Politics and U

My parents are visiting me in Brussels. They are always watching the election news on TV as it unfolds in Bihar where we come from. At night, when I remind my mother to put her phone away, she pleads for an hour of catching up on all election news and analysis of the day on YouTube. This is also because there is a story of unfinished political business or aspiration.

- Ashutosh Salil

Long ago, my grandfather had jumped into the electoral fray as an independent. He lost but the zeal was passed down as an inheritance and my father contested the college elections. Perhaps he would have taken it further, but he got married and had a family to take care of.

Unlike my reticent mother, my father is loquacious. In a small town, men like my father bonded over conversations. Mostly political ones. My father would often host them over endless cups of tea. The men were loud and argumentative. My father probably the loudest and never the one to concede. My mother preferred the quietness of her routine to these noisy intrusions. Here in Brussels, my father very often concedes to my fiery mother. I suspect he does so halfheartedly. To buy peace.