The secret marriage

If there is one habit about me which makes me proud, it is reading. I like to read. There are periods when I can never finish any books. When I look back, there has been a gap of years when I had taken up books and never finished it. After a disappointing stint of unfinished books, the interest is ignited again, and there are heaps of books I finish in a short time. Despite all these minor hindrances, I still feel reading is one of the best habit inculcated in me. Being surrounded by my father's collection of books definitely helped me.

As a parent, I am trying to pass this habit to my daughter. It is interesting to note how your kids mirror your childhood. My daughter likes to read, attracted to understand the story and not the storytelling technique. In an attempt to instill the love for classics, we found a children's book which is an anthology of the works of Shakespeare. It contains the abridged version of the bard's famous plays. When my daughter has finished reading one, I ask her to summarize the story for me. She had recently read Romeo and Juliet.

Daughter: *uninterested* Romeo and Juliet belonged to two families.

Me: *listening*

Daughter: *uninterested and trying to remember* Juliet is a Capulet and Romeo is a Montague.

Me: *impressed with her pronunciation of the family names*

Daughter: *continues with less enthusiasm* Romeo and Juliet fell in love.

Me: *uncomfortable and wishing she leaves out the gory details*

Daughter: *nonchalantly* They get married secretly.

Me: *confused* Did they get married? *racking my brains to remember the story* I don't remember reading it.

Daughter: *in a matter of fact tone* They married secretly. It is a secret marriage. That is why you don't know about it.

Who can counter that argument?

Photo Courtesy: Lefteris Heretakis