In this quietly powerful episode, a moderator sits with Ismar and Ritesh for a conversation that lingers long after the microphones switch off. Ismar opens up about life as the sole caregiver for his 87-year-old mother in Brazil — the loneliness, the exhaustion, and the unresolved pain of carrying responsibility while his two sisters remain absent. It’s a story that moves from love to resentment, from devotion to the unthinkable: considering legal action just to share the weight of care. Not out of cruelty — but survival.
Ritesh responds from an Indian cultural lens, where caring for parents has long been treated as a sacred duty, often expressed not through words, but presence. And yet, even there, the old structures are cracking. Modern pressure, migration, ambition, silence. Sons drift. Daughters return. Traditions bend under real life. What emerges isn’t a debate — it’s a shared reckoning with what happens when love, obligation, and reality collide.
Together, they explore:
- Why caregiving can feel like both honour and imprisonment
- How different cultures express love — verbally, silently, imperfectly
- The fragile line between obedience and independence
- Why parenting has no manual, and caregiving has no applause
- And how trust, tolerance, and honest conversation might be the only bridges left
This is not an easy listen — and that’s exactly why it matters.
If you’ve ever felt torn between who you are and who you’re expected to be…
If you’ve ever loved someone and resented them at the same time…
If you’re quietly navigating family duty without a language for it —
Don’t skip this episode.
It doesn’t give answers.
It gives recognition.