beta, you must eat MORE!
introducing my dad.
he is very 'old-school' punjabi - "khaate-peete ghar ki lagni chaahiye", "sukki padi hai", and so on. it is an exercise in futility to try to provide evidence for my above-average eating. it's a battle i had lost before i'd even begun to fight it. 'beta sirf do roti? ek aur lo'. one more roti later, 'kya, sirf teen roti? woh bhi ghee ke bina?! jab main aapki umar ka tha...'. and so i have heard stories of how my dad/chachas would consume 23 aloo-parathas smeared with 'desi kyo' in one sitting. how "paanch-cheh aam tho bete pataa bhi nahin lagta". and lectures on how just because you have had cereal with milk doesn't mean you have had milk.
anguished arguments on the topic of food continued through my years at school, college and even after. the way i am built would have everyone believe i live on love and fresh air, so that didn't help either. i thought when i'd start working, it would ease off. it got worse! now, it was "beta, you work so hard...14-15 hours a day is no joke...you need energy". and of course, no amount of 'energy' that i consumed was ever enough.
dad is visiting me now, and i have been gorging myself on moti-choor laddoos and theplas and date barfi. the other day, as i bit into a 2nd delicious laddoo, my dad says 'beta, i'm so happy to see you eating...these laddoos are pure ghee". my reply, "pure fat is more like it'. pat comes my dad's response 'not pure fat beta, pure ENERGY!' haanji papa.
dad is horrified that we drink half-full milk. and even more horrified that we don't use ghee on every chapati. 'beta tum log aaj kal ke bachche ho...kuch pataa tho hai nahin'. haanji papa.
and of course, it ALWAYS ends with 'beta you will only understand when you become a parent"! SIGH! i surrender. yes dad, i must eat MORE!
he is very 'old-school' punjabi - "khaate-peete ghar ki lagni chaahiye", "sukki padi hai", and so on. it is an exercise in futility to try to provide evidence for my above-average eating. it's a battle i had lost before i'd even begun to fight it. 'beta sirf do roti? ek aur lo'. one more roti later, 'kya, sirf teen roti? woh bhi ghee ke bina?! jab main aapki umar ka tha...'. and so i have heard stories of how my dad/chachas would consume 23 aloo-parathas smeared with 'desi kyo' in one sitting. how "paanch-cheh aam tho bete pataa bhi nahin lagta". and lectures on how just because you have had cereal with milk doesn't mean you have had milk.
anguished arguments on the topic of food continued through my years at school, college and even after. the way i am built would have everyone believe i live on love and fresh air, so that didn't help either. i thought when i'd start working, it would ease off. it got worse! now, it was "beta, you work so hard...14-15 hours a day is no joke...you need energy". and of course, no amount of 'energy' that i consumed was ever enough.
dad is visiting me now, and i have been gorging myself on moti-choor laddoos and theplas and date barfi. the other day, as i bit into a 2nd delicious laddoo, my dad says 'beta, i'm so happy to see you eating...these laddoos are pure ghee". my reply, "pure fat is more like it'. pat comes my dad's response 'not pure fat beta, pure ENERGY!' haanji papa.
dad is horrified that we drink half-full milk. and even more horrified that we don't use ghee on every chapati. 'beta tum log aaj kal ke bachche ho...kuch pataa tho hai nahin'. haanji papa.
and of course, it ALWAYS ends with 'beta you will only understand when you become a parent"! SIGH! i surrender. yes dad, i must eat MORE!
posted by sattva at 2:50 PM
3 Comments:
you must eat more :D.
btw, there is no spelling in english that can do justice to the word "kyo-o", is there?! i have a real love-hate relationship with that thang. :)
The fun quotient is always high when these stories happen to someone else, no? So, what I'm trying to say is...we've had plenty of fun at your expense :-)
Oh, and, really, ou SHOULD eat more :-)
g, u said it :)
ghost, :)
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