If you're having trouble viewing the email Click Here.
Automate, Scale and Simplify with Cloud Computing Services
| from a high-class society.' 'I can see the class,' my mother said. 'I don't know the details of her divorce. Her father is sick. Be nice to her.' 'I am nice. She is staying in my house. What else do you want me to do?' I rolled my eyes. 'Why is she wearing such tight pants?' she said next. 'I have no idea, Ma,' I said, my voice loud. 'I don't know why she got married or divorced or wears tight pants. Can you let her be?' 'You are shouting at your mother for her?' My mother looked away from me. It was Rani Sahiba's classic sulky face. 'I'm not shouting,' I said, my voice still too loud to classify it as anything else. My mother looked away. I realized I needed her cooperation to have a peaceful dinner. 'Sorry,' I said. Ma sniffed. En route to the dining room with a stack of plates, Riya smiled at me. I smiled back. 'I said sorry, Ma,' I said after Riya went back to the kitchen. My mother glared at me 'I've suffered enough in life. Don't add to it,' she said. 'I'm not,' I said.'By the way, have you heard of Steve Jobs?' I explained how watching speeches on YouTube had helped me, as had many of Riya's unconventional techniques. 'I have to think in English, Ma. Like high-class people. Their English sounds different, no?' 'We are not low class either,' my mother said. 'Dinner's served,' Riya said, clapping her hands in the dining room. We had a peaceful dinner, with no major retorts, taunts or sarcasm. When two women don't share the right vibe, a peaceful hour together is a minor miracle. 'I ate too much,' Riya said and held her stomach. 'This was one of the best meals I have ever had.' 'We eat like this every day,' my mother said, and stood up and lef 'I have a confession to make,' Riya said. We were sitting on a jute charpoy on the haveli's roof, looking up at the millions of stars you could never see in the Delhi night sky. 'What you said about Bihar and its simplicity in college had something to do with me accepting the Patna offer.' 'Really?' I said. 'And that you hoped to run into me?' 'Yeah, right.' She laughed, so I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic. 'Don't worry about my mother,' I said. 'I'm not. Why should I be worried?' she said and smiled at me. 'All mothers are the same, I guess.' 'Meaning?' 'Nothing. She's Rani Sahiba. Literally, the queen of her castle. She is entitled to say whatever she wants.' 'She's not bad at heart,' I said. 'I know. Did she mention me? When I went to the kitchen?' 'Not really. Why?' 'My clothes. My divorce. Anything?' 'Nothing important,' I said, thinking of little else but how to casually hold her hand.When I did gather the courage to do it, I lunged forward suddenly and grabbed her hand. It was not a subtle move. 'Careful,' she said. 'What?' 'My left wrist. It's a little tender.' 'How come?' 'An old injury.' 'Basketball?' She gave a hesitant, non-committal nod. I released her left: hand and held her right. 'Your mother is downstairs,' she said. I took her words as encouragement. She had not said that holding |
No comments:
Post a Comment