Not Bengali enough

Her dad was a Bengali but her mom hailed from Hyderabad. Theirs was a love marriage and she grew up seeing true love for her mom in her dad's eyes and true contempt for her in her grandmother's eyes. For some reason, her grandmother never found anything right in her mom. She could never cook the machher jhol properly, no matter how much she tried and how long she had been cooking. Her lal paad which she so loved would never look "properly draped" on her mom in her grandmother's opinion, no matter that she draped it on every auspicious occasion. In short, her mom could never become a proper Bengali in her grandmother's eyes, no matter how much she tried. But, it didn't matter because it never bothered her dad and he always found her perfect.

He also found their daughter perfect - a perfect amalgamation of two cultures. "Udi baba!" like her dad and "Nakko miyan" from her mom had both found their way in her tongue. She had the most gorgeous almond shaped eyes, so typical of Bengali women. They went perfectly with the dense curls in her hair, just like her mom's. But again, the offspring was also not Bengali enough for her grandmother and she worked day and night to make her one. Rabindra Sangeet was introduced at the age of 3, and she grew up on a daily dose of Bengali literature taught to her by umpteen tutors. Mishti Doi and puchkas was staple diet for her.

She grew up happy and then one day was ready to fly off to far away lands for higher studies. The stuff was being packed and a recipe book was added for her to use while cooking her favourite Bengali recipes. A box of her Bengali books was readied, for where would she get those in foreign lands. Her grandmother instructed her mom to get a "lal paar" from the market for her for the Durgashtami when she would be missing home. She jumped at the thought and went to the market with her mother.

What she came back with made her grandmother cringe and father laugh - She had bought a white and red classic pochampally, a perfect amalgamation of the two cultures, just like her.

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