Dr. Priyanka Maheswaran

"I just wanted to be a good mother, I- I just wanted to protect you."

Dr. Priyanka Maheswaran is the mother of Connie Maheswaran, who made her debut, alongside her husband, in the episode "Fusion Cuisine".

Appearance
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Personality
Most of what is known about her is learned in the episode "Fusion Cuisine", where she is shown to be a strict but loving parent. Her restrictive nature verges on overprotective and has caused Connie to miss out on ordinary pleasures most kids her age enjoy. For example, Connie is not allowed to eat food with high trans fat content, and as such has never eaten a doughnut. Connie stated that her mother does not understand how her favorite show, Under the Knife is satire, and does not allow the show to be watched in her home. She is concerned with keeping up good appearances, and reminds Connie not to rest her head on the table. She does not appear to be frightened easily by something unless it involves Connie, as shown in "Nightmare Hospital", where she panics when she sees Connie has Rose's sword but remains calm when seeing the Gem fusion experiments. She also shown to be lack of perception enough for not letting Connie uses Rose's sword to poof the mutant Gem, despite she and her daughter being attacked by them. Furthermore, she not even realize that Connie's eyes no longer needs glasses for even a year.

Connie is concerned that her mother would find the Crystal Gems weird and forbid her from seeing Steven. This indicates that she is (or Connie perceives her to be) a conservative individual. Despite the strange circumstances of the dinner, Dr. Maheswaran attempts to be cordial with Alexandrite, and even chastises her husband for his joke about the bread sticks. She values honesty and her intuition, and is deeply upset when she learns Connie lied to her. She finds common ground with Greg Universe and the Crystal Gems when she observes the way they responsibly admonish Steven for his actions, and allows Connie to continue seeing him. She is very concerned with safety as said by herself and Connie and would do anything at all costs to keep it.

"Fusion Cuisine"
While watching Under the Knife with Steven, Connie mentions that her mom said the movie does not represent a real emergency room setting. Just then Dr. Maheswaran calls her to check up on her, and asks to speak to Steven's mom. Connie nervously has Garnet talk to Dr. Maheswaran. Garnet tells Dr. Maheswaran that Steven and Connie are playing with swords, and then they are bleeding and dead. According to Guide to the Crystal Gems, Connie was not allowed Steven's house over for a while after that call. Connie later calls Steven to tell him that her parents want to meet his parents in person, or else she would not be allowed over again ever. Connie told her parents that Steven lived in a nuclear family.

At dinner, to meet with Steven's "parents", Dr. Maheswaran comments on how they had been waiting for twenty minutes before Greg and Alexandrite appear. Dr. Maheswaran asks how Greg and Alexandrite met, and later scolds Connie for putting her head on the table. Dr. Maheswaran also reveals that she is a doctor. When Alexandrite becomes unstable and unfuses, Dr. Maheswaran claims to have had bad feelings about Steven that she should have listened to. When Steven and Connie are later retrieved after running off, Dr. Maheswaran is livid with her. Upon hearing how the Gems reprimanded Steven for running away, Dr. Maheswaran realizes that they are not so bad at being parents, and allows Connie to continue hanging out with Steven.

"Winter Forecast"
Dr. Maheswaran calls Connie to inform her that a snowstorm is coming and that she needs to get a ride home or else her father will try to pick her up. After this, Dr. Maheswaran appears in two timelines.

In one timeline, she is livid when Connie and Steven arrive at her house at such a late hour. She tells Connie that she is going straight to bed after seeing her sneeze, and claims that she will never let her out again during flu season.

In the second/main timeline, Connie calls Dr. Maheswaran to tell her that she will be staying over Steven's house, which she disagrees with. When Steven, Connie, and Greg successfully make it to the Maheswaran residence, Dr. Maheswaran is glad that Connie is okay, and suggests that the Universes stay over for the night. She tells Greg that the Maheswarans are all about safety.

"Marble Madness"
Dr. Maheswaran hands Connie the phone when Steven calls, and swears that "Universe" is not his last name, foreshadowing the revelation that Steven's birth last name is "DeMayo" from "Gem Harvest".

"Nightmare Hospital"
Dr. Maheswaran comes back home after her job working at the hospital. She explains that there was a very odd case at the hospital, and then realizes that their coat rack is Rose's Sword. Dr. Maheswaran panics and immediately asks Connie where she got it, and asks how she possibly thought it would be okay to be near a sword. After receiving a call from the hospital, telling her to come back due to another patient arriving, Dr. Maheswaran tells Connie that she will have a talk with her father to calculate how grounded she is. At the hospital, Dr. Maheswaran fast walks through the hallways on the phone. She asks the person on the phone if they found the patients on the side of the road. Dr. Maheswaran looks at the patient and says that it does not look like a car accident. Using a stethoscope, Dr. Maheswaran is not able to locate a heartbeat on the victim. She then catches Connie trying to sneak the sword out, and becomes furious.

When she sees one of the Cluster Gems down the hallway, Connie begs to use the sword in order to poof it. Dr. Maheswaran tells her that she never goes back on a rule, and that "mother know best". Dr. Maheswaran pushes a hospital bed against the Cluster Gem, pushing it back. She tells Connie that she does not know how to wield a sword, even though she does. She even states "I know my daughter! I know what she's doing every second of the day. All her activities, all her internets, I know she's definitely not some sword fighting hooligan!" Dr. Maheswaran is taken back when Connie reveals that she has been dealing with magic for over a year, and that her eyesight is completely healed. After Connie poofs both of the Cluster Gems, Dr. Maheswaran asks if she believes that she and Doug are too controlling. She tells Connie that she just wanted to be a good mother and protect her. Dr. Maheswaran also tells Connie "We'll pull back on the rules, and I'll try to keep an open mind about this, and that, and... him. It scares me that you can't talk to me! I need to know what's happening in your life. I need to step in when you're in over your head. Would you just promise me you'll stop all this lying?" The two then hug it out.

"Gem Hunt"
Dr. Maheswaran is indirectly mentioned when Steven tells Pearl that Connie's parents wanted him to take lots of pictures of her first mission. At the end of the episode, Connie tells Pearl that her parents see all of her pictures.

"Storm in the Room"
Dr. Maheswaran is not there to pick up Connie from Steven's house at the end of the day, which is unusual for her since Connie mentions that her mother is always on time. Dr. Maheswaran eventually enters the house during the night. She holds her daughter and apologizes. She explains that the surgery she was performing took longer than usual and that she had to cover for one of Dr. Stromberg's patients again.

Connie
Dr. Maheswaran is very protective of her daughter, Connie, demonstrated when she abruptly acted disgusted when Steven hugged Connie unexpectedly. In "Nightmare Hospital", it is mentioned that she makes it her business to know all of her activities as well as her internet history. The episode also reveals that it is her work as a doctor that feeds into her overprotective nature of her daughter; seeing horrific injuries on a daily basis being what drives her to safeguard Connie at any cost - even her own freedom. However, she was shocked to find out that she did not know as much about her daughter as she thought she did, upon learning Connie had started lying about her activities. This seemingly wounded her deeply, though in the end the desire to earn her daughter's trust trumped over her overprotective nature. The two agreed to a less strict, and much more open relationship in the end. As long as Connie would tell her the whole truth, she agreed to support her fully.

Doug Maheswaran
He is the husband of Dr. Maheswaran. They share very similar personalities and perspectives.

Crystal Gems
She is initially suspicious of the Crystal Gems but has since grown to respect them as responsible guardians for Steven.

Steven Universe
Despite her initial dislike/distrust of Steven in "Fusion Cuisine", she seems to warm up to him enough that in "Winter Forecast", she allows him and Greg to stay over so they did not have to drive back during the snowstorm. In "Marble Madness", she also states that she doubts "Universe" is his real last name.

After the events of "Nightmare Hospital", she recognizes just how much Steven's friendship means to her daughter; she is willing to disobey and lie to her mother just to be with him. Wanting to have a better, more honest relationship with Connie, she gives Steven her approval and allows Connie to spend time with him - regardless of any "magical Gem stuff" that might get involved.

Greg Universe
Dr. Maheswaran starts out being skeptical towards Greg's abilities as a parent, but as of "Fusion Cuisine" she has started to respect him. In the episode "Winter Forecast" she and her husband even allow Steven and Greg to spend the night at their house to get out of the blizzard - much to Greg's delight.

Trivia

 * She and her family live outside of Beach City.
 * Ian Jones-Quartey revealed that her first name is "Priyanka".undefined
 * A common Hindu name, it has the meanings of beautiful, beloved, lovable act and symbol.
 * According to Ian Jones-Quartey, Dr. Maheswaran is of Indian-American descent.
 * In "Nightmare Hospital", a picture in her house shows her wearing what is likely a ghunghat.
 * In "Nightmare Hospital" she mentions that they use an abacus to measure the length of punishments for Connie.

Dr. Maheswaran Приянка Махесварен