The Much Desired

Roma had everything which a woman might want; a good loving husband, a beautiful flat, and a lovely red car. But she pined away for a child. She would look at the children around her, and she would long to have a baby in her arms. She went from one Fertility Clinic to another and spent loads of money without a second thought. At last, after ten years, God decided to gift a beautiful girl, and Roma was in seventh heaven. 

 Roma doted on her baby from the very first second. She did everything possible to keep the baby comfortable. She kept vigil all night, fed her every two hours, and bought the most immaculate dresses for her. As the child grew up, Roma would only look at her and admire her. Roma took her to school, played with her, and invited her little friends over, to keep her daughter happy. Her birthdays were very special, and Roma painted the invitation cards herself, made the multi-colored streamers, and bought fabulous presents for her daughter, whom she had named Trina. 

As years passed, and the child became a smart young girl, going to middle school, Roma started noticing a change in her daughter’s behavior. She became more reserved with her and often told her that if she went to pick her up from school, she felt embarrassed, and was ashamed of her in front of her friends. Roma’s heart sank on hearing these words. Her daughter, the daughter who was her pride, could tell her that she was ashamed of her, was beyond her wildest imagination, and dealt a shattering blow, which broke her down totally. When she asked her the reason for her feeling ashamed, her daughter would reply that her pronunciation in English was “weird”. Roma had studied in a Bengali medium school and so naturally when she spoke, what she said did not sound like Oxford English. She realized her drawback, but there was nothing that she could do about it.

She also noticed that since late, her daughter seemed to lack respect for her, and made fun of her in front of others. Trina used to tell her in a very corrosive and humiliating manner, that as she had no knowledge of Physics and Chemistry, so she was not fit to discuss any subject with her. Being an Art Student, Roma was unfortunate not to have knowledge of certain fundamentals. Roma felt demeaned and ridiculed. Trina had started looking down on her, and the worse part of it was that it seemed that her daughter enjoyed her mother’s discomfiture. Roma hid in the toilet to shed her unabated tears.

      

As Roma advanced in years and became slow and hesitant in her work, Trina would tell her point-blank, that she did not have the patience to wait for a “Slow Coach”. As for the Computer, Roma did not understand anything about its functioning. It became another hurdle. As it was not a subject which was being taught during Roma’s school days, anything which had to be done online, made Roma diffident and asked for help from her daughter. Trina would tell her outright, that she was not going to waste her time by trying to show her what she did not know, for it was beyond her comprehension. It was very hard to bear up this mental affliction, subjected to her, day after day, by her precious daughter, whom she loved so much. Roma thanked God that at least she had a daughter, who was able to inflict on her so much pain. 

      

As years passed Roma got Cancer, and she expired with her daughter’s name on her lips. Trina came in the last hour and looking at her mother, so vulnerable, so pathetic, the realization came to her, that she was losing a wonderful mother, whom she could never ever get back. She wanted to scream and tell her mother, not to leave her and go, to give her another chance, but it was too late. Roma had passed into the other world.