Happy New Year!!!...

I'm writing this from the comfort of my apartment, away from my parents. Hai Rabba! I don't know what to think. I actually missed the ball drop in NYC (on tv of course), because my laptop was a minute early :P Go figure! When I was a mere baachi I used to pray for the New Year to start with no thappads, but as I grew older, I used to pray just for January 1st to be thappad free. Now I realize, that no matter what I do, there will always be a lecture waiting. I could discover the cure to cancer, and our desi parents will wonder why we didn't do it in our "spare time". Anyway, we went to go view the Rose Parade floats, but we were late, so we went to a nearby race track to bet on a race. And no, I'm not lying, but desi parents did actually bet on something volatile. So on the drive back home this was the conversation: (M= mom D=dad)

Me: Hiccuping
Dad: Why the heck are you hiccuping so loud, do you have an attention problem?
Me: Um...I can't control it?
Dad: Well shut it! (Or the Telugu equivalent of it)
A little while later
Mom: You better get good grades this quarter.
Me: Ok
Mom: (Angry voice), Tell me why you didn't get grades this quarter!!!
Me: Because I didn't study hard enough. 
Mom: Tell me why you didn't study hard enough.
Me: Because I was lazy?
Mom: No!! That's not the reason, tell me why?
Me: Since you seem to know me better than I know myself, then you make up an answer and believe it.
Mom: After pulling into the driveway. Starts giving me a major thappad, desi style, like goras or kalas wouldn't know, kicks me out of the house, until I "figure out", that since my parents pay my bills, they can treat me like a mere beti of 2 years. We desis invented the 0, don't know why our parents seem to forget it so easily. Eh, I'll be applying in 7 months, I'll be free soon enough!!

I just had to bust out that rant. I don't understand why our parents treat us like little babies, and then freak out when we don't get perfect grades or behave perfectly. And when we do bring home good grades, they don't even acknowledge them. I'm not asking for a pat on the back, I'm asking for acknowledgment. They control every aspect of our lives, especially academic, financial and marital. Speaking of....I got my first rishtaa. Yay. Now tomorrow I get to start another quarter of school!!  Good luck to all you desis out there!