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Priyanka loved her husband. He was kind, caring, and strict with their daughter. She and her husband were just similar enough that they were well matched in ideals, but different enough that they didn’t get on each others nerves. Doug was perfect in the good doctor’s opinion. His family, on the other hand, were terrible.
Sure, Priyanka knew her family was mean, at least, when she first introduced Doug to them they had been mean, but they couldn’t hate him for very long. By the end of the night her mother had basically told Doug a love marriage with Priyanka would be the best thing ever! At least, that’s what the doctor thought her mother said. She didn’t really hear the other woman, and she’d been talking very quickly in the native tongue. Priyanka would never admit she wasn’t very good at Hindi. It was just too embarrassing.
Doug’s family were mostly awful. His older sister hadn’t been too bad, but Priyanka highly suspected that the family didn’t like the girl. They hadn’t liked her any. The didn’t like her husband. They purposefully chose not to let their daughter and Doug’s parents meet. They gave up that right when they had been selfish.
Meeting Doug’s parents had been an ordeal, Priyanka remembered. Doug hadn’t wanted her to meet them. Now, the doctor could understand why, but at the time, she’d been offended. She had introduced him to her parents, so why shouldn’t he do the same? Did he not think their relationship was as serious as she had? Priyanka was embarrassed to admit she’d almost left her husband, then boyfriend, over not meeting the parents. He had acquiesced to her desires, however, and was severely disappointed with the people who had raised her partner.
Yoko had been icy, but had greeted her politely all the same upon meeting the woman dating her son. Doug’s father, however, did not greet Priyanka at all. He took one look at the indian woman and said, “You’re girlfriend isn’t Asian. She is not allowed inside the house. You will dump her right now.”
Doug had protested, and invited Priyanka in. She’d been confused by the older man’s statement. Not Asian? Her family was made up of Asian-Indian immigrants. The never spoke Hindi around her, sure, but ability to speak the mother tongue had nothing to do with the fact she was technically her family’s first generation. Her parents had been nationalized, but Priyanka had been born in the US before that, so everything was very awkward.
“I hear you’re training to be a doctor,” Yoko had said over dinner, “How far along are you?”
“I’m still pre-med,” Priyanka answered, “But I should be interning before the end of the year.”
“Doctor is not a good job for women,” the father huffed, “You should be a nurse.”
“Why isn’t being a doctor good for women exactly?” Priyanka raised an eyebrow at the man.
“Women don’t understand how the body works. They’re too stupid to get it. You should be a housewife. You’d be very good at chores.”
“I’d rather practice medicine,” Priyanka’s voice gained a frosty quality, “I’d go insane if I had to be cooped ap all day.”
“You’re already insane,” the man glared at her, “My son is too good for you.”
“Who wants dessert?” Doug interrupted, trying to diffuse the situation.
Interactions with the man hadn’t gotten better with time. And as time went on, Yoko gained her husband’s attitude toward Priyanka. The Indian woman firmly believed that if she’d been a white American girl Doug’s parents would be less xenophobic of her. That or Japanese-American. Honestly, they’d told Doug’s sister that her Chinese boyfriend was a no good, money hungry jerk. Priyanka had never met the man, but according to the sister, her boyfriend was the most polite, and sincere man she’d ever met.
After telling his parents about proposing marriage to Priyanka, they’d disowned him. Doug hadn’t left his room for a solid week, completely in tears over the whole thing. When asked if he’d take on the Maheswaran name, Doug readily agreed. Her parents had become a more accepting second set of parents for him.
Connie didn’t know her dad’s parents, and they only heard from Doug’s sister every once in awhile, but that was okay. They still taught Connie the good things that came out of her father's culture. Like why they say itadakimasu before meals, and why her father usually says go and come back when Connie leaves the house to go see Steven. Their daughter isn’t really missing out on much anyway.