MIL VS DIL VS SIL

Harsha my dear cousin has been motivating me quite a bit to write in once more so Here I am once again weaving a tale on this hot and humid Sunday here in Chennai. I am just waiting for a break and in another two days time, I am off to Kodai for a well deserved break, bag and baggage along with family,family and more family. The List is never ending. Just to give a brief summary, Myself and Family that makes it six of us, Uma and Family that makes it another six, my aunts and uncle that makes it totally a dozen and three. Promises to be fun, confusion and adventure for a week long.

So as promised to Harsha, family will be the topic to blog this time, what constitutes a family and what is there in it for all of us. First of all the Mother who is the defacto chief . many might assume that the Father is the General of the the army but I guess its the Lady of the house who calls the shots. She is the one who goes through those nine months of ordeal and then gives birth to the child. Till now Love was shared between the twosome the husband and the wife and now comes the little one who becomes the apple of the eye. Slowly priorities change as the kid demands more attention, hubby dear becomes less important starts going to office and begins to stay for late hours, working as if office provides him relief from the daily mundane routine at home.

Lets here do a small flash back into time, where a young man and a young girl are in conversation on the phone. He promises the world to her, swears and promises to bring down the stars for her. He declares her undying love for him and she blushes and nods her head in appreciation for him. She longs for his presence and when they will be together again. He stands in front of the mirror for hours together combing his hair, trying all possible hairstyles,perfumes and dress combinations which would only please her. She has only one intention to look the most beautiful in the world and keep his eyes away from other distractions which would otherwise easily fish him away from him. Consequence:2 inch layers of makeup, Lipstick shining and glossy which would put even a skating rink to shame. Dressed to kill. Everything He does is an act of perfection for her and Everything that she does is a Cosmic Dance for him and nothing else in the world exists for him.

Change Back to the Current day, her phone calls seem a total waste of time and an additional burden in the form of wasted telephone bills. He does not have to stand in front of the mirror and comb his hair as nothing remains expect for a shining top which makes for a much bigger and even better skating rink than the lipstick which his wife uses on her lips. Long Hours on phone gets replaced by long hours at the office. Two inches of make up gets replaced with the 6 inch long AK47 Broomstick. They start forgetting each others birthdays, wedding days, V-day is not a part of Indian Culture. Everything he does is an act of selfishness and Everything that She is does is an act of Foolishness.

Enter the Mother/Mother In Law: For any Mother her son is the Darling of the house and she feels the sons need to reciprocate the same way. She grooms her son, takes care of him and one day he grows beyond her shoulder. Son is now a man.Man falls in love and gets married as a matter of choice either choose or be chosen. So in comes the woman who suddenly occupies a pride of place in the mans heart. Mother dear welcomes the daughter in law home only to find that her son now has to divide his attention between the two Women who are an integral part of his life.

Here starts World War 111. MIL says 4, DIL says 2. then they turn their focus on to the Man who by now looks like a lamb on the sacrifice Altar. Is it 4 or is 2, he needs to make a quick decision. It cannot be both. If says 4 then he would be shot dead and if he says 2 then He will get shot dead. A clever Man would make a decision-Its neighter 4 nor 2 , Its actually 3 . You thought this was a wise decision. No wrong again because MIL and DIL would then team up and shoot him down. Oh man truly caught in a dilemma.

And then there is the poor Father In law FIL . He has gone through this game before and his well aware of the playing conditions, hence he is the wisest man around, decides to wattch the match from the sidelines. he pretends to be reading either the newspaper or watching TV or pretending to sleep. Ultimately the decision does go to the third umpire in case the man does the disappearing act in the guise of going for work. Out he escapes. MIL and DIL continue with battle royale with FIL for company. Finally there is the Sister/SIL whose sympathies always lies with the MIL cause she is a DIL somewhere else. To confuse my readers even further, MIL+DIL+SIL=Perfect Home. This scenario hardly exists. (MIL+SIL)*DIL=Hairless Man+FIL. MIL+DIL=Man+FIL-Diplomacy at its very best. In this situation they are actually at war but enemies enemy is your friend.

In spite of all the above mentioned a Family is where we live together, love each other,die for each other and care for each other. Life without a family is totally unimaginable, differences of opinion do exist but this is what adds to the beauty of living in a family. So its time for the BIG Family to leave for Kodai and fun, adventure, frolic. I promise to be back with more shortly. Ouch, the plates on the Lunch table and I better go and grab a quick bite, today’s food is cooked both by MIL and DIL. I have to be the judge in this culinary contest. Happy Eating!!! Karthik