Mother

Today, on her 56th birthday, I realize that my mother is a Rock Star. Here are several reasons why:

...... Yesterday, she had a long conversation with me about the potential returns on investment in HSBC Mutual Fund, Reliance Mutual Funds' Equity Linked Savings Scheme etc. She wondered what drove one bank to deliver higher interest payments on their Recurring Deposit schemes. She also asked me on my views on her portfolio asset allocation. For someone who invests money for one form of living, I was found embarrassingly short of simple answers.

...... She has two degrees to her name: BSc and MA (Eng Lit). Very shortly, the third - MPhil shall be added. I have only one, unless MBA counts as a second educational qualification.
Very often, I've told her that Percy Bysshe Shelley was a morose old stick-in-the-mud. She countered by saying that I'm a philistine. I think both of us are correct.

...... Despite her training in non-mathematical subjects, she has special interests in quantum physics and has read the works of several physicists. Very often, she has asked me for clarifications on theories, concepts, equations etc. My standard response is, "Oh, that's very complex. Am not sure how to explain that simply."

...... By the time I am aware that morning has arrived and the sun is shining and I'm running half-hour late, the Crossword and Sudoku puzzles are already solved. That leaves me to solve the silly anagrams in Bombay Times.

...... It's difficult for me to gain weight when on a steady diet of home-cooked food. It's difficult for me to lose weight otherwise. It's difficult for me to think of better food.

...... Contractors, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, builders etc. have tried to throw their weight around when only my mom was at home. May their souls rest in peace.

...... I once argued that being married (or in a relationship) is an ability and not all of us have it. Hence, as families and societies become more accommodating, the divorce rate will climb and then disappear as several people will choose to stay single and unattached. She agreed.

...... Women have come and gone in my life like several episodes of a soap opera. But my healthy respect for womankind remains undiminished, not least because of my mom's influence. (My regards for my tastes in women, however, has deteriorated!)

...... Like many of her generation, she has had formal training in classical singing and dancing. Thank God I was born into this family - if not for them, I may not have developed a devotional love for music.

...... I have suffered from gastroenteritis, measles (twice), chicken-pox, malaria, jaundice etc. and lived to tell the tale. Guess why?

...... She cribbed that the slip-catching of the England cricket team is abominable, else Australia would have suffered even more heavily in the fourth Ashes Test match.

...... Beauty lies that in spite of all her efforts, the rest of us at home delude ourselves into thinking we wear the pants around the house. You know what the funny part is? That's just the way she prefers it.

Aah! Mothers - aren't they the most evolved amongst us?