What have I received from my parents

Stacking Pennies brings up a post discussing "what you have received from your parents". So, I couldn't stop and ponder over this question my self.

I guess being Indian this question is a sin to ask. Here parents only give to their kids and never expect anything in return, of course except love and respect. Kids are very spoiled here, and most of kids are very alien to idea of paying for their own education, forget about rent and food. Here people stay with parents even after marriage, to save on rent. Please don’t get me wrong, this is the culture for us. We look down at those people who move out after marriage. We are still a country of joint family, though I know this trend is diminishing now.

Well for my parents, my ma is a house wife and my pa was a government servant, but now is a retired man, still working with some private contractor. All food, lodging and education is fully paid by them not only for me but also for my other two siblings. Well infact, when I took a break in my studies and worked for one year to save money for my further educations, my parents were surprised and proud of me.

Given my dad was the only earning member of our family, and he used to earn quite less, meeting ends used to be a challenge for ma. But she never compromised on our studies. We were never spoiled though. Gifts are a big no in my family, I still remember how I once bought a birthday gift for my dad from my monthly allowance and he slapped me back, teaching me not to waste money on no-use things. We always used to get new clothes to wear, even though not frequently. We never used used books, and never sold back my books, ma used to say “books should never be sold, its education, it should be passed.” I must say I still abide by those words.

My parents got us married too, I mean my elder sibling and me. My younger sibling is still studying. They still give us gifts on all the festivals, but never a no-use thing. Even if I’ll offer some money in return, they will not accept it. In India, its not considered good to take money from your girl child. I know that sounds very different in today’s time, but that’s how they are. They only love to give us, expect nothing back in return, other then a call every day. Love both of you ma and pa.