As I entered my Uncle’s house (my father’s cousin), I couldn’t help but think that I should have put up more resistance. This really felt like walking into a lion’s den unarmed. There would be a million questions waiting to be thrown at me and my aunts would not be too subtle about it either. No time to turn around at this late hour! Damn it..!!
“There you are! We have been waiting for you guys for like hours. Neha! Wow! It has been so long since we last saw you. You really should come more often. Your poor parents! Come In! Come In! We have so much catching up to do! It is so nice to have the family together……….. ”. Told you! I should have run away when I still had time. That was my great aunt by the way. She has nothing better to do but interfere in other people’s lives. You would be hard pressed to find a more nosy, talkative and tactless person. Note to self-avoid her for the rest of your stay (in town).
By the time I finished greeting all the elders of the family, my jaw ached from all the grinning I had to do .You would be called out for looking glum if you show anything but happiness on your face at meeting them. Each one of them had something or other to say. I was actually quite proud of myself after the ordeal was over, for I actually managed not to say anything about what I think of their opinion on how I should manage my own Life. Mother should be so proud of me! Some of them might actually have my best interest at heart but meddling does not exactly help their case.
As soon as I could make my escape, I went to my cousin Suphie’s room where all the young members of the family were gathered. They had been making so much noise that our arrival had gone unnoticed. I peeked in to find girls chattering away, while all the kids were jumping and running around. The room was a mess! I am pretty sure Shanti aunty would not be too happy about it when she came in to check up on us. I grinned from ear to year at the thought. My evening was looking up after all. Enough stalling, I told myself and opened the door wide."Hey Guys…..", no sooner had the words escaped my lips that I found myself tackled by at least ten to twelve kids all jumping up and down and talking at the same time .The girls had started laughing while I tried to control the chaos in vain. Once the excitement was over, they went back to their game of throwing things at each other and running around. I settled in and listened to their mindless gossip until one of my aunts (everybody loves her, even me) came in to call us for dinner. And we went behind her without any protest.
Dinner was great as usual, being the combined effort of all the great cooks of the family (including my mother) .We chatted, joked around with my male cousins (they had been playing cards at the roof, all this time and had to be dragged down for dinner), did everything to avoid making eye contact with senior citizens (to avoid scolding) and of course stuffed ourselves with all the good food piled before us. Once dinner was over, we didn’t go back to our merry ways (only kids were allowed to leave). Instead we had to sit out for an interrogation with my uncles, aunts, great-uncles, great-aunts... (You get the meaning) while we youngsters fuzzed and slurred through the answers. My only consolation was that I was not the only one at the receiving end of the fire. After all, it is good to have company if you are feeling miserable. We made gagging faces at each other when no one was looking, to dissipate the tension. Finally after an hour or so, we were allowed to leave as they wanted to have one of their own gossip sessions and our answers had started to sound barely polite.
I was tired by then and just wanted to go home and lie down. Alas! My parents were still in there, attending that horrid gossip session .So after a few minutes, I decided to go back in (very brave of me If I may say so myself) and give them a little reminder that we had a home to return to. When I approached the room, I heard raised voices and was about to turn back when the reason for the argument caught my attention. One of my uncles was facing financial difficulty and wanted to sale out his portion of the family property to pay for his son’s higher education. Elders of the family seemed very angry at his decision. Raj Uncle was asking him to accept his help and they were all persuading him to take the offer. My parents too seemed to be in favor of this decision and had offered all the help that they could afford .I listened in while they finally managed to wear him down and he accepted the help provided that it was only a loan and he would be allowed to pay back. The discussion was over and they moved on to mundane gossips. I stood there for a few more minutes thinking about what I had heard. This gathering had been organized to look out for the wellbeing of a member of the clan and had not been so pointless after all. I found myself feeling proud and safe in the knowledge that no matter what this big (slightly eccentric) family would always be there for me.
I returned to my cousins, joked around some more and said my goodbyes to the kids who were getting really sleepy. We reminded each other to keep in touch. I got some more pearls of advice from the elders of the family while saying goodbye. Strangely, those words did not irritate me this time around. Then it was time to leave. I looked back at the house with mixed feelings. Somehow, I was not so very angry with my mother for dragging me to this family get-together.
