"You know what Sarita told me today? 'Kids these days blindly mug up the textbooks and gain very good marks in exams. But they lack practical knowledge and you can't really expect them to succeed in life.' Can you believe her? She is so jealous of our Nishant that she spoke such nonsense!"
Sheela was folding clothes in her room while her husband Mr. Sharma, was helping. Sheela always had something or the other to rant in the evening and it was always Mr Sharma's ears that suffered. He was accustomed to this daily ritual and he never complained. How could he complain, when the topics were so entertaining! This was the most relaxing part of his day and Mr Sharma always took fun very seriously!
"Oho! How could she say that! Remind me again, who was Sarita?" Mr Sharma had a smirk on his face.
Sheela's anger turned towards her husband. "You! is this funny for you? Someone was making fun of our talented son and you are sitting here and making fun of me!!!"
"Calm down my dear. I was not making fun of you. It's just that your office has so many ladies and I cannot keep track of their names. And why do you care about their opinion anyway. We know how our son is and we should just ignore all of these things. "
Mr Sharma knew that his wife was obsessed over their son. She had been focusing all her energy on Nishant and she would get defensive about him even for small and irrelevant things. When you are obsessed over something or someone, there is always a possibility of overdoing things. Mr Sharma knew this fact, but he could only warn her whenever she went overboard. He had told Nishant many times to ignore his mother's over protectiveness and get on with his life. But clearly Nishant was his mama's boy and gave in to Sheela's words most of the time. Mr Sharma firmly believed that when the time comes Nishant will choose what is right for him, instead of blindly listening to his mother.
"I have been working in the same office for so many years and you still say you don't remember their names. Mr Sharma, I don't know how to deal with you!" Her husband loved to tease her and Sheela knew he was doing the same right now.
Mr Sharma was smiling by looking at his wife's expression. "Come on darling. That lady might not even be talking about Nishant. You always overthink about everything, especially if it is about our son. Just leave this matter. Do you want to go out for a movie? I can book tickets for late night show" At the end of the sentence, Mr Sharma winked at Sheela.
"I know what she said and why she said. Don't try to defend Sarita for no reason. She has always hated the fact that my son is doing well in BE while her son is doing some unimportant course like journalism! AND YOU! What's with all the flirting! Go watch news or something. I am not going anywhere with you!"
After some bickering and coaxing, Mr Sharma finally had his way and they ended up booking tickets for the late night show.
***