Who is Right?

It was another rough day for the man at office. But, he dreaded a rougher time at home. So, it was obviously odd when a silent apartment greeted him as he climbed up the stairs. But, as he entered the house and opened the door to his mother's room, he realized the storm had already passed. There she was, looking at him with eyes bulging from hours of crying. He came in and sat down to listen to yet another day's rant on his wife from his mother.

"You have no idea what your wife did today!! First, SHE does the greatest job of blotting our family name for eternity without an ounce of worry about the effect of her deeds on our prestige. And then, she actually calls ME the PURE EVIL!!...And that she never saw anyone more stubborn or narrow minded than me. She insulted me with every curse in the book and accused me of actually trying to draw you away from her. How could she put such a huge blame on ME after what she has done? I mean how could she even think that I would destroy your life!"

He could clearly empathize with the pain his mother was going through. She fought hard to stop the uncontrollable tears in order to speak more legibly. It is true his mother and wife never really got along very well. But, his mother never seemed so badly hurt before. He knew his wife was caring enough not to upset his mother so much. Nonetheless, he patted her consolingly on her head resting on his shoulder. "Come on Mom...you know she doesn't mean everything she says!! Why don't you actually tell me what happened!"

She immediately pulled away and looked up in shock and anger. "How could you not believe me? How could you take her side? You think I can't say whether she is serious or not after all these years. You know what, I should have known that you would side with her. But, after I tell you what happened, I am sure you would side with me."

"It is not like that Mom...I am not siding with anybody. Not at least now. Just tell me the whole story first." She seemed convinced and calmed herself a bit as she started to tell him the horrendous events of the evening.

"Well, for starters, your wife came home drunk tonight! I mean I could smell the stench half way across the hall. As if that was not enough, she brought along that wayward best-friend gal of hers, who was not even in a state to stand upright. Not to hurt you son, but, I was very angry. Your wife just doesn't seem to care about our prestige. What would the neighbourhood think? No woman in our ancestry would dare to even imagine such a situation. I felt like stopping her right there and giving her a piece of my mind. But, what can I do? After all, this is your house and she has the freedom to do whatever she wants. But, then she had the audacity to request me to make some lemon water for that friend. My blood simply boiled. But, I did not want to hurt anybody, so I simply went to the kitchen and made the lemon juice and kept it for her in your bedroom where I found her with that drunk in the bathroom, cleaning her up and making her vomit. Oh my GOD...it was a horrible smell and I just could not stand there. I mean why is your wife friends with such retarded and uncultured women. Anyways, I came down as quickly as possible and went to the pooja mandir to ask for forgiveness from the Almighty. 

I waited for her to come down till 8PM. I had already observed that you were working late these days. I know you would come home really hungry and there she was, doing slavery to this drunk friend instead of making dinner for your, her husband. So, I went upstairs to find that spinster snoring heavily on the bed in your wife's nightie and your wife was busy cleaning the bathroom. Oh, you should see the bathroom. The bloody friend had made the whole house unholy with her vomits and the alcoholic stench. I simply asked your wife if she is going to make the dinner for you as it was getting late or I should start the preparation. That is it! She threw everything she was holding, cleaned her hands and walked past me muttering she never has a minute of peace in this house and went down to the kitchen. I was stunned, but still kept quiet. 

After about 10 minutes, she again raced back upstairs hearing her best friend vomit. Sitting in the hall, I prayed silently hoping the friend had the sense to vomit in the bathroom rather than in your bed itself. After some time, I started smelling as if something was burning. I gave voice to your wife, still serving her Greatness, the best friend, that the food might be burning as I made way into the kitchen. By then itself, the curry had started to burn a little at the bottom. As I started to mix it up, she came running behind me to inspect if I took over. 

I could not resist myself and said she should be more concerned about the family prestige and your well-being than helping some random friend. Did I say anything wrong, son? I mean I swallowed every drama of hers since your marriage and the horrific events of the evening, and what do I get in return? Shouting! I mean how dare she shout at her mother-in-law! She started the usual story of how narrow-minded I was and how could I talk like that about her dear friend. I knew she never respected me, but today she crossed all the borders. She claimed I never understood her intentions, that I always tested her goodness and saw her like some immature and undisciplined girl. 

I couldn't hold it any longer and retorted that if she was really matured and was a good daughter-in-law and cared for the family, she would be more careful while making the dinner, rather than let her mind go towards some drunk looser. I mean if she really wanted to help her friend, she could have dropped them at her house or in some hospital. Why bring shame to our house for something her friend does? And when I pointed the obvious that she would not come home drunk, she exploded. She said I was always so doubtful about her and went on to actually make a false promise that she did not even touch a drink. I was aghast! How can you talk to someone who is lying so bluntly! 

I gave up, but she was in no mood to. She insulted me of trying to put all these wrongful ideas into your head in an attempt to make you leave her so that I could marry you off to your Menatha Kuthuru(paternal cousin). Now, you tell me son, am I such an evil? It is true I wanted you to marry your cousin, but, I didn't even blink when you said you wanted to marry this wretched being. I always wanted your happiness. And, today she said so many unbelievable things which made me so hurtful. She didn't even pause to think that I am like her mother too and would not even dream of such things!" She sobbed like a kid as she hid her face on his chest. He held her tightly cursing fate for again bringing up such a bizarre turn of events in his house!

"Come on mother! She doesn't mean everything she says. I mean just imagine her situation. She is so busy the whole day starting from the morning chores and all the stress and loads of work at office! Over and above this, she found her best friend in real need of help. Now, you should have at least guessed that the stench of alcohol from her could well be from holding the friend. You know so many of my best friends. Would your reaction be the same if I had brought some friend of mine in such a state? I can bet that you would have stopped me from taking them to their house saying their parents would unnecessarily worry and feel ashamed and better, you would have done all the work of making my friend comfortable. So, why show the disparity between me and her? I mean, yes, no one should get so drunk, irrespective of boy or girl. But, sometimes mistakes happen. You know her friend and you know she is not a characterless woman or something! You should not have insulted her friend like that.

Instead you should have helped her. You should have suggested that she should take care of her friend while you could prepare the dinner for today. And I am sure you would have said the same. But, can you look me in the eye and say you suggested it without showing dissatisfaction at her and her friend?

I am not saying there is no fault of hers in this. You are absolutely right. She must have been respectful while talking with you and she should not have definitely shouted at you. She should have thought about the consequences of bringing a drunk girl to our house at this time of the night. But, what could she do? I mean things like these shut off your thought process sometimes. If you just find out your friend is drunk beyond limits, you would not have the sanity to think of the 100 different ways in which you could have handled the situation better for everyone!

All I am saying is it is not about who is at fault here. You are both not in some competition wherein you try to find faults in what she does and she finds gaps in your thought process. It is true that in your times, drinking itself was considered a major sin. But, the times are changing. I am not saying drinking is a good habit. All I am saying is it should not be the only scale for measuring one's character.

She is not your competition in who can take care of my son or family better! We are all a single family. It should not be about WHO IS RIGHT! It should be about facing a situation together and helping each other. Just treat her the same way you treat me! It is not about praising the virtues of your children Mom, it is more about understanding the rationale behind the visible vice!" His mother nodded her head silently as she made sense of her son's words. He hugged her tightly and kissed  her on the forehead as he left the room.

He found his wife standing near the door with a small tear running down her cheeks. He held her face and wiped the tear and asked,"So, how is your friend doing? Do we need to call a doctor?" The dam broke and she cried uncontrollably as she hugged her husband tightly. They sat for dinner and as she ate, she slowly repented on her actions of the day.

She seriously felt as though she never really understood her mother-in-law. She realized that she would not have behaved the same way if it was her mother or someone she was close to. She would have tried to reason with them. She remembered how her husband had often told her to understand the generation gap between his mother and herself. He had, time and again, told her to swallow the words from elders and take their curses as blessings as well. He actually understood that his mother would not always take her words the same way as his. He had almost begged her to maintain silence in such situations and leave it on him to explain to his mother. And though she could not hold herself back a number of times in the past, he always made sure he cleared the air between them. As the events unfolded in the evening, she felt even her husband cannot do anything to broaden his mother's mind. But, he had his way. She finally understood that she should be more caring and patient in dealing with her mother-in-law. And his often repeated words rung in her head: "it is definitely not about WHO IS RIGHT!!"

As they returned to their bedroom, they couldn't resist laughing at the snores of her friend. There she was, sleeping soundly, unaware of the havoc she had inadvertently caused in their lives!