He is still a kid...

During my stay in Ann Arbor, we met a family from India. The son had secured admission to Ross School of Business for his MBA degree. His mother and elder brother/cousin were accompanying him on his maiden study trip. 

While generally chatting with the family, aunty was enquiring about quite a few things, cousin was also asking a few things. But the son was only a listener. This was the scene in every other conversation we had with that family. While I understand aunty's curiosity or anxiousness about the new country, the lack of knowledge on the son's part was surprising. The fellow had not even thought about which bank to use, which mobile carrier to use and things alike. Even when exchanging contacts, aunty was proactive, but not the son.

While we were sitting at the airport on way back, we met aunty again. She was also leaving the same day. While mentioning this to Mrunmay, I couldn't stop noticing the difference.

When it was confirmed that Mrunmay would be studying at the University of Michigan, he has been reading/searching about life there, how he will survive and settle in the new country. He researched the banks, phone carriers, dorms, and dining halls, including who the biggest rival is in the eyes of UMich students. He has been sharing that with us and had asked us to do a final pass/decision about important things like banks and carriers.

That MBA student must be at least 4 to 5 years older, and given MBA aspirations, is expected to be a bit more conversing/knowledgeable/curious. But he completely failed to communicate that. In hindsight, I am thinking if the problem was with that son or with that aunty? She seemed a lot more protective of her son, which was inappropriate for his age. And it is also likely that the son already had the info, but Aunty simply wanted to validate it with us. But overall, it gave me the impression that the son hadn't done his homework!!

While I completely agree that the son had no business making an impression on us, all these thoughts made me realize one thing again. Mrunmay has prepared himself well for staying alone and has been in that process for quite some time. And it surely is reassuring, as we would be hours apart and won't be close to him. And I also feel good about ourselves - as parents, we seem to have done a decent job on this front - of letting him grow independent.

This story also reminds me of one of our neighbours. I was in college, just about Mrunmay's age, and that neighbour's son would be around 35 or 40. That lady asked my mom if I could go and pay the electricity bill on their behalf as well. Mom casually asked why not her son... She uttered..

"लहान आहे गं तो अजून!!" (He is still a kid... )!!!