I always thought I was the most important member of my family until I started living at home. Having lived in a hostel for 8 years, I expected a warm welcome when I came home. Away from my parents for 8 years, I expected that I would be treated as the most important member of my family, it was going well until she stopped coming. My mom went crazy; she started searching desperately for her in every corner, calling random people in order to find a single trace of her. She could not be found anywhere; she was gone, long gone. Earlier, I had seen my mom waiting for her; more desperately than she waited for dad but it didn’t bother me until she was gone.
My mom became frustrated, the same food that was very tasty earlier, somehow became tasteless. I decided that it was high time and I should be a responsible son. I started searching for her. I made calls to unknown aunties and knocked random doors to search her, following the directions from my mom.
I survived for three days without her then on the fourth day she came and said, “Meri saas bimar thi, phone kharab tha aur aaj se jhaadoo, poccha aur bartan ka 4000 hoga”. Even in times of hyper inflation my mom agreed.
Sometimes money doesn’t matter at all. For some people, it's their presence that is most important.
