“Smitha, how could you think of going to your parents’ place for a month. Who will manage the house. And without kids, we will feel so lonely! How will Rajat manage? How a husband could stay away from wife for so long? How could you even think of leaving your husband alone for a month!”, my mother-in-law who leaves no chance to poke her nose in my matters said in her usual harsh tone!
Generally, I wouldn’t have given her any reaction. But, this particular time, I was ran out of my patience. My father had just recovered from a heart attack, and my mother was all absorbed in taking care of him. Under the circumstances, when I could have lost my father forever, my mother-in-law’s concerns about who will cook for the family left me angry and hopeless. I wondered how some one can be so cruel and heartless.
While my father was fighting the battle for his life, my mother-in-law was worried about how her son would feel lonely if he isn’t fed by his wife; if she wouldn’t see her grandkids for a month. In those moments, I tried to control my irritation but when she said – how her son will live without his wife and kids, I couldn’t take it anymore; I couldn’t take her insensitive and heartless nature anymore. And, without wasting a moment I said:
“Mummy, if Rajat will miss me and kids so much, then he can come along with us. I have spent 10 years with him and his parents, he can spend one month with me and my parents. If you will miss kids so much, I can ask them to stay back but then you have to take care of them! But, nothing can stop me from going and staying with my parents. They have raised me since I was a baby and when they need me now, I am not going to be selfish and think about my husband and my kids’ convenience. From past 10 years, I have been a great wife, a good mother and a decent daughter-in-law. But, now I have to be a good daughter.”
While my mother-in-law was murmuring and telling how I am failing as a mother, wife and daughter-in-law, I couldn’t ignore her anymore! I told her what I should have told her long time back:
“Mummy, I hope Neha doesn’t get a mother-in-law like mine! I hope Neha never have to be in the condition like mine – when her parents would be struggling for life, she would have to answer the stupid question of her in-laws! Hope that one day, you will realize that a daughter-in-law is a daughter too! Till then, please remember, I won’t become a great daughter-in-law at expense of being a caring daughter!”