SAVE THE DRAMA FOR YOUR MAMA...

Well, this is a blog about the life of two teenage gals and I think its a shame not to include atleast one post that rants about our mothers!

So, in this post I am ranting about mine.

Well, to start with, my mom is an accountant by profession. And that is the worst part of being with her. Because, by default, accountants are all about money. Sometimes I feel that they are almost akin to misers!

So, it is this property of her's that always comes into conflict. For instance, I want to buy a pair of Harem pants since,say, the last 2 months. And that too, with the money my grandma & aunt gave me for a good performance in 12th & the 1st Sem. So, practically, shouldnt I be allowed to spend it as I like it? After all, I have earned it by studying hard by myself! But no! The money lies with my mom, for some reason which is a mystery to me. And finally, the result is that after begging to my mom for months, I still dream of owning a pair of Harem pants in the far future.


You might feel I am being materialistic. But actually, it isnt about materialism. It is about having to struggle for your own most basic rights, at home. Now, doesnt this sound like a High Court scenario? Well, for me this is an everyday story.

And it is not only about buying clothes or some other things.

It is also about not getting approval for most of the things that are dear to any teenager. No, I am not talking about getting to go to movies or pubs or discos with friends. That is a completely far-fetched idea, when it comes to my mom.



Teenage is a time when people our age are half-kids & half-adults. One could say they are on the brink of adulthood. At such a crucial stage in life, our minds are brimming with new ideas & thoughts. These thoughts & ideas are almost always very optimistic & we are extremely enthusiastic about putting it into action. They may be about any thing. For example, they maybe about a new pattern of studying you just invented or your own opinion about the on going nuke deal or whatever a teenager encounters in daily life and thinks it is worthy of a thought.



These thoughts & ideas may not always be correct or smart. Remember, we are teenagers, not adults and are still learning the ways of the world. But, I think, instead of demeaning us & our thoughts by saying they are kiddish & impractical...dont you think it is better to point out the flaws gently in our way of thinking, by giving us the pros and cons of it? Dont you think this is better than dismissing them out right as kiddish prattle, without giving it a single thought?



Doing this diminishes our self-esteem a lot, you know. Parents some how dont seem to realise this. Well, my mom certainly doesnt. For her, I am still this 5 yr old kid who knows nothing.

Everytime I think about doing something new or ambitious and tell my mom about it, the next moment I have lost all enthusiasm about it. And by the next hour I have completely forgotten about it, thanks to the long argument presented by my mother against whatever I propose.



For example, our immunology sir gave us an assignment of getting a lab blood test report showing abnormal count of RBCs & WBCs. I obviously got extremely excited about it, looking at it as an opportunity to interact with the lab staff about different topics related to the report.

I came home from college that day & unfortunately & unknowingly, I committed the heinous crime of telling my mother about it.



As I should have expected, she immediately shot down my suggestion that labs would not reveal any personal reports & info about patients and that I should not waste my time doing such "nonsense" timepass jobs & must keep studying as hard as possible.

Well, I do agree that labs have privacy protection rules, but like all rules even they have a time period. It means that say after 20 yrs, the lab is not responsible for keeping info about an old report private, just like copyright laws. Well, my mom thought of this as ridiculous. Maybe because she couldnt digest the idea that some person could access her lab reports after 20 yrs, I think!

The point is, she again discouraged me from doing something completely harmless & extermely informative.

So, I have decided that from next time onwards, I will make sure that my mom knows nothing about my ideas. They will always remain to myself because they are too precious to get trampled on continuously.

This is all. I could have said something more, but I think the above will suffice to explain my point.

ONE YEAR LATER...SIGHTS, SOUNDS & SMELLS OF KURLA .

One year later...
I again found myself on platform no. 4, trying to catch the 9.49 am fast local for CST to reach Kurla. And to my utter surprise, the train arrived at 9.47 am itself and dutifully stopped till it was time to leave!!! I wondered how much Central Railway had changed in one year...or wondered whether this was one of those 'once-in-a-blue-moon' incidents that I was being privvy to.
There was one more thing to be happy about. The train was one of the new ones introduced last year. Those trains havent yet been introduced to Harbor Railway, hence today was the first time I travelled in one. And I really cant stop raving about it to any one who would listen ;-) !
The most prominent features I loved about this train are:
1. Firstly, the outer appearance of this train is very cute! It is a combination of pristine white & royal purple with beautiful headlights!!!
2. The large windows that go up & down smoothly without much ado & catches that can be really locked(!).
3. Air vents inside the train. First time in my life I wasnt sweating inside a train even while standing for the entire time.
4. Electronic indicators inside the train which indicate the names of the next station & the final destination in 3 languages-English, Hindi & Marathi. Status: Working (!).
5. Speakers...no not for music entertainment (Indian Rly hasnt yet progressed to this level where it will think about passengers getting bored...right now focus is on making them 'comfortable' inside the train)...they are there to inform passengers about the name of the station at which the train is going to halt.
All these features really made by journey a lot easier. For one thing, I didnt have to bend my body at unrealistic angles to get a glimpse out of the window to check which station had arrived. Secondly, I could mentally fall asleep till the sweet lady with a sweet voice said in completely vernacular accent-free English that the next station would be Kurla.
I got down at Kurla Station without much hassle and proceeded to platform no. 1, where my friend would be waiting for me to take me to her house. As I later found out, I was early and my friend wasnt there. But no trouble, I could have the time to observe & ponder over certain new acquisitions of Kurla station.
The first objects were the two ominously visible grey colored metal detectors. At the first glance at them made me feel a little discomfitted instead of reassuring me. You will wonder why but it was because I quickly discovered that no one was taking the trouble to walk through them!
Secondly, there were the people of Kurla themselves! You can find a myriad variety of people traversing through the station. Ladies clad in colorful burkhas...yes burkhas can be of different colors other than black...then all the usual casual wear, sarees, salwars and the occassional but omnipresent babe. The men...sometimes elegant, classy young & middle-aged office goers...sometimes the round-bellied, safari-clad Marathi babus...and sometimes the scrawny, oily-faced, shabbily dressed, pan-eating, spit swilling workers who look at you as if you are the only woman worthy of attention...which isnt flattering at all.
Well, after waiting for at least 20 mins at the station, my friend arrived. Later on what I did is not under the scope of this post (check out the title)...however I'll just mention that I was there in Kurla to go to my friends house who lives there, for a college assignment.
But the fun I had at her house will definitely be a part of the next post!