Them - "What else?"
Me - "Nothing much. When are you coming here?"
I cannot remember how many times I have had this exact exchange with my parents. These words are uttered without fail towards the end of every single phone conversation with them. Bole toh sabko dialogue by heart ho gaya hai.
And my "When are you coming here?" is inevitably followed by the hazaar bahanas they supply, ranging from visa-jhanjhat-problem to workers-are-laying-the-roof-on-the-new-house-problem to no-direct-flight-to-Singapore-problem to more creative ones such as Dad's "But what about my garden? My pumpkins will get stolen!" to Mom's "I can come but who will take care of your Dad?" (Well, I can't really blame her, He is like a child sometimes. Once she left him to arrange for his own lunch and came back to find out that he'd had a litre of milk. Yes, a litre of milk. For lunch. Sheesh. My dad, ladies and gentlemen.)
And oh oh oh, the most annoying excuse they have? "Arre wahan jaakar hum kya karenge?" ("What will we go and do there?") Aaaaarrrrghhhhhh!!!
The in-laws are leaving next week and it's now time for me to try once again to get the other set of parents over before the end of the year. It has been quite futile so far (in my 12 years in Singapore, they have bestowed upon me a grand total of two visits) so I figured I had to change my strategy. Instead of repeating the above dialogues for the zillionth time, I decided to go the ahem, 'green way'.
So in a landmark conversation last week, this is what happened after the usual exchange of news:
Them - "What else?"
Me - "Nothing much. Ooh Amma and I are making matar paneer."
Mom - "Oh...."
Dad - "Matar paneer? Arre wah!"
Me - "Yep. We just got back from shopping. Got some awesome stuff."
Mom - "And I suppose you made your usual masala chai for your Amma and your Appa and had it together?" (She knows my in-laws love my masala chai.)
Me - "Of course!" (It was a lie. We hadn't had chai that day.)
Dad - "Ok... what else have you been doing?"
Me - "Oh, just going shopping and watching movies and going to the beach and cooking new dishes together..."
Mom - "You're all having a lot of fun, isn't it?"
Me (casual tone) - Yeah.
Mom - Hmmm... what else?
Me - Nothing much.
Mom - Nothing?
Me - Yeah. Nothing.
Mom - Hmm... Ok...
Me - Ok. Gotta go. Bye.
Now I wait and watch. Muahahaha! :D
Arz kiya hai...
Poochhne se kya milega, woh toh bas bhaav khaate hain
Bhaav dena toh band karo, phir dekho kaise aate hain.
19 comments:
Wow!! nice shaayari nd all!! hope they visit u soon!! :)!!
Fundoo shayari and I am assuming it is original :-)
Now I have to try this funda on my parents too, who in my last 8 yrs of stay in US have tken ZERO trips here !! Every time I ask them, my dad has one dailogue ready: "Tumhi raho apne Amrica mein (yeah this is the way he says it !!) Hum to India mein hi ache hai!!
Strategy kaam kare to batana....
In my 10 yrs of staying out of home they have only come twice...Once to see their Bahu and once immidiately after shaadi to see if their son is not torturing their beloved bahu... hmmmpf!!!
I guess need to try this :-)
gold silver bronze ;) [not claimed by those above!]
and doesn't your dad read your blog? won't he come to know of your green tactics? :P
ROFL!!
Thats the most awesome shayari that i've read recently!!
And u're just making them jealous.. lol.. wicked :P
Cldnt agree more. And what a coincidence...I was tired of the same thing and yesterday I started emotionally blackmailing my mom.I said I had to skip my lunch bcoz of work and that now I am feeling like eating the bhaingan bharta you make. While I was dreaming of something like, oh dear, I will cook that for u when I come there, she said, I will give you the recipe, go and cook.
Mom's these days are smarter. HOpe ur plan pays off.
#shweta,
Thanks! :)
#Dil se,
Of course it's original re. Aisi dhakkan shayari original hi ho sakti hai. :) All parents are the same, nahin? :|
#Prats,
Yeah I hope it works man! LOL at the reasons why your folks have visited you so far! :D
#mythalez,
Nope, Dad doesn't know the URL. I email him selected posts. I had told him he can have the URL when he comes here. :P
#Tejal,
Thanks. :D
#dilontherocks,
Hahahahaha! Your mom rocks! Hahahaha! :D But I do hope she comes to see you soon!! :)
Ha ha ha! Nice way to convince them get them there!
nice post :)
i think every girl has the same woe …..at least in ur case u guys are country–apart….but my parents are in India..i am in India..still I get these excuses on the top of it when I ask them to visit me they say why don’t u come down…u’ll have a break everyone will have a break bla bla…moreover my ma tells me that she’ll fall sick if she travels(can’t even throw any tantrums now) anyways..….would be applying ur strategy….sounds good(and effective) to me :D
and u know what the way u write reminds me of this RJ we have in mumbai...some how anyways..all the best with ur efforts :)
Muahahahahah.. I LOVE the shayari. :D :D :D
Hope the strategy works. Fingers crossed for good luck!!
Smart move!!! Wish you luck. And I hope your parents don't read your blog ;)
Tumhare papa toh blog padhte hai na lekin?
There is one surefire technique to get parents over, but it involves freshly minted humans. :)
This will surely work I guess :)
Kya dimak lagaya he...hahaha :)...let us know if it works..:))
#Sum,
:D
#Worry,
Hahaha... I feel your pain. :)
PS: Which RJ is this? Gotta listen to her. :P
#Alice,
Thanks! :D
#nidhi,
Thanks! Naah, they don't have the URL even though they know I have a blog. The in-laws do read it though! Makes the greenery even better. :D
#Sudeep,
Hahaha! Nope. I email him selected posts. Bol diya ki yahan aao URL le jao. :D
#Arun,
:|
#pRasad,
Thanks! :D
maan gaye, apki human cyco-loggy ki understanding aur nirma super.. dono ko
RJ's name is malishka and she's working with 93.5 RED FM...and she is awesome..do listen her when ever u get any chance (dunno how thats gonna happen):P.. Enjoy!!!!!!
hehehe , so it worked. cool ;)
Btw don't you get that other annoying excuse -abhi aa ke kya karege, we will come when there is some good news? hehe
We get it a lot and i find it more annoying than just simple waha aake kya karege ;)
#Sanchit,
Hahaha! Safedi... err... hariyali ki chamkaar! Hahaha! :D
#Worry,
Hmmm... is this her?
http://www.chakpak.com/video/red-fm-goof-up-awesome-one-%28must-listen%29/1560243
#~Lopa,
Oh yeahhh that one! It is THE MOST ANNOYING ONE! :/
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