It was 4 in the evening,

I left work early today

and came home to accompany mom for lunch,

mom was in her room,

eating roti and curry with a little of coriander sprinkled to it,

I tiptoed to her bed and hugged her from behind,

She saw me. And she grinned

“I’ll get your lunch. Till then, you change your cloth.” she says

I smiled.

I was removing my stinky pair of socks while the phone buzzed

It was in the table beside me,

not mine, it was mom’s phone

“Mummy Calling” it read,

from my room, I call out, “Mom. Nani’s video call. Come fast.”

She replies back, “Get me the call na please.”

I rushed to give her the phone with one of my sock still stuck to my legs,

“Here, take it.” I say

From my room, I could hear them whispering,

they were just having some small talks

knowing about the weather,

if the lunch is cooked or not,

in the meanwhile, the curry in the stove was getting heated,

and mom was repeatedly managing to stir the curry

and keep the conversation going with my Nani,

Out of the blue, Nani says,

“You know, I’m so proud of you.”

I could hear mom speaking, “Areey, ma. Kya aap bhi na.”

My Nani takes a pause and she says,

“You see,

Women must learn to be tolerant.

They must know to work in the kitchen.

They should be the one compromising

and they should make sure to take care of everyone else

before they take care of themselves.

And I’m glad I taught you all these.”

I was standing in the kitchen,

taking the first bite of roti in my mouth

and as I hear her saying this,

I turned to face my Nani in the video call

“Nani, what if I don’t do any of these.

Will I still be considered a woman?” I ask her.

Her smile fades

and all she does is

disconnects the call.