For the first time in years, Ranjita Saran has taken a couple of months off from work. The IT professional is enjoying every minute of her break before she joins either the Calcutta or Bangalore branch of an US firm.

In 1999, Ranjita had accompanied her elder daughter, Vidisha, to the US, leaving behind her husband and younger daughter Vasundhara Prasad. During her five-year stay in the Big Apple, Ranjita successfully juggled both her house and job.

Vasundhara Prasad, a Class VIII student of Sacred Heart’s Convent School, is a bubbly teenager. She is a topper in both studies and co-curricular activities.

Beans spill as the mother-daughter duo chat over a cup of coffee...

Vasundhara: When you went away to the US, I was devastated. The first few months I felt miserable. Later it was fun with mummy not around, nagging all day long.

Ranjita: But now that I am here you must stop fooling around. I want you to focus on your studies.

Vasundhara: I feel good that you are around. But I was more close to didi than you.

Ranjita: I don’t care if you are more close to didi. I want to know all your secrets.

Vasundhara: You must understand that there are certain things, which cannot be revealed.

Ranjita: I do not want to meddle in your affairs. But having boyfriends at your age is unwarranted. You are at an impressionable age. The relationships you have now may not last.

Vasundhara: I agree with you.

Ranjita: Thankfully you are not rebellious. And even if you were, better luck with someone else.

Vasundhara: But I have a feeling you disapprove of most of my friends.

Ranjita: You are talking about boyfriends?

Vasundhara: You know that I don’t have any. I was talking about girl friends at school. But I’m lucky. Poor didi! She had a tough time with you when she was here. You were too conservative and over protective. But your stay abroad has made you liberal.

Ranjita: Indeed, it has. But as for your partying at home with close pals, I don’t think I have ever objected to that.

Vasundhara: We don’t party everyday. Do we? Neither do I chat too much on the phone.

Ranjita: Chatting for hours on the telephone has become the favourite pastime of teenagers.

Vasundhara: Maybe. But look at the brighter side of life. Now that we have two television sets at home at least the war over the remote control is over.

Ranjita: Hopefully yes. I don’t mind if you watch television. There are a number of informative channels.

Vasundhara: Don’t u think extra-curricular activities have become important these days. After all education is the all-round development of a person.

Ranjita: I agree with you. Therefore I have always encouraged you to take part in different activities in school. But times have changed. Today if a child is punished in school then he/she is repentant but not embarrassed. When we were in school it used to be a matter of embarrassment

Vasundhara: There is no denying the fact that if the entire class is punished we have loads of fun,

Ranjita: Don’t you think students these days have little respect for their teachers?

Vasundhara: I think teachers are equally to be blamed for the situation. We would definitely not like a teacher to poke his/her nose in our personal lives.

Ranjita: GenX does not want anybody to interfere in their lives.

Vasundhara: So what’s wrong with it? If we have to go out, we would want our friends and not family members.

There is no end to the verbal duel between mother and daughter. Arguments and counter-arguments have become the order of the day in the house of Ranjita Saran and Vasundhara Prasad. But that’s what makes their lives spicy and interesting.

Sweta Dutta