Downers Grove, IL – On Sunday, forty-something mother of two, Azeeza Khan, reminded her youngest daughter of blood pressure issues during a heated exchange about a trip to the movies.
“I asked her if I could go to the 10 pm showing of Guardians of the Galaxy with Alicia,” said 15-year-old Aisha Khan. “I mean Alicia got her license last month, so you’d think it would be OKAY.”
“All of sudden, she asked my dad to bring the home blood pressure monitor to her, as she stumbled onto the plastic-covered family room sofa. It was like watching an Indian drama unfold.”
Her mother’s words immediately prompted the frustrated teenager to withdraw her case before marching back to her room and slamming the door.
Elsewhere, aspiring actor turned medical graduate Sameer Desai attributes his abrupt career switch to a conversation he had with his mother over six years ago.
“I remember how excited I was when I ran home to tell my mom I was going to pursue theatre and acting,” recalled Desai, now a 26-year-old medical resident at North Shore Hospital.
“My mom just stood there shocked with tears swelling up in her eyes… and with barely a whimper in her voice she asks me in an Indian accent: ‘Beta, do you WANT to give your mummy a heart attack?'”
“Then at one point she asked me to dig her grave right there… in the kitchen… with ceramic tile floors.”
Following the incident, Desai was hounded by calls from aunts and uncles who asked him why he wanted to give his elderly mother a heart attack.
Years later as a doctor, Desai was able to run routine medical tests on his mother – only to discover she never had any heart-related conditions.
Across the country, South Asian mothers continue to strategically use their heart conditions to elicit willful compliance from their children.
