Day 4 With Mrs. Singh

There are a great many traditions and superstitions in the Indian culture, and though my boyfriend does not care nor believe in any of it, his mother definitely does. The second day after she arrived, she set up a little sort of shrine in the bedroom for her to worship with. Some way, I don't really know how, she figured out that it was that 'time of the month' for me. So, she politely asked me not to touch her prayer area, or anything in it. Then she proceeded to tell me that I should not wash my hair until my period was over, as some sort of cleansing thing. Well, for me that could be 6 days without washing my hair....that simply was not going to happen. Of course, I would respect her wishes about her worship area, but the washing the hair thing, not so much. The hard part is being accommodating without completely losing yourself in the process.

So, this morning the boyfriend is feeling very poorly, and decided to stay home from work. Yet, this is not the most relaxed place to be, and I often think that he might get more rest at the office. I wake up much later than usual-8:40am. I think to myself: Is this the end of the world? but it is no, it just means that my boyfriend is sick and that I was able to reap the benefits by sleeping in a wee bit. So, I find that he is awake, but Mrs. Singh is not. We start chatting softly, as not to wake Mum in the bedroom across the way, but after a few seconds I hear a loud voice coming from the darkness. Of course, I do not understand it. So, the silence has now disappeared for the day, and I wonder how my boyfriend will get any rest in this tiny place.

Eventually, he starts to drift back to sleep as I stroke his hair. I know, 'bleh', you are thinking, but this is important to the story. Then Mother comes from behind and touches a cold hand to his forehead. Awkward! The boyfriend exclaims something in Hindi, and she immediately backs off. Now I can feel her eyes burning into the back of head and she stands behind us. I feel as though I just stole a cub from the mother lion and an attack is looming in the near future. I understand, I really do, that she has not seen her son in years and wants to take care of him like she used to, she is a mother after all. This being said, it doesn't mean that things don't get a little awkward. So, he falls asleep and I lay there looking at him, just thinking to myself and having a little quiet time. Alas, as you know by now, the quiet time will not last. Five minutes later, I can feel her presence behind me, those eyes burning holes in my back. She whispers, "Caitlin, you now study for GRE, and he sleeps." I think to myself, 'Oh no she didn't!' I just give a quizzical look and mumble an "O.K." Sensing that I am annoyed, she quickly says, "If you want". Great, this is exactly how I want to start the morning. I know she means well, and is just trying to help, but I sort of have a schedule going and don't want to be told each second of the day. It is as if she wants to say, but can't, "Leave Mragendra alone". So, I lay there for a few minutes as he snores, then get up to start the day, as it is only 9am.

to be continued....