Kishore Singh: Family bites

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But what god gives with one hand, he takes away with the other: old Vedic saying (or at least it should be). So, though the weather for most part couldn't have been kinder, my outlook on life in general, and my own life in particular, was somewhat blighted by the arrival of my wife's mother. Promptly on settling in, she provided detailed instructions to the staff on what she wanted to eat and when, and then complained to her daughter that her diet was not being looked after as well as she was accustomed to.

"I want to go home," she insisted every day for the first two weeks, while all of us ran around to understand what it was that was displeasing her. My daughter took her to the movies, my wife went out shopping with her, the cook made her special meals, and even I attempted to make conversation while ignoring her jibes. "Home," she insisted, "when can I go?" Finally, tiring of her spiel, my wife snapped, "I'll book your tickets for tomorrow." "Are you turning me out of your house?" my mother-in-law asked, and immediately withdrew all plans to return. "I think," fretted my wife, "she may be considering settling down here."

In the midst of caring for her, my aunt arrived with her sons, one of whom is hoping to join college in Delhi. She wanted information, forms, directions on where to go, contacts through whom she might pull strings, printouts, photocopies