ENG TOPIC IN LITERATURE DB 3 - Essay Example

Mother was among the group of ladies, talking to her friend the only other coloured lady, wife of the junior clerk in the company where my father worked. She was young, and married only a couple of years ago. In the absence of her friend, during earlier occassions, I had seen mother sit on the periphery of the group, participating attentively in the general conversation, but not uttering a word. She preferred not to draw attention to herself, and was also afraid to speak in case her words were misunderstood.

At home also, mother was a quiet lady, doing her chores, and running her home business of preserves and pickles, in a calm and mild manner. She also cared for my aging grand-mother as best as she could, though grandma took it all for granted. Grandmother expected her daughter-in-law: my mother to do the needful and much more also, like she herself had looked after my grandfather’s mother in her old age. Grandfather had helped her with the domestic work and lightened her duties, as he was grateful that his mother was being accommodated in their home.

But grandmother chose not to remember this fact. Mother ws keen to bring me up to be a fine, young woman whom she could be proud of. In that direction, she would teach me various skills in housekeeping, help me to be regular with my school work, and she expected me to behave well under all circumstances. I had been close to my mother as her only child, and being a girl had needed her presence in all aspects of my life. During my childhood days, I rushed home from school to greet her, and again in the evening after playing with my friends.

Our feelings were mutual, and we shared a warm bond between us. I could sense sometimes in mother a requirement for understanding and friendship from my father, who generally maintained his distance from both my mother and myself,