Mother
The balloons swayed slowly,
And gave me a defiant gaze.
The stony silence of my house,
Stifled tons of guilt.
The pitter-patter of September raindrops,
Unleashed sarcasm,
As if saying,
“Try being a good mother’
For today at least”
Son
AAH! Was that my last birthday
MY 15th one?
My big day! A big milestone!
But then 10th standard and the boards,
Were bigger milestones.
Instead of gyrating to the Biebers and Beyonces,
Here I was, stuck neck-deep into the sciences!
Mother
Yes! You had your science major the next morning
And here I was restlessly wondering
Was I right? Doesn’t look like!
Was I wrong? May be not!
Then, how do I then balance the science and math of it all!
Son
How much was I hating you and the tutor,
Come'on I thought,
They should just say,
'Take a day off'.
Would I actually take?
Maybe not!
Mother
You don’t have to tell me,
Because I know,
At times, we’ve not been the best buddies.
And you’ve hated me more than your Social Studies.
Son
C'mon I know what’s coming next
That you know it better,
What goes inside my brain
Because you are my mother!
Mother
No no! Maybe not that,
Maybe because I hated mine as much.
Some three decades back.
I remember as such!
I hated the sciences,
She put me in a class,
Where the two hours,
Just won’t pass.
I could yawn into my tutor’s face,
But shuddered being discussed as a case.
I dreaded the queries,
Because
I had answers none.
All I dreamt was to faraway run.
To a place..
Where Integers won’t haunt.
And Binomial Theorems won’t taunt.
You know? me and your Nani are now often giggling and wondering,
What then was our chemistry and bonding!
Son
You know Mom,
At times you make me wonder,
If you are one or bipolar?
One day you gang up with me,
Like a brat of a teenager.
And together we irritate,
That man who is my father.
The next day you wake up like an autocratic dictator.
There are some issues with your ray optics,
For,
The hate the sight of my shoes.
The disorder of my room,
The smell of my hair.
Me and he then look at you with despair!
See you in that itchy and witchy mood,
He too decides to stop being that dude.
Suddenly he too jumps into the spat.
In between,
I just casually check my Facebook and Snapchat.
That’s enough to disturb your sequence and series,
Permutations and combinations are all lost.
And then I get the loudest lecture,
On respect, cleanliness and what not!
MOTHER
Nay!
It was a lovely morning
That started with a motherly divinity.
I was waking you up with all love and affinity,
It was you who kept dozing off till infinity!
Son
Within minutes such argumentative Indians we became,
Is it our house or Republic Channel where we came?
Each one of us vying to be that Arnab,
You outshout me and Daddy like that Goswami,
But when Daddy shouts back, it’s like a double whammy.
In this gaseous state,
And disturbed chemical equilibrium,
And I wonder why all this hate?
After all I just got up half an hour late!
Mother
And then,
The volumes slowly go down,
Because my vocal chords frown.
We storm off to different rooms,
Nursing bruised egos.
I later lay the lunch and breakfast with a glunch.
And then I suddenly burst into peals of laughter,
Is it then you wonder,
If I'm one or bipolar?
Son
And then you blame it all on hormones!
Mine are lunging in riding on teenage,
Yours are limping out holding hands with midlife.
Daddy’s hormones are subject to his corporate life.
He thinks as he decides whom to side,
The son or the wife?
Mother
Sonny boy!
We know,
You have laid aside so much,
As you chase new dreams.
Opt for new academic streams.
At times I miss,
Your cycling races,
Your Rubik cube aces.
Your photography in the wilds.
And I do feel like telling you,
Let’s give it all up and have fun and wander.
Then I see your focus, your passion,
When I see your focus and passion,
Grow bit by bit in a concerted fashion.
From a naughty little pug,
Whose thoughts used to wonder,
To a lanky teenager taking gritty strides.
Juggling streams we never ever tried,
Our heart does brim over with love and pride!
Son
You know Ma!
At times the road seems long and bumpy,
Its easy to give up all and criticize,
The system, the duress and the strife.
There are some stars definitely in my eyes.
Also a life of adventure and leisure.
Of wandering the wilds and capturing the nature.
Yes, I want to do all,
But without any pressure.
Maybe one thing will lead me to the other,
Or maybe the other is more worthwhile.
C'mon!
I’ll figure it out and reach there in style!
Mother
Something is getting built up for you,
Certainly somewhere,
Is a strong feeling and faith inside.
We might have raved, ranted and corrected you.
But remember there was always love,
And we trusted you!
SON
Come on Mother India!
Now don’t get emo and senti.
I'm not PDAing.
That I love you both too,
Because its just too embarrassing!
Jasmine Khurana 