I belong to a large and boisterous family and I would not have had it any other way. Plethora of aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins and presence of characters with ambigous connections to the family has made each family gathering a festive affair. Our social gatherings are full of joie de vivre and tend to be a bit on the rambunctious side. Most outsiders, either are completely bewildered by the apparent chaotic enjoyment or get thoroughly immersed in the fun and games. Since we have to make ourselves heard over the chatter and laughter of thirty to forty-five odd people it is but natural that our voice decibels are also set at a higher level.
That others of a more placid, lukewarm temperament may misconstrue this inherent quality that we have of speaking somewhat vociferously and with joyous abandon, was brought into focus by an anecdote related to me by a cousin of mine on one such aforementioned gathering.
It was the year 1990, and the World Cup fever had gripped all soccer crazy nations. Even though Indians consider cricket to be a religion, us Bengalis reserve a special place in our heart for soccer -our first true love. The average babumoshai would remain glued to the sets if a world cup match were on.
My cousin was newly married and since her husband is in the army, they were staying in a cantonment at one of the army bases. Due to the time differences, the world cup matches were telecast live late at night and despite the grueling schedule of army life, they would stay up late to watch these matches. A few days later a senior army personnel beckoned my brother-in-law over for an informal meeting. With his face grim and his tone somber, he stated, “Shah, you should consider us your family. You should learn to share your problems and we are a close-knit unit hence anything that you say would be confidential.” Baffled, my brother law listened for a while but was clueless as to what his senior was referring to, and finally blurted out the same. Very patiently and with infinite care the senior officer explained, “Champa (my cousin) is a big city girl, she may have problems adjusting to our lifestyle here and you both have to learn to be more patient.” This statement stunned my brother-in-law who immediately declared that they both were extremely happy in their marriage and after waiting five long years to be together, would not even dream of disturbing their loving household. He then asked the officer to clarify as to how he had come to such an erroneous conclusion, and was informed “well, every night we hear you both screaming at each other". The fog finally cleared and my brother-in-law realized that in the night, during the matches, overcome with emotion upon a goal they would shout out loud, not realizing that their voices carried over. The others assumed that the newlyweds were fighting and indulging in a free for all!!! With a sheepish grin, the true state of affairs was explained and everybody had a hearty laugh.
You would have thought that this is a lesson well learnt, but if last nights family gathering was any indication, then we are still the same noisy, animated, fun loving bunch. And thank god for that!!!
FYI, West Germany and Argentina were the two finalists and the 1990 world cup was won by Germany much to the sorrow of a lot of Bengalis who are ardent fans of the artful Latin style of play.
2 comments:
That brings back some memories!
-Sid
Yes its feels good to hang out with the crazy bunch again!
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