Deepak stared at the two women with disbelief and angst seethed through his body. He wanted to lash out against them. He wanted to scream at his mother for taking his wife’s side.

Whenever he thought of a funny story or good material for a stand-up act, he’d jot it down in a thick leather-bound book. He said that it was his retirement investment.

Surprisingly, more than half the qualifiers were women. They tended to excel most at negotiation and strategy, mental prowess and survival instincts, in addition to their chosen subjects.

I thought of the time my parents and I weren’t talking with each other. It made me think of how there are so many children who do not really have parents to reconcile with.

People will know me as the epitome of motherly affection and virtue. But they will never come to know of the searing pain that afflicts my life in these autumn years of my life.