A mother in law

A mother is love incarnate.  A mother-in-law, however, is hated more than  the devil himself. Why is it so? Some time later, we shall analyse this dialectic truly thoroughly and theoretically. Well, right now, my laptop is kaput. So let us do with an anecdote that tells its own tale.

If it is the husband's mother who is a terror hereabouts, in many Western countries, it is the wife's mother who is a horror. A mean money bag, she dominates both, her and her husband's husband. No way is this a negation of patriarchy though it may so appear at the first sight. Rather it is a continuation of the harridan imagery. But such an analysis for later. Right now let us deal with the anecdote.

There is this very bossy And snooty mother-in-law who is always testing her sons'(as she pretends to call them) loyalty. On a Sunday, she takes her eldest sonny boy for a walk along the famous bridge and suddenly jumps in to the river screaming away, "help, save me, I am drowning." The good soul jumps in to the river, pulls her out, and packs her off to her house  in a passing cab. Next morning at his doorstep, he finds the latest mean machine of a two-wheeler with a message "from a very loving mother-in-law".

The next Sunday, it is the turn of the second son-in-law. The same dramatics follow. The Man is a generous soul. He fishes her out, takes her to a swanky restaurant, and after a sumptuous breakfast, sends her to her house in an air-conditioned car. The next morning, there is a Volkswagen at his doorstep with the same message, " from a very loving mother-in-law."

The Sunday after, it is the turn of the youngest chap. He cannot stand the sight of the woman. So when she jumps in to the river, he is quite cool, and goes home. The next morning, there is a helicopter at his doorstep with the message, " from a very loving father-in-law"

Sure it is an intelligent laugh, but, as usual, at a woman. So the need to analyse it, though sometime later!

Pratima @ is the laughter always the best solution?