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| Swastika with Anwesha, sporting a Bieber tee and Love pendant, at Crossword. Pictures: Rashbehari Das |
One of her favourite phrases is “it’s not a big deal” but when it comes to Justin Bieber, it is a very big deal for Anwesha. Which is a big deal for mom Swastika Mukherjee, who’s bewildered by her 13-year-old’s Bieber craze. At Crossword Bookstore, mother and daughter got together for a free-wheeling chat with t2. It started with Anwesha’s dream man but ended with the men she wants her mother to date!
Anwesha, which is your favourite Justin Bieber merchandise?
Swastika: I think she was really going crazy to buy Someday (the perfume).
Anwesha: I didn’t know about Girlfriend (another Bieber scent).
S: We had gone to Singapore last year and there was a huge Someday hoarding there. Mani was like, ‘Ma, did you see that?!’ I just could not figure out what I had missed! This time when she had gone to the NASA on a school trip, I was asking her what all she has been doing and the only stories were about Bieber! All my friends who go to London only buy Bieber things for her. I spotted this calendar on Oxford Street and they had only one. I didn’t even ask the price. I just said, ‘Give it to me!’
What else is there in your Bieber collection?
A: That’s it! That’s almost close to nothing actually. My friends told me that in New York there is an entire shop dedicated to Justin Bieber.
S: So now she is asking me, ‘Ma, is anybody coming back from New York or going there?’ I said yes and I can tell them. Mani’s like, ‘No. How will they understand...’
A: I mean if someone gets me a girlie picture, then I am going to hate it! I need the more now Bieber.
S: So, you are admitting that he can look girlie? Yes!
A: Noooo!
S: You just said it!
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| OMG |
Anwesha, since when have you been a Bieber fan?
S: I think it started the year before last. I was travelling to the US and that’s the first time Mani asked me to get her a Justin Bieber T-shirt. I was like, ‘Who is he?’
A: No, no, no, no! Then I hardly knew Bieber! All I knew was that he had sung Baby. After I came back from hostel, I used to spend a lot of time on the Internet. I used to operate mom’s Facebook, assigned with the job of deleting things. I couldn’t just go on deleting, I had to do something alongside! So I used to play music, and Ma had a very bad playlist!
S: Obviously. She wouldn’t like the old Hindi songs and ghazals.
A: They never make sense to me… useless. So, I went on YouTube and the only Justin Bieber song that I knew was Baby. Then I heard its remix version, which went… Bella, Bella, Bella, Jacob singing to Bella (in Twilight series). Once I went to school here, I heard Mistletoe and Boyfriend.
S: She’s had a lot of phases. First it was Barbie. Then Hannah Montana. So, there were Hannah Montana bed-sheets and pillows. One day I woke up and there was this bed-sheet of a huge girl with a microphone and sequins on her hair. I got so startled! Then I realised I had only bought it. Then Twilight.... In between, there was Harry Potter. We had gone on this five-hour tour of the studios in London....
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| Anwesha brought out her Bieber collection from her bag |
A: We had butter beer! The Twilight phase is still on.
S: In Breaking Dawn - Part 1, where the whole consummation thing happens, I said, ‘Mani, let me watch it first.’ She did not watch it then, but later she did.... They all watch Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl. Every night the core group of friends in that serial, everybody is making out with everybody! I have stopped reacting. Then Mani started reading vampire books. I got her T-shirts that say ‘I love vampires’. Then I saw I was only wearing them! One morning she got up and said that she wants to date a vampire and get married to one!
A: I have The Vampire Diaries on my phone.
S: I heard my parents and sister complaining that Mani watches films she is not supposed to. Mani says, ‘They don’t show anything and it’s my bad luck that whenever you walk in, somebody is smooching!’ The vampires are dating, they are making out… I was like, what is the story? One day she told me, ‘Ma, we have to watch Mean Girls!’ Ten minutes into the film, I said I didn’t think she should watch it. And I was wondering why I was sitting and watching it with her! And Mani goes, ‘Chill na Ma! What will happen? They are just making out and it’s okay, we all know everything about it!’ I was feeling so guilty! Nowadays, they don’t make a big deal out of the word ‘sex’ or ‘making out’.
Are you okay with Mani being exposed to all this?
S: See, my only concern was that she should not hide anything from me because nothing is going to stop them from looking things up on the Net. Times have changed. We used to read Mills & Boon and Nancy Drew. For me, Mean Girls was a huge barrier that we crossed.
A: I cannot watch One Tree Hill in front of my mom. She will be like, ‘Stop watching it’.
S: It is all about one set of parents dating other parents!
Is there still a no-go zone for Mani?
A: There are films which mom says I cannot watch. I am like, ‘I don’t have any interest’. Very boring!
S: I told Mani that she didn’t need to watch Ami Aar Amaar Girlfriends because there are adult scenes in the film. Her reply was: ‘It’s fine, Ma. It is a Bong movie. What can you’ll show?’
A: I have no interest in Bong movies.
S: Obviously, we don’t deal with vampires!
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| Swastika holds up a copy of Vampire Academy while Anwesha is busy browsing more titles |
Anwesha, what was the last Bengali film you watched?
S: Maach Mishti & More. She watched parts of Ami Aar Amaar Girlfriends. The only film that I saw her friends watching… non-Bengalis watching Bengali films was…
A: Bhooter Bhobishyot. I thought that was the first proper Bengali film!
Have you seen all of your mom’s films?
A: I don’t remember… but there used to be these films where she used to dance a lot.
S: But you liked those films!
A: Ma, I was small. The only thing for me was ‘mummy’s doing films’. Now I understand that mummy doing films is okay, rest… useless!
S: She has watched Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, Hirak Rajar Deshe.
Who among your mom’s heroes do you like?
A: I like Paramda (Parambrata Chattopadhyay), Jeetda, Bumbada (Prosenjit). I like them because they give me chocolates! I also like Abirda (Abir Chatterjee). And they are really nice!
What kind of films do you like?
A: Where something is about to happen… adventure. I don’t like love stories where boy meets girl, falls in love, gets married and then story khatam! Useless!
S: I don’t think kids these days like watching mushy movies. When we were in Class IX-X, we would go crazy for mushy films.
A: I like those high-school movies where this girl likes this boy and the boy is dating someone else… the other girl tries her level best. Those movies are good. It should have a happy ending, but it should be interesting. In books also, I like reading books with an element of adventure. Vampire books have that!
S: I got her Enid Blyton and she said: ‘Ma, I am reading them; they are very kiddish.’
Swastika, how does Anwesha react to various kinds of reports about you in the papers?
S: She doesn’t care. I am so relieved.
A: What people think doesn’t matter. My friends think I am very rich. I own this and that, which I don’t. I am a normal girl.
S: The celeb tag doesn’t make her obstinate. She knows what she can do and cannot, what I can provide her with and what I cannot. It is not that I cannot give her a Samsung Galaxy Note II, but I will not.
A: The only thing I want is an iPhone. I want one because you get awesome Justin Bieber covers for it.
S: She made me follow Bieber on Twitter!
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| Anwesha’s favourites apart from Justin Bieber! “Zac Efron, Liam Penn, Cody Simpson, Louis Tomlinson, James Franco and Josh Duhamel!” |
Swastika, how much of a say does Mani have about the men in your life?
S: 500 per cent.
A: I am always complaining!
S: She would say, ‘Ma, no, no!’ ‘Oh! You broke up with him?’
A: I am always hoping for a ‘yes’.
S: I would say, ‘Look at the expression on your face!’
A: See, I don’t mind my mom dating but the guy has to be good-looking.
Among the men your mother’s dated, who do you like the most?
A: Now I like Paramda. I never liked him then. I thought he was enemy! (Laughs)
S: That was five years back. She was younger and used to stay in a hostel. Now she has many friends and the whole day, boys are calling her! She goes out for films with them. I remember my father did not allow me to go for a sports competition in Jamshedpur! I was so upset. And I did not think twice before sending her on the NASA trip. It was an opportunity of a lifetime. See, I live with my parents. They don’t say ‘no’ to a lot of things. The few things they say ‘no’ to, I try to abide by.
Swastika, will you have a problem if your daughter starts dating now?
A: My crush just moved to Belgium!
S: Dating for them is just a day-long affair!
Anwesha, what is your boyfriend criterion?
A: I choose the best of the best! Good-looking.
S: Yes, good-looking… point to be noted in bold.
Swastika, you must be happy that Anwesha shares everything with you.
S: Yes, that’s my relief. This age is sensitive. Mani doesn’t really think twice before telling me anything.
Do both of you share your wardrobe?
S: She’s wearing my pants!
A: That’s my bag!
Anwesha, what will you never wear?
A: I never used to wear hairbands, but now because of my fringe I have to.
S: She is obsessed with her hair.
A: It used to fall a particular way, which I used to love. She chopped it off! I am finished!
Swastika, do you pamper Mani?
A: She doesn’t do anything. I pamper myself! But then pampering spoils you.
S: What I really like about her is that she stands up for her friends. The only time I am the mother is when it comes to her studies.
A: I am very scared of her when it comes to studies. She is the mother when my results come out. That day. The next day is cool.
S: That one dose will suffice for six months. She is obedient. She knows her limits. The longer she remains this carefree and I am able to provide her the comforts so that she doesn’t need to take stress, I’ll be really happy. Once she is out in the open, there is no looking back.
