My best "grown up" friend

The title of the post might confuse some people. To simplify things, I am referring to my best friend among all the grown ups I have known in my life. In this case, I am bestowing this particular honor to my dear Mommy. To all those who might wonder how my Mom is my best friend; well she was the one who once played the role of a mediator between me and Dad, when he had found out that his "obedient" son,instead of devoting his precious time to his studies in Kharagpur, was actually in Calcutta,dining in one of the city's poshest restaurant with his girlfriend. I still don't know how I survived that incident; hell, if I was my own father, I would have thrashed myself. Yet, I survived with nothing but an angry glare and a day of uncomfortable silence from my dad. To those who marvel at my luck, it was all due to my Mom. Somehow she saved me from the clutches of death; not only that, she took the opportunity to broker such peace and harmony with me and dad, that the next time, my "friend" visited our house, (at my Mom's insistence, of course!),my Dad actually prepared coffee for her with his own hands! The transition from a gory death to a welcome guest was nothing short of a miracle to both of us.

So, as all of you must have guessed, I had one of the coolest Mom's I could have hoped for. She is a favorite of all my cousins. And she bonds more with them rather than any of the other elders in our family. Even with my friends, she is a big hit. And she can talk about almost anything. I say almost, because she has no interest in Science, so that's something I can't talk with her. But apart from that, be it movies, sports, music, history, fashion, girls, love affairs,etc...basically anything that might interest the younger generation, she will have a thing or two to say. Heck, she is so updated, that once she was offering me advice on how to change my profile status in Orkut!!! I remember the first time, her page popped up in Orkut and Facebook, all my friends scampered to make appropriate changes in their profile pages.

In our family home, she is known as Buaji. Actually she is the youngest sister of her three brothers. So all my cousins call her Buaji.Even I call her Buaji when I am with my cousins. It seemed odd calling her Mom when the whole world is busy addressing her as the "Bua".

Buaji is passionate about two things in life. One is her precious garden, the other is Sachin. I have no issues with Sachin, I mean he is everyone's darling, mine included, but I do get a bit tired of the attention that is showered at those useless plants. Get up in the morning, and she is out in her garden, gazing affectionately at her loved ones, catch her returning from school in the afternoon and she will be again in her dastardly garden, checking out her petunias. Come evening, and it is watering time for the plants. And if God forbid, there is a water crisis in our locality, when everybody else will be wondering about how to finish the cooking and the cleaning in their houses, she will be more worried about how her precocious plants will get their next drop of water!! I sometimes wonder who will get more of her attention, me or her plants in the eventuality that both of us fall sick?
I think I already know the answer to that question.

And with Sachin, she gets really hyper. The poor man isn't allowed to play in peace if she is watching him on TV. She believes her tiniest movement will somehow affect his play. So most of the time, her eyes are shut and she opens them only when he is on the non striker's end. And my Dad, to make fun of her, openly criticizes Sachin and shows his whole hearted support for Sourav, whom she just can't tolerate. Trust me, it's a fun time to be at the Singhs' residence when India is playing!

So thats it about my Mom. A fun loving, adventurous woman, who doesn't think twice about paragliding over the serene waters of the Gulf of Thailand,talks almost daily with my girlfriend, discussing strategies on how to rectify me as a person,and has an awesome album collection in Orkut(mostly filled with those miserable flowers).

p.s. I hate to admit it, but I think she is more popular with my friends than me!