Memories of Daddy, Post 25: Daddy & Mummy Handled Their Imperfectly Pierced Kid VERY Differently 😅.
Updated: Sep 29, 2020
Some may remember I had long hair with highlights in undergrad.
Some may remember I got my left ear cartilage pierced as a freshman in college.
Some may ALSO remember the time I had a mini-crisis during my junior year in undergrad and proceeded to get my eyebrow and tongue pierced within a 5 day span.
Yes, I had my moments where I wasn't exactly an "ideal" child. Or, in the case of Indian parents, where I was an absolute fucking nightmare.
I was flying home from Chicago during my junior year and got into a fight with Mummy the day I was leaving (I don't recall what the fight was about). I figured there would be a lot of tension when she saw me - not only because of the fight, but also since I had "failed" to mention the latest two piercings 😅.
I was hoping beyond hope she wouldn't notice the piercings since she was picking me up at night, AND at least I could get a good night's rest till armageddon hit the next morning. But when she picked me up, she didn't say anything at all. I thought she actually didn't notice the piercings and that she was still upset from our earlier fight.
However, I quickly learned the next morning this was the FURTHEST from the truth.
She burst into my room at around 8am as if she was a tornado determined to destroy everything in her path. She had bottled up her anger all night, and it was all of a sudden unleashed.
She screamed at me telling me how stupid I was for getting my eyebrow pierced and that she was going to rip it out. As the yelling continued, she started to sound like the teacher from Charlie Brown. I was contemplating what to do at this point since she clearly still had no idea about the tongue piercing:
Should I wait till she calmed down to inform her of that fact, or since she was already mad as hell, just get it over with?
I chose the latter.
I stuck my tongue out at her, and she freaked out to an entirely new level. She ran down the hall screaming "MAHENDRA!!! MAHENDRA!!!" and went to get Daddy.
When Daddy came to my room, he asked, very calmly, to see my piercings. When he saw them, he took a deep breath, and asked why I had gotten them.
My response?
Because I wanted to 😅🤦🏽♂️.
(My 20 year old self was kinda obnoxious, and I don't want to hear from any of you that things haven't changed! 🤣).
He then asked me if I was planning on keeping them in for my medschool interviews. I said I didn't know and I'd decide at that time. He then asked me to consider his request to remove them before then, I said yes, and he said "okay". He then left my room, and Mummy stood there in shock. She then left my room and started yelling at Daddy for going so easy on me.
I was shocked with how calm Daddy was with me. But I realized at that time how perfectly my parents balanced one another out. Mummy was the emotional firestorm who spoke her mind. Daddy had a controlled inner-fire who viewed everything as a chess match. And as a result of being their child, I inherited qualities that reflect both of my parents.
I am their child, both in likeness and personality. And though imperfect, I couldn't feel more blessed.