FAMILY VALUES

Reluctant to make a start for a trip to Gangtok, I was thinking about the bumpy road of Rorathang and Rangpo an en-route to Gangtok. The heavy downpour of monsoon had worsened the road with puddles and landslides at every intervals of a kilometre. A new travellers would not hesitate to call it a roller coaster than an ordinary journey.

My thoughts suddenly left me when my wife got a bit cranky "tapailai aasti Ko hapta nai bhaneko hoina? Didn't I inform you last week??? She had already sensed my slogging gestures which ment that I was not interested to go. "Ki mo gari magayera jum? Or should I take a hired taxi??? Her hitherto amiable demeanour was now ebbing with anger and I had completely forgotten that we were supposed to make a visit to my in-laws that day. My two and a half old baby girls added in her quacks voice "Buwa ta k saro birseko houu" my father has really become forgetful, a tone though innocent yet matured enough to make me feel more embarrassed. She too was desperate to see her widowed grandmother and her Aunt (wife's youngest sister) who had recently come from Dubai for a very short vacation.

A two hour journey took almost 5 hours due to frequent jam. A narrow road wherein the tyres of a big sized Truck could barely be accomodated was now overjamed with long convoy of company buses and Army Vehicle moving from either end. Over the last decade private companies in this area have musroomed more randomly than a cancer cell.

No sooner, had we reached the house, my wife was hugging her mother and her sister so tight that they never wanted to let themself depart any more. It had been almost a year since they had met each other. Watching them embracing in such bond of compassion made my steaming ego evaporate against the warmth of their love.

Making a visit to in-laws would generally manifest boredom for many arrogant husband such as myself. However, if we can keep aside our masculine ego and feel with a compassionate heart, our wife too deservs her share of family happiness. To value her feeling and become the most reliable support system should be the foremost prioritie of a husband. Above all a husband can be naughty but not WICKED