The pain of expectations.
When my son was born, it was a day of great rejoicing. Me and my wife were young, optimistic, and very positive, as only young people can be. Our life had its ups and down. But through all that our son grew up into a fine young man. He was well behaved, respectful towards us, good in studies. He landed a good job and settled well. While at school he met his girl, and they married after a love affair of ten years. She is a Punjabi. We are Tamil Brahmins. At first, my wife resisted the marriage, but later gave in, after a year of emotional upheaval. Our daughter in law’s parents were good human beings, kind and civil. So the relation between all of us was friendly, and pleasant. We are a very religious community. We have set beliefs. We have innumerable Gods, prayers, different worshipping methods, good and bad days, auspicious and inauspicious hours. All our important activities are done with many such considerations, like day, hour, phases of moon, star, and a very long ...