MOTHER OR WIFE?

Hi friends,

For some people, the mother is important. For some, the wife is important. For some, both are important. Funny things happen in our life. We remember some and we forget most of them. An interesting incident happened in our family when I was just ten and my father was 39.

My father had lost his father when he was 11. He was brought up by his mother. She had six children of whom my father was the last. She was very strict, orthodox, tonsured her head after the death of her husband, wore only a white saree, did pooja and Japam daily. 

No one should physically touch her until she finished her daily rituals. My father had a lot of love, affection, respect, and regard for his mother. To make her happy was one of his ambitions in life. He never failed to do anything to please her.

Taking this to her advantage, my grandmother used to complain about everyone in the family who did not dance to her tunes and got punishment for them. My father never ate anything outside and when he returned home from the office he was hungry as well as angry. 

The grandmother complained only about his return from the office so that the punishment was severe. One day my mother became the victim. When the grandmother complained about her, my father got furious, took a stick, held my mother at her wrist, pulled her inside the bedroom, closed the doors, and started thrashing her. 

All the children were bewildered and cursed the grandmother. My mother was screaming inside the bedroom and my father was shouting furiously. After some time, both of them came out. My mother quietly went inside the kitchen and my father threw the stick on the floor and sat on the sofa looking tired. 

At that time, you know what my grandmother said, "Dey Nana if you hit the pillow hard it would tear away. I know this trick. Your father had done this to me so many times. You can't fool me around". My father was both a devoted son as well as a loving husband.