So you go to your cousin’s place on weekend, you are loaded
with chocolates and goodies and you cant wait to spoil your nephew. You are so
excited ,you cannot wipe off that smile when you ring the bell and the kid
opens the door ,in one hand is his apple tablet , he gives you the look “who
the hell are you ?” and then his mom , my sister in law shouts at him from
behind “ be nice xxxxx , hey rohan , how are you , I hope the journey was nice “
Now lets rewind this story a few years back , when I was
growing up , xxxxx ‘s father was my super brother. He was extremely good at
studies , he had all the virtues , he was the future upholder of the family
name . It was irritating being his brother , I swear my dad has always loved
him more than me.
He was the apple of the eye for everybody. Finally as years
passed by I made peace with it . I went to masters , got a great job and was in middle of MBA . Meanwhile, he went
to US , did his MS and again got a great job. His mom dad managed to do him off
with a not that much good looking girl but with loads of cash. So that story some other day , basically my childhood was
living under his shadow.Shadow here might be an understatement , i was living in a black forest of amazon while he was soaking all the sun.
So now xxxxx’s mom calls me inside the house. I find my
uncle and aunty enjoying chat with her mom and dad. Late in the evening, I am
asked if I ll like to drink which is politely declined and then the pestering
begins . Sister in law, perhaps half drunk from kitchen already gets the bottle
of vodka for me and funnily tries to put it in my glass. I wanted to say “seriously
woman, vodka??? That too Smirnoff “ but I
keep a smile on my face throughout the
whole drama . This was being watched by uncle and aunty , (the Ultimate judge
of my life since Gods know when) After this “oops , I am going to put alcohol
in your drink” saga , I was trying to make eye contact with any one of
them but they kept avoiding that for
rest of the night. The Gautam Buddha of my family was watching his wife’s
antiques from a distance and was smiling . As night passed by , more secrets
were revealed and I felt as if tons of weight has come off from my shoulder
.The weights of the standards set by my uncle , aunt and which was implied strictly on me by
dad had fallen apart like pack of cards . I made a big big decision that day , I won’t let anybody set standards
for me and nor I will let my child live under the shadow of anyone or set
standard for him or her.
