I’m a bit worried about my daughter, Ruma. She is a well educated woman and used to work at a law firm. In New York she worked part-time at her law firm and I think that was a good solution. But after her mother died and they moved to Seattle she has just stayed at home with her son. I hope she will go back to work after this child is born, but she says she is not ready yet. It seems to me that she is going back to a more traditional way of life, - she at home with the children while her husband is at work. I think that is very old fashioned. Besides, I’m afraid she will be lonely. They have just moved to Seattle and her husband is away all the time.
I’m also afraid she will ask me to live with her. She thinks I’m lonely now after her mother died and the tradition of our Bengali culture is to take care of ones parents. But I’m not ready to move inn with her. I’m quite happy with my life, especially after I met Mrs. Bagchi. We have made plans for new travels and we enjoy each others company. But I can’t tell Ruma yet. She still misses her mother too much.
It is so many things we should have talked about, but it is so difficult. She was so close to her mother. They talked about everything. I’m a man of few words, but hopefully the garden I have made for her, and the time I have spent with her and Akash, makes her understand that I love them and care for them.
We’ll talk the next time I visit them, I think.
In response to "Unaccustomed Earth" by Jhumpa Lahiri
2 comments:
If only people could talk together without beeing afraid of their reaction. Neither the father or Ruma want him to live with her, but they are afraid to hurt the other one's feelings. Aren't we like this all of us?
KirstenO
I think you really manage to understand Ruma´s father. It´s very interesting to read.
It´s so strange that people who are supposed to be close, are so afraid of speaking directly to each other, especially about what concerns them the most.
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