My Family, Part 2

My mother…

A very sweet woman, a stay-at-home mom who takes care of the kids. (Although the little birdies have now flown the coop.) She is admittedly on the short side, the wedding photo of my parents is an inside joke among the rest of the family, including the extended one, for she just about comes to his chest when both stand at their full height. A terror to the local vegetable sellers, she drives such a hard bargain that it’s a miracle they keep coming back. I’ve seen impressionable young lads driven to tears after ten minutes of debate with my mother as to why exactly they ought to knock off the price. She occasionally feels sorry for them, and brings them inside for a glass of buttermilk, but manages to get them to stick to the price in any case…

My mother has this rather annoying fixation about long hair and beards. For that reason alone, I think she would be rather pleased if I were to join the army, where I would get a buzz cut, and the sergeant would reprimand me if my cheeks weren’t smooth. At least, that’s what I see them do in the movies…

Another hobby of my mother’s that I dislike intensely is watching TV soaps. I never really find any point to those things, they’re usually about families suffering one problem after another, bad guys try to destroy them financially, the younger son is a drug addict (the elder one’s in prison), the daughter suffers from a bad marriage, the father’s a drunkard and the protagonist (usually one of those modern working women with an iron will) tries to keep the family together… so, GIRL POWER! All in all, that’s fine, I’m a strong believer in the freedom of expression and the freedom to do-what-you-like-in-your-leisure-time, except that my mother gets so moved by the story that she gets into the aforementioned protagonist’s shoes and sometimes forgets to get out of them. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard her quoting lines from the soaps from time to time…

My mom’s also an excellent cook, and has a fondness for a game called Pallanguzhi, also known as Bantumi, a popular game often found on mobile phones.

How to get on her good side… Agree with what she says, with tactful comments inserted at pauses…