Kishore Singh: Alone again, naturally

PEOPLE LIKE US

It's been lonely at home this past week. First, my wife and daughter decided to push off to Jaipur on work for a couple of days, but they're still to come back a week later. Then, my son, who is doing a summer job with my brother, has taken to spending his evenings out with his friends, and his nights with his uncle, dropping by occasionally to collect an advance on his pocket money (which now stretches all the way to the summer of 2008).

Oh well, I thought to myself, as I snivelled into my handkerchief, at least he's bonding with my brother's family, and feeling foolishly sentimental I called him on his mobile. "Where are you?" I asked, since I could hear loud pop music in the background. "I'm with a friend at a restaurant," he said. "Who's your friend?" I asked. "No one you know," he responded. "Boy or girl?" I prodded. "Popsie," he came back, "just chill, okay!" Skirting his taboo friend, I wanted to know why he wasn't spending more time with my family. "That's because my aunt" "" my sister-in-law "" "isn't at home, she's attending a party at some embassy and won't be in till much later," said my son. "And your brother has gone off elsewhere, while my cousin is at a children's birthday party."

Pausing for a moment, he added, "You guys don't believe in spending too much time together, do you?" I argued back that we were a very close family, but I could see he had a point. I called my sister in Ahmedabad, and sure enough, she'd packed off one kid to relatives elsewhere, the other was out somewhere (she didn't know exactly where), and her husband (she thought) was out playing golf. "I wouldn't have it any other way," she retorted, when I asked her if she ever felt lonely, "Imagine having them around all the time."

I called my elder brother in Jaipur, but it seems he'd had a tiff at home and didn't want to talk to anybody, not even his brother in Delhi. "He's threatening to walk out," said my sister-in-law. "Don't fret," I said, "he's probably just in a temper, but he won't leave home "" ever." "Oh, I know that," she laughed, "he's been saying that for 25 years now, from the same sofa. What I can't understand," she continued, "is why you brothers have such a tough time getting along with your spouses." I didn't want to get into an argument with my sister-in-law, but of course she had to be wrong, and to prove it I called my in-laws' home in Jaipur to speak with my wife, but my daughter said she couldn't speak with me right then because her sister was visiting.

"What have you been up to?" I asked my daughter. "Well," she said, "I went out with my aunt to the market, but she fought with everybody and came home in a temper, and now she's squabbling with my mother." "That one," I commiserated with my daughter, "is always in a rage, but why is she fighting with my wife?" My daughter was silent for a moment, then said: "I don't think she likes us too much." "Oh, I know that," I said, "but since we don't like her either, that should even things out a bit." "I don't know about that," said my daughter, "because she's arguing on and on, and I've got a headache and want to go and rest." "I'm sure you and your mum are looking forward to coming home," I slipped in. "Get real dad," my daughter replied, "if mom wanted to come home, what would she be doing here long after her work is over?"