BY BISWADEEP GHOSH
When did we have our first crush? When did we experience inexplicable unease while coming across a person of the opposite sex whom we liked for no particular reason? How did we explain our feelings to our friends, some of whom were going through a similar phase? I can't speak for others but, as far as I am concerned, it happened to me at the ripe old age of 13. My girlfriend, a neighbour, was 25 days younger. After restless days and sleepless nights, I had finally managed to stammer,"I lo-lo-lo-love you." "Me too, but don't tell anybody," she had cooed shyly. The first thing I did was go to school and speak to my close friends and, honestly, to some who were not even close to me. Those being uncool times, a romantic confession to my mom was out of question.
That is one reason why I admire my like-aged friends who are mothers today. Unlike our moms of 30 years ago - at least, most moms - they hear out what their kids have to say. It was only a few days ago that I was visiting the house of a friend with two lovely daughters. "Aai, I have a crush on my classmate. His name is Akio, and he is Japanese," the younger one chirped. "Is he your boyfriend?," the mom intervened mischievously. "Not really," the little one rolled her eyes, looked heavenward, and added,"but he is my dancing partner and spends a lot of time with me. I think he likes me too."
The other daughter who is 11, making her older by two years, was hearing the conversation all this while. Suddenly she, the quieter one, whispered, "Aai, even I have a crush. The guy, his eyes are so nice. He is too cute." It was quite a sight. The elder one, 11. The younger one, nine. Both sitting close to their mom, revealing their deepest secrets. "Since when did you fall for this friend of yours?," my friend asked patiently. "I have had a crush on him for the last two years, " the daughter said softly, "but I don't think that fellow likes any girl." Saying that, she put a hand across her forehead, murmured "his bad luck", and went back to watching the television.
In one day, within a few hours, a mom had been subjected to two romantic revelations. What should she expect tomorrow? I hope and pray that the admissions continue to be as sweet as the ones I heard the other day. And, how I wish I was born 13 years ago so that I could have walked up to my mom and said, "Know what ma? There is this girl I am totally in love with. Her house is close by, and she comes to the balcony and cleans her teeth with a toothbrush whenever her parents go out. That is when I go to her house and chat with her." "You mean to say a girl your age cleans her teeth at six in the evening so that you can...." I can hear my mom's annoyance as I write this. Understandable, she being like most other mothers of her generation. Need I add that today's kids are really lucky, thanks to parents my age?
2 comments:
i think this particular mom is fortunate enought to have daughters confessing to her their inner most angst. i am a new-age mom too but though i guessed my 13-year old daughter has had her first crush but no, she did not 'confess'. when i read this piece i felt more like your mom and not your friend. it's not that times have changed, it's the bonding that counts.
You the talented person
Post a Comment