Earlier whenever someone would say that Moms have 4 eyes and 4 ears I wouldn't really understand the true meaning. But yes, I would be taken by surprise many a times when Ma would know what we have been up to without being there. I also sprouted extra pair of eyes and ears when I became a Mom myself and then I truly understood the meaning of the above saying.
This post by Noodlehead reminded me of such an incident that happened way back in 1992 or 1993 when we were staying in Kolkata (known as Calcutta in those days). It was a Sunday. Ma had gone to her bedroom to take her afternoon nap after we all were done with lunch.
Suddenly it struck me and my sister to give a surprise to Mom by doing all the dishes since the maid was on leave that day. So we quietly closed the kitchen door. And were doing the dishes with utter carefulness lest we make any noise. We were talking in the lowest possible whispering sounds. We were almost done with them and had started to really feel proud when we heard Ma's voice behind us "Tum dono kya kar rahe ho?" taking us by surprise. We froze at our places for few seconds and then started to laugh. Ma being Ma, gave us a good lecture as to we needn't be doing all this and that she can manage but we knew she was happy inside. We could just feel it. At the same time we were wondering how did she know we were up to something? And we asked her so. She simply said when there is pin drop silence in the house, it means there's something fishy and then she also joined us in the laughter :D
We had tried to help her one more time, when the washing machine conked off and Appa-Ma had gone out of the house, by washing the clothes. Instead we ended up splashing and playing with water more than we did the laundry :D They returned at the most inappropriate moment with the water flowing out of the washroom and me and my sister totally drenched from head to toe. We got a really good dose that time! Now I can say it was well deserved. :D
Now that I'm a Mom myself I know I would have reacted in exactly the same ways in both the incidents as Ma did. And it makes me wonder. Is this a "mom' thing or is it because I'm her daughter?
i guess its about the amount in involvement we have in a relationship.
ReplyDeletei can tell whats going on exactly even in M's head and whats he gonna say next! :)
and we are the most involved with our kids, so we just KNOW i guess!
cute post!
cheers!
abha
Surely it's the ,'ma-thing'.Its always sweet when we look back to our days with parents, as our guards. We tend to do few good things to help out our parents but end up messing everything.I don't know how it feels being a mother, but having a mother is the best(even the word"best" seems too small) thing to occur in my life.
ReplyDeleteOh its a mom thing for sure!!
ReplyDeleteAwww you reminded me of almost similar things we used to do at times for our mum.
ReplyDeleteAnd you are right, what a coincidence - both writing about mums having 4 eyes !
hey i liked this...its totally a mom thing, i assure you..isn't that wonderful? ...:)
ReplyDeletesome memories there :-) i think its both... you being the daughter of the mother she was !!!
ReplyDeletethe older i am growing, the more qualities of my mother i am gaining. not the qualities she has now but the ones i witnessed when i was a kid - that same qualities that baffled me because she it made her larger than life.
loved your post!
do you remember thst you did something similar also in calcutta, bu that was maybe around 1978/79. yes, when you had the idea of doing the dishes as the maid was not there. We both did it together. You coud actually repeat the incidence the same way except that this time it was me as Ruchi was a baby then.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Abha on this. We merge ourselves so much in certain relationships that we start knowing each and every movement of the person involved. And of course, a mother-child relation is the highest form of involvement that can be there.
ReplyDeleteLOL at the 4 ears and 4 eyes. Wait till you develop a 20 decible voice too. All darwinism.
ReplyDeleteI think its both ...and i must say you were such a caring daughter .. :) Lovely post !
ReplyDeleteThis is greeat
ReplyDelete