A Date with my Mom - Jan 22, 2011

The best part of a mother-daughter relationship is that as the daughter evolves into a woman, neither the mother nor the daughter ever has to fear the absence of a friend. Growing up under your mother's vigilance and eventually becoming her companion and co-sharer of secrets is simply lovely! And every time my Mum and I go on our "Only Women" outings, I realize this more and more.

An extremely irritating back pain and ten days of complete bed rest were just too much to handle. So my already "Sarfira dimaag" went crazier and in turn, I drove my Mom insane and we both went on a shopping spree this Saturday. 

Jumped into a taxi, went to Park Street and sashayed my way into an expensive boutique where I had already squandered a huge amount of hard-earned money earlier and now had to collect my things. The look on the face of my humble Mom was worth watching. But the only thing I could think of then was the long lecture due when we would get home.
We finished there quickly, jumped into another taxi (my back pain was now a good excuse for taxi rides), circled the same route since it was a one-way and reached Vardhaan Market. Jewellery time now. The first thing I do when I get into a shop where I know it's going to take a long time, is that, ask for stools to sit. So after we both comfortably seated ourselves, I started my 'matching' jewellery hunting.
"Dada, Ota parun to!" (Show me that one)
"Dada, eta theek match korche na. Green pathor ta beshi matte finish. Laal ta beshi bright!"
(This isn't matching. The green stone is not that bright. The red one is too bright)

And this went on and on. After almost one and a half hours, even the shopkeepers looked like they wanted me out of their shop. So finally when I managed to decide on a set, I started giving a vivid description of what needs to be replaced, what added, which stone should not be there, which red stone should be there, which green and red stones need to be alternately placed, etc etc etc. I bet I'll have to visit their shop minimum five times more to get all things exactly the way I want.
My poor Mum remained silent throughout, only nodding her head in agreement at the last and giving the final seal.

So after that, wandering aimlessly in a few more jewellery shops, trying out payals, earrings and ultimately buying nothing more, we came out in the open air.
Aaahhh!! What a relief! At least for my Mom who was already looking very tired with all the hassling. So as a gesture of apology, I gave her a treat with Tikiya Chhole Masala! And yummy as it was, it uplifted her mood!

Jumped into another taxi and headed for Gariahat. Now we had to buy dress material and hunt for a "Bina nakrewala" good tailor. The taxi finally dropped us at Rashbehari because I had changed my mind several times while in the cab and the last decision that I took was to try my luck at a boutique at Rashbehari. Again an hour of fake smiles, sweet talking, buttering, discussing dress material and designs, choosing, getting confused, coming to a tentative decision, paying a huge bill and coming out with a huge smile on my face which actually was a shield from the frowns on my Mum's face!
Durgapur has spoilt her so much that she finds everything too expensive here and not worth spending so much money. And I agree with her.

5.30 pm in the evening and we still haven't finished. Next we bought a wedding gift - finished off quickly as we both wanted to drop. May be this was the first time that my Mum and I agreed on something without going into an argument. And then we had a "Bhaand" (small cup made of mud) of tea and decided to call it a day.

Started walking towards the auto stand along the footpath and a long walk it was! And I got stuck on the way at the flower shop. I had to! Somehow I can never get past a flower shop or a book shop without buying something from there. Bargained with the flower-seller and bought a bunch of yellow and pink Chrysanthemums. 
 

Next as we were going past the soft toy shop, I blurted out to my Mum - " I want one!" And she stopped right there and asked - "Which One?" Surprised, that I was! Every girl loves soft toys, especially Teddy Bears; but I had outgrown them long ago. My parents had never bought me one. They always bought me dolls. And after I learnt to make soft toys, somehow the fascination had just worn out. So when I saw my Mum so excited in buying me a Teddy and that too the largest one, I just stared at her with a wide mouth. And the roles reversed instantly.

"No Maa. I don't want a Teddy. I don't like Teddies! You shouldn't spend so much money on a mere Teddy!! This is so foolish! Outright childish!" - There stood the daughter lecturing the mother on how to save money!
But alas! All the discourses went waste. It took only the innocent face of a cute doggy and the childish zeal and smile on my Mum's face to change the mind of an already spendthrift daughter.

 

 So finally when my Mum and I boarded the auto, we had three huge packets, one large size dog, a huge bunch of flowers, not to forget our respective vanity bags, some fruits which we had bought in the meantime somewhere and when I can't remember now, and an ear-to-ear grin on each face and lots of satisfaction on a day and money well spent!!

Huff!!! That was quite a day!!

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