The Other Woman

On a weekday when the man of the house and unruly kids go to their respective errands (read as office and school), I finally got hold of a precious device that otherwise is out of my reach. Yes, I’m talking about TV remote control 😛  . During my rapid flip of TV channels, I suddenly paused on Sony. Of course it wasn’t deliberate; I was forced to pause as just then the door bell rang. So, upon my return my attention was caught by the pretty young lady named Sonakshi from the TV serial “Kuch Rang Pyaar ke Aise bhi”. I watched the remaining part of it out of curiosity and instantly understood the whole saga. It’s a tale of two women in a man’s life.

One being the wife and other woman here is the mother. In the progressive world where 1000 Rs. Notes have been replaced by 2000 Rs. and we going from “money change” to “PayTm” change”, this relationship has certainly remained unchanged. Sometimes I wonder the impediments around it. The now love-now hate situation is a classic example that stood the testimony of times without much alteration. My friend Katy called me this weekend and in a cheerful voice informed, she just got back from a pleasure trip that is, she dropped her mother in-law to the airport!!! I almost fell off the chair by just imagining her open the refrigerator and gulp down a glass of chilled water before turning on the A.C, RnB music (John Legend to be precise) and getting into her favorite red colored T-shirt that reads “I dress to kill”. I remember, once she told me that her mother in-law retorted that she cooks to kill instead!

On the other hand, my old and ripe neighbor calls her “Bahu” as DIL (pronouncing as dil in Hindi). Once we were together getting down in an elevator from 14^th floor at 6:00 AM and very chirpily she said “My DIL wakes up early and goes for a stroll. I cook for her lunch box!!” and before it registers in my sluggish mind she quickly added “well, I also pack salads and breakfast…she thinks too much of her health….in my days we used to do laborious work at home that kept us as fit as a fiddle….till today I can run like a horse, work like a donkey and ….” And the elevator stopped on the 7^th floor only to welcome another MIL. This fiddle…err fit like a fiddle immediately ignoring my presence and her monologue so far quipped to her that her joints and legs ache so much making her incapable of fetching a glass of water. Well, that was quite a wakeful performance that instantly busted the bubbles I started forming…of course of a horse, donkey and rabbit (this she didn’t mention though but I took the liberty in imagining since I only felt that was relevant considering the Tortoise and Rabbit story).

Needless to say that I was occupied by these contrasting behavioral patterns – my friend who was celebrating her mother in law’s see off and a mother in law who jibed about her DIL. Sometimes, you just can’t use logic in this kind of relationship. It’s more like a comedy play where characters make hilarious errors to make it look just perfect! Each of these characters have significant role to play, like a vulnerable son who is indecisive to make a choice between a mom and wife, saintly father in law who has no meaningful role yet a key person who can influence everyday decisions, a pompous mother in law who is reluctant to surrender the rights of her son to any other person and a snobbish daughter in law who is steadfast to snatch away her control on the man of her life! They all fit in like a jigsaw puzzle and complete the picture pretty good. You miss one of these and the riddle remains unfinished.

With due respect to the traditions; I think we all should appreciate the beauty of these relations. Let us not label that “I treat my daughter in law like a daughter” or “I look up to my mother in law like I do to my mom”. They are two different relations and mixing up will only lead to chaos. I’ve a mom and she is not replaceable by anyone on this earth…no, not even GOD. Same rule is also applicable to a daughter. No one can beat her on the non-judgmental behavior. She is the epitome of love and affection. A mother lives her second life through her daughter that makes a daughter in law incapable of an interchange of this role!! Let’s all stick to our roles and play them effectively. Let’s complete the puzzle. Let’s be sensitive and appreciative for two amazing women love the same man in completely different ways!