Slice of life: ‘My daughter wants to be an IAS officer and I want to support her’

My mother runs a food stall just like mine next to her house. We cook all the food at home, so it was easy for her to set up the stall. My grandmother also ran this business. My mother taught me all the recipes. I have two daughters and they study in a government school nearby. I had enrolled them in an English medium school before that. We had to change schools because we couldn’t pay the fees. But they still walk around the house talking in English. We don’t understand what they’re saying. The older one wants to become an IAS officer. We have no idea how she is going to achieve that, but we will support her. When she’s at home, she will switch channels to watch news. Then she’ll ask us about the people in news. We try to help her even though we don’t know many people. The younger one, she has a mouth on her. Always talking back for everything. She’s not too interested in studies, but she wants to become a teacher. She will line up her toys and then hold a stick and take class for the toys. When she’s at home, the TV is always at cartoons. We will do our best to support them, no matter what. That’s why I sit and cook near a hot flame on a hot day like this – so that they can achieve their dreams. They’re not allowed near the cart – we want them to focus only on their future.