….

How I wish there were no such thing as family politics….when there is an occasion,  relatives who should help don’t help, and on the contrary, sit around expecting to be waited on, and pass snide comments that MIGHT be heard by “accident”, belitting one’s efforts. When what should be a joyful occasion becomes, instead, a time of mental tension and annoyance that sometimes erupts into anger. Some families seem to really delight in this kind of thing, and it’s just awful to even see…I wonder how the families themselves can take it! Thank goodness my family is one where people are uncomplicated, communication is honest, expectations are realistic, formalities don’t exist, only courtesies, and affection, and its expression, are genuine! How do these other kind of families ever manage to lead happy lives? It would be like living in one of these Saas-Bahu serials, I think! (my NIF’s –Non Indian Friends– Saas/Bahu means mother in law/daughter in law in Hindi…. I am referring to the family soaps, full of family intrigues,  that are aired on TV.)

I think that Tambrams from the Kaveri delta area of Thanjaavur are particularly bad in this respect, and of them those from the town of KumbhakONam have this kind of politicking down to an art form…people from there are SO intelligent, and apparently the agrarian life didn’t provide enough of an outlet for all that brain power…on the plus side, they are excellent at academics and music, and on the minus, they really delight in sly, sharp conversations,  poking and prying into other’s affairs, and passing judgement on others…

I am sure many of us know people like this and each of us might think of a different community! And, of course, there are the exceptions that prove the rule..the really nice, kind-hearted, helpful and good-natured people who bloom like lotuses in the muddy ponds!