it meant not so good or
average or satisfactory and that was not okay for her. Though she tried with
all her might to make her dotty daughter understand the definition of Okay, she
failed. The very sound of the word got her on her nerves, but the daughter was
not to understand this.
The right
coaching brings out the genius in you. Two years of your stay in strict
disciplined lifestyle, without any distraction is what is needed, and your life
will be set. Hard to find such institutions.
One
year ago, the soccer mom pretentiously weighed on the merits and demerits and
peppering with the ever-so-slight dash of emotional manipulation ‘I know you
want to get good scores just like others, but you are not able to meet your own
expectations, right? ‘
No matter how
hard the intelligent teenager tried to exercise her ability to get away, the
mother funneled her rebellious streak into a manageable yes from her darling
daughter, albeit a half-hearted nod. But there always were the grumbles, about
the course what never was her choice of interest. Basically, to avoid
mathematics, the parents knew. Pursuing the well-known path than the lesser
explored was what they preferred. And when it came to this rebellious teenager,
the mother knew what best suited her highly intelligent daughter. And that was
that.
The
much-awaited Sunday calls became the booster shots that helped the teenager
settle with the dilemmas of her everyday happenings be it academic issues or
about roommates. The aphorisms of the mother fit well to the vexing challenges
the institute threw at her.
“Mom, please
write me a letter.”
At
the very spell of it, the mother chose to write about Rhodopsin effect, the one
she had come across during her Facebook feed scrolling session. As was
expected, the letter severed as a motivational fodder that continued for weeks.
But it soon fizzled out and the daughter got stuck in the rut again. The mother
now had to come up with something new to keep the show going. After all, it’s
just the matter of time, you know, or so she believed.
“Mom,
I am here just because you guys have forced me to. Science is not my choice of
interest.”
“Just
a few more months left, all you need to do, is to blindly follow the
instruction given. That’s it, sweetheart”
“It is not so
simple as you think mom.”
With
all her uncanny ability to convince her dotty daughter, she pulled off a
multitude of words that ranged from softly wavy to a determined tone.
“Well, then,
there is no choice.”
Glad
to see herself making some headway, never letting the rebellious teenager’s
prodding words checkmate her.
“Exactly.
There you got me. I am feeling helpless. You have left me to rot in this
suffocating ambiance.”
The
tension set in. The warrior in the mother started mulling over the task at
hand. Not difficult by any yardstick who had walked the tightrope, dealing
situations way far tougher than this. If ever she gave up, what a failure it
would be! Can her hard work be lost to the apathy of the present?
“I
fully understand your situation dear, but it’s all matter of time. Just be
patient. Soon after your twelfth, you are going to pursue your passion. Isn’t
it great?”
“Oh,
now you are getting on with your emotional blackmail trap. Can you please stop
that mom?”
Before it
turned into a high voltage drama, she exactly sniffed out what to come up with.
“By the way,
how’s your new crush?”
At
the very toss of the question, the see-saw battle of blame disappeared into
thin air. But more than that, it turned a goal dictum on its head.
“Hope, Papa
isn’t around?”
“Yes, but don’t
you worry girl, he is busy watching the cricket.”
Just
as happily the conversation had begun it ended too. But in that brief moment, a
tear or two escaped the cool mom’s eyes.
That,
for her, was one of the greatest endeavours of her day by far! Mother knows
best.
