“Be sure to be home this weekend. We have guests coming over”, my mom decreed on our alternate day mandatory phone call. “Who is coming? And when are they coming- Saturday or Sunday? I was planning to catch a movie” I pouted on phone. I hate guests coming over. All the namaste and making tea and asking questions you don’t really care about. Bleh!
“They are parents of a guy we are considering for you. We went to their place last weekend and now they want to come home and meet you. Don’t be difficult about it. It’s gonna be just his parents.”
Wha…Ho…I don…Hmph!
Over years you learn to choose your battles with your parents. I knew I had no hope of salvaging my weekend so I gave in and focused on negotiating the details.
Dress up: Mom wanted saree or at the very least suit. I wanted jeans and a nice Tee (One I had in mind proudly claimed ‘Happily Unmarried’). We settled on jeans and kurta combo. Also, I refused a hair styling session at next door parlor.
Hospitality: I put my foot down on the classic scene of getting a tray of water/tea/juice/snacks or anything for the guests. We settled on me entering when refreshments have been served.
Conversation: I had a list of questions I would have asked about their son (simple stuff really like does he know to cook) It was promptly snatched away from me. O well. Other than that I was instructed not to talk too much or too loud.
And so finally the day arrived. I got dressed in our decided outfit. On a whim I sent the pic to my girl gang on watsapp who promptly recommended a change of color (Go for pink. Green isn’t your color)
Bell Rang and I was asked to wait in the room. Deprived of sight, my hearing power worked overtime. First task was to identify number of people. Two…no wait, Three. What are they talking? Route taken to reach destination, how this area has developed over years etc. Yawn…boring stuff. I wished it to be more interesting. And bang! It just did.
Awkward Moment #1: Mom comes in the room and announces that Mr. wanna-be-my-husband has also turned up. Along with this news mom delivered a disclaimer that she had no idea about this and is as shocked as me. My first thought….I will not do the ‘beta you go in the other room and talk in privacy’. No stranger is going to enter my room. Mom assured that this will not happen.
Awkward Moment #2: Guy was wearing a three piece suit! I mean, who wears a tux…didn’t seem like he did coz it didn’t really fit him well. But here was I in my uber casual kurti-jeans and he in corporate formals.
Awkward Moment #3: So he, his mom and his dad were sitting on the couch (in that order). When I entered his father immediately vacated his place but I smartly insisted that he sit there only. But the moment I got up for something, he sat at my place leaving me to sit…yes next to his wife and son on the couch. Why it was so important? No idea.
Awkward Moment #4: His father was sort of holding the court and was sitting to my right. He was sitting to my left so obviously I was focused more on my right. His father pointed to his wife (who was sitting between us) that she should let ‘these kids’ discuss things. So she promptly got up and shifted to a chair which left me and him and a whole wide berth of awkwardness.
We didn’t talk much. He asked about my work and flaunted some faulty knowledge that he supposedly had about my field. So that was the only thing we spoke, me being more interested in his father’s discussion topic (how facebook and twitter have changed the communication these days).
Overall it wasn’t all that bad…but something that I would prefer not to repeat ever again. What if I cannot escape from private discussion!?!