Growing up with Strict Parents

"But first, let me ask my parents" – that's the sacred reply of a son/daughter who is brought up by strict, overprotective parents when making plans with friends. Then there are those who straight up lie to their parents to avoid all the torture, but we'll get to that later. 

Something as simple as going over to a friend's is equivalent to the preparation for an interview for a proper job. First of all, it takes hours of mental preparation to merely strike up the courage to go up to your parents. Except, you can't just walk up to them when you are ready; you need to keep track of their moods. A typical hourly observation and then asking for permission at the end of the day usually brings about positive results. If they reply with a "ask me again tomorrow morning", then you're trapped; they will probably overthink it and that's never good.

A sleepover is a whole different story. If an ordinary meet-up needs so much preparation, to ask for a sleepover at a friend's means double the trouble – planning for it from a week before or maybe even more. You need to have the answers ready to all kinds of interrogative questions that will be thrown at you, sort of like Koffee with Karan's "rapid fire round". The worst situation is when you go through all the trouble with one parent and they end it with "go ask your baba/ma". Then you just need to go through all of it, all over again. For the verdict to be out, you usually have to wait for a day or two. It's like they want you to suffer. Once you do get the permission, "mama partayy". Let's not think about those few unfortunate ones who are simply not allowed to go to sleepovers, no matter what. 

Now for the simpler things. Strict parents have a tendency of loving the idea of early curfews. With the uncertain traffic in Dhaka, you're bound to miss the deadline, and when you do, say your prayers before pressing the door bell and hope for the best. Also, if you miss more than two phone calls, your parents suddenly assume that you are lost or doing something you shouldn't be doing (which is probably true anyway). When you get back home, they start blaming "that one friend of yours" they knew for sure was going to be a bad influence. 

It's because of these things that the children grow up to be sneaky. All the years of training and planning make these children good liars. They are also more likely to go through a rebel phase, but let's be real, they don't last that long. At the end of the day, strict Hitler-esque parents are still better than the ones who let loose and don't care at all.

Faria Khan is an ambivert who truly believes in the divine power of music. Give her a piece of your mind at [email protected]