Family Ties

Among things that can be called a natural human tendency, gossip beats them all. Actually, family gossip beats all!
My recent trip to my Chacha's marriage and brother's engagement bear a testimony to that!
It's never taught to us, for example, how to start a gossip or which topic to choose.
It's just something that flows out incessantly once the one who knows "stuff" remembers that they know new "stuff". One thing leads to another and we have set the gossip ball rolling and we all know it continues till either there's something more interesting capable enough to gain that extra momentum needed to take the limelight away from it's older rival or either party leaves! That sometimes leaves the remaining thinking and wondering and yet again "discussing" about the matter!
Be it lunch or dinner or breakfast or even relaxing time, we know what relaxes us the most.
It's every family's tradition that has stood the test of time regardless of whatever century we may be living in or heading towards. It's that undisputed legacy which I think shall always percolate down from one generation to another obliviously.
Fun part for me is that living here where most of my relatives are not, I get a good drought of "details" and I'm equally well supplemented on meeting up with my siblings or whoever!
;)
As it's been a while, things pile on and when it all unravels we have that pile equivalent laugh!
There's stuff about the "door k rishtedar" and "unke bhi rishtedar". I don't think I'd enjoy a perennial breakout, but man I just love these infrequent "gap shaps"!
:D
It's not just sharing of facts, it's what's next that's even hilarious. Making fun of the "door ke log baag"! What I realized for myself at least is that it refreshes you because at the end of it all you have a good heartfelt laugh.
[no hard feelings, just that I don't know them that well to think before saying few benign naughty things.
:P]
Also, living far away from my relatives is something I am absolutely comfortable with. Anything that interrupts this's certainly on my list. Like this time, when we attended two functions in a row.[because we had to go out of town...and that's a lot of effort...zzz...]
The anticipation of meeting strangers [most of them were because I met many for the first time] who happen to be connected to you and hence you are expected to act in a certain way is just out of the line for me.
However, it's nice to have family hang outs. And I mean with people you're not meeting for the first time.
It's nice to sit around and have food together or lie around and gossip insensibly and bid a nice good bye.
Just sometimes!