They love us to death Pamod Alawattage
My sister had a puzzled look on her face as she examined the scar marks on my father’s shoulder. She had been at it for the past five minutes until she finally broke the silence and asked, “Papa! How did you get those marks on your shoulder?” My father with a humorous tone exclaimed how as a child he attempted to secretly ride my grandfather’s motorcycle and was beaten by a leather belt more than 40 years back at their home in India. Though he ended his story with a bass toned giggle which had no expression what so ever, I didn’t find anything funny about the story until my sister’s next statement. “Grandpa was such a cruel man.” To this my father’s reply was, “He was a man of principle, He wanted to discipline us because he loved us” I was enlightened, all the problems that seemed to have bothered me as a child vanished before my eyes. It now made sense as to why father would come home drunk every once in a while and beat my mother with a belt till she couldn’t feel her back. It wasn’t because my father was an alcoholic, or senseless enough continue doing so in front of his children. It was because he loved us too much like his father once did. I now realize It wasn’t rage that drove him. He was so passionate about my mother and our family he couldn’t find any other way to express his feelings other than to throw the television out the window. I couldn’t believe how he didn’t see himself paying 800$ for a new TV. Well, you can’t really blame the poor man. After all, love is blind.
This also explained his behaviour when I got a B+ on my report card last year. “You got B? B is for BITCH!” were the exact words that came out of his mouth. I got slapped multiple times that day before he threw my report card away. Though I was unhappy and disappointed in myself, I felt lucky at the same time. At least my parents weren’t Chinese, Chinese parents know Kung Fu. The hopes and dreams they hope to achieve through