The other day I was picking up some pictures at a photo studio when something funny happened. There was a teenager behind the counter who was extremely bubbly and talked and talked and talked to the point of exhaustion (mine!). Just then my phone rang (Thank Goodness!). It was my hubby. As I was talking to him in Marathi (an Indian language, which is my mother tongue,) interspersed with some English words and phrases, I noticed that the girl was staring at me with a question mark on her face. As soon as I finished my conversation, she said “Was that English, you were speaking?” I said no. The she said “ I heard some words that sounded like English but the rest was all blah blah so I was wondering how anyone was understanding what you were saying”. “ My dear there are thousands of languages in this world. Just because you do not understand a language does not mean no-one else does.” I didn’t actually say the last part but I wanted to.
When I told my hubby about this incident he laughed and told me that when he was a kid (may be 3-4) they had neighbors that spoke different languages. Whenever he used to hear them talk he used to wonder how they understood each other. I can understand a small kid who has no concept of languages thinking this way. But a for a college age teenager to say that, is to display sheer ignorance! It’s like saying, “all oriental people look the same”. You won’t believe how many otherwise smart people have said that! Sure, they may have light radiant skin, small eyes, high cheekbones but that’s where the similarity ends. Every ethnicity has some commonality in their features; we Indians mostly have brown skin, black big eyes, black hair etc. To a non-Indian who’s not too familiar with Indians we all may look the same, but we know we aren’t. In fact an Indian friend once got told that she and her husband looked similar when in reality they have no common feature. She couldn’t believe it and yet she is one of the people who think that all oriental people look the same!
Have you had these kinds of experiences? If so, do share!
In the meantime I have to make movie plans with my Japanese friend A or was it M? I can’t tell the difference!
Friday, May 25, 2007
Tagged again!
I have been tagged by Sunita to write 8 things about me. Since I recently did a tag post, I'm linking to that post. As for tagging 8 other people, currently I only read 10-12 blogs (I know.. I need to expand my blogging circle)and most of them have been tagged recently. So for now I'm only tagging a couple of people Carmachu and Surya.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Is that how the cookie crumbles?
Kids say and do the darn est things. Sweetie pie's ever-expanding vocabulary now has phrases like 'no way' or 'go away' which she uses generously at home. The fact that she’s shy and usually does not talk much in
front of strangers makes her seem less rebellious and well behaved. But don’t let the quiet manner fool you. She knows what she wants and will not hesitate to ask for it.
There's this desi lady Mrs G who provides homemade rotis. I usually pick up some from her every so often. Most of the times I pick them up on my way home from work, but a couple of times I have
taken sweetie pie with me to pick up rotis . On these occasions Mrs. G has always given sweetie pie a couple of cookies, and to my satisfaction, sweetie pie has responded with 'thank you'. All was well
until one day a few weeks ago sweetie pie and I showed up at Mrs. Gs place for our rotis . Mrs. G was busy talking to me and forgot to offer a cookie to sweetie pie. My little cookie monster waited for 5
minutes and then interrupted our conversation by stretching her hand out towards Mrs. G, looking her in the eye and saying 'Cookie?’
This, from a toddler who has no interest in any kind of food(including cookies) what so ever when at home. I was embarrassed and immediately started scolding sweetie pie. She got her cookie and did not understand what the fuss was all about. I knew I needed to teach her not to ask people for stuff but I could not figure out how to do it. So I decided to try something. The next time I took her to Mrs. G’s place, I took a bunch of cookies in a ziploc bag and showed the bag to sweetie pie. I kept insisting that it is not nice to ask other people for anything and that she should not ask Mrs. G for anything and that if she did as I said, I
would give her the bag of cookies that I had with me. This seemed to have worked, as no cookie was demanded. In fact Mrs. G’s offer of cookie did not receive any response. The next time, I gave her the bag
of cookies but no instructions. To my surprise, no cookie was demanded. Then last week I took her to Mrs. G’s house without a bag of cookies or instructions and once again no cookie was demanded. I was very proud of my little angel. She seemed to have received the message. But what message…I’m not sure. May be it is “If I ask for cookie, mean mommy yells at me, so I can only ask for a cookie if I’m with Daddy” .
My tactics will probably backfire the way my friend’s mom’s did in the story that I’m about to tell you. My friend swears it is a true story.
My friend grew up in a joint family with a lot of kids. When they visited someone’s place, it was hard to keep an eye on everyone to make sure they behaved, so her mom would give them a bunch of strict
instructions. One of the instructions was that if any food was offered, they would not pounce on the food. They could may be take one cookie each and then say that they were full. The kids usually obeyed this and
were well behaved on most occasions. One late evening, they were visiting a friend’s place with her mom and were offered cookies, candies and some snacks. The kids took only one small item each and
thanked the hostess. Then suddenly there was a power outage and the whole house plunged into darkness. When the lights came back on in about 10 minutes, they unveiled a crime scene…all the food was gone
from the plates and there was evidence in the form of cookie bites and candy on the little monsters’ clothes and faces. Needless to say the kids receive a nice thrashing on their behinds on getting home!
I wonder if I’ll face a similar situation someday. Ah well, may be …that’s the way the cookie crumbles!
front of strangers makes her seem less rebellious and well behaved. But don’t let the quiet manner fool you. She knows what she wants and will not hesitate to ask for it.
There's this desi lady Mrs G who provides homemade rotis. I usually pick up some from her every so often. Most of the times I pick them up on my way home from work, but a couple of times I have
taken sweetie pie with me to pick up rotis . On these occasions Mrs. G has always given sweetie pie a couple of cookies, and to my satisfaction, sweetie pie has responded with 'thank you'. All was well
until one day a few weeks ago sweetie pie and I showed up at Mrs. Gs place for our rotis . Mrs. G was busy talking to me and forgot to offer a cookie to sweetie pie. My little cookie monster waited for 5
minutes and then interrupted our conversation by stretching her hand out towards Mrs. G, looking her in the eye and saying 'Cookie?’
This, from a toddler who has no interest in any kind of food(including cookies) what so ever when at home. I was embarrassed and immediately started scolding sweetie pie. She got her cookie and did not understand what the fuss was all about. I knew I needed to teach her not to ask people for stuff but I could not figure out how to do it. So I decided to try something. The next time I took her to Mrs. G’s place, I took a bunch of cookies in a ziploc bag and showed the bag to sweetie pie. I kept insisting that it is not nice to ask other people for anything and that she should not ask Mrs. G for anything and that if she did as I said, I
would give her the bag of cookies that I had with me. This seemed to have worked, as no cookie was demanded. In fact Mrs. G’s offer of cookie did not receive any response. The next time, I gave her the bag
of cookies but no instructions. To my surprise, no cookie was demanded. Then last week I took her to Mrs. G’s house without a bag of cookies or instructions and once again no cookie was demanded. I was very proud of my little angel. She seemed to have received the message. But what message…I’m not sure. May be it is “If I ask for cookie, mean mommy yells at me, so I can only ask for a cookie if I’m with Daddy” .
My tactics will probably backfire the way my friend’s mom’s did in the story that I’m about to tell you. My friend swears it is a true story.
My friend grew up in a joint family with a lot of kids. When they visited someone’s place, it was hard to keep an eye on everyone to make sure they behaved, so her mom would give them a bunch of strict
instructions. One of the instructions was that if any food was offered, they would not pounce on the food. They could may be take one cookie each and then say that they were full. The kids usually obeyed this and
were well behaved on most occasions. One late evening, they were visiting a friend’s place with her mom and were offered cookies, candies and some snacks. The kids took only one small item each and
thanked the hostess. Then suddenly there was a power outage and the whole house plunged into darkness. When the lights came back on in about 10 minutes, they unveiled a crime scene…all the food was gone
from the plates and there was evidence in the form of cookie bites and candy on the little monsters’ clothes and faces. Needless to say the kids receive a nice thrashing on their behinds on getting home!
I wonder if I’ll face a similar situation someday. Ah well, may be …that’s the way the cookie crumbles!
Friday, May 4, 2007
Tagged to write 10 things about me
I have been tagged by Dorky Dad to write 10 things about myself. I thought about following DD and writing some real and some fictional things. But finally I decided to be truthful. So here are 10 things about me that I swear are true. If you don't believe me, ask my psychiatrist.
1.My name is (not) Naina Ashley. I could tell you my real name but then I'll have to kill you.
2. Ok, Ok, I’m not on some secret mission but the reason I can’t tell you my real name is that I'm in the witness protection program. Even if I wasn't in the program, I would not be able to reveal my name because I'm a very shy and introvert person.
3.I love reading books of all kinds except the technical ones(Did I mention I work in technology?Well, that's just my cover!).
4. A few years ago, I led a police officer on a car chase. Now before you start judging me, let me explain: I was very new to this country, speeding unintentionally and did not realize that when you have a police car with lights on behind your car, it means that they want to pull you over. I had assumed that there would be a siren for that. The officer did sound the siren eventually, causing me to stop. I had never had another ticket ever since, until this week!
5.I love travelling. I usually like to travel with my family and friends. Once when I was younger I spent a day in a foreign country sight seeing all by myself only to have a stranger accost me with an indecent proposal.
6. I love dancing. I don't have too many interesting stories around that but you can check my first post for a couple of dance related stories.
7. I'm hate being the center of attraction. That is why I have not gone on and won any recognitions or become famous. (Don’t think that I din’t have the opportunity.)
8. I love nuts(not the human kind...well some people including my hubby and brother think I'm one). That's why it kills me to know that my baby is allergic to nuts.
9.I was a princess in my past life. I wanted to experience life as a commoner, so here I am slugging it out in this one.
10. In this life, I have a little princess at home who knew she was a princess right from the moment she was born. She keeps her subjects on their toes.
Since I’m new to the blog world and am just getting to know one blogger at a time, I’ll take a rain check on tagging 10 people. If you have a blog that you’d like me to read, do leave a note.
Time to go, I have been summoned by the princess! Have a good weekend!
1.My name is (not) Naina Ashley. I could tell you my real name but then I'll have to kill you.
2. Ok, Ok, I’m not on some secret mission but the reason I can’t tell you my real name is that I'm in the witness protection program. Even if I wasn't in the program, I would not be able to reveal my name because I'm a very shy and introvert person.
3.I love reading books of all kinds except the technical ones(Did I mention I work in technology?Well, that's just my cover!).
4. A few years ago, I led a police officer on a car chase. Now before you start judging me, let me explain: I was very new to this country, speeding unintentionally and did not realize that when you have a police car with lights on behind your car, it means that they want to pull you over. I had assumed that there would be a siren for that. The officer did sound the siren eventually, causing me to stop. I had never had another ticket ever since, until this week!
5.I love travelling. I usually like to travel with my family and friends. Once when I was younger I spent a day in a foreign country sight seeing all by myself only to have a stranger accost me with an indecent proposal.
6. I love dancing. I don't have too many interesting stories around that but you can check my first post for a couple of dance related stories.
7. I'm hate being the center of attraction. That is why I have not gone on and won any recognitions or become famous. (Don’t think that I din’t have the opportunity.)
8. I love nuts(not the human kind...well some people including my hubby and brother think I'm one). That's why it kills me to know that my baby is allergic to nuts.
9.I was a princess in my past life. I wanted to experience life as a commoner, so here I am slugging it out in this one.
10. In this life, I have a little princess at home who knew she was a princess right from the moment she was born. She keeps her subjects on their toes.
Since I’m new to the blog world and am just getting to know one blogger at a time, I’ll take a rain check on tagging 10 people. If you have a blog that you’d like me to read, do leave a note.
Time to go, I have been summoned by the princess! Have a good weekend!
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
An eventful weekend.. ..an Emergency and a Special Birthday
An eventful weekend.. ..an emergency and a Special Birthday
This past weekend started off on a scary note. Friday evening, we were out doing some household shopping when my 2 year old daughter(will be referred to as Sweetie pie from now on) and hubby both got hungry. There was a Mediterranean restaurant nearby so we decided to stop by and get a bite. Sweetie pie is allergic to nuts so whenever we go out to eat we make sure that we do not order anything with nuts/nut oil etc. The restaurant had a dinner buffet so after inquiring about the nut contents of the items we decided that sweetie pie could eat chicken kabobs, pita bread and hummus. Sweetie pie always enjoys her meals at restaurants (yes there is no running around, screaming or throwing food on the floor) so we can usually let her work on her food and enjoy a peaceful dinner. She finished her chicken happily so I encouraged her to try the pita bread and hummus. She tried a little and decided that she didn’t want to eat anymore. Over the next few minutes, our usually peaceful toddler started getting cranky. I picked her up and put her on my lap thinking that she must be sleepy. The next thing I know her eyes start swelling. It was very similar to reaction that she had a few months ago when we first discovered that she was allergic to nuts. So we immediately rushed to the nearest emergency room. After a brief argument with the receptionist who acted like she worked at the post office and not the emergency room, we were able to see a nurse , then another nurse and then finally a doctor. By this time sweetie pie’s eyes were so swollen that she could not open them. Thankfully she was very sleepy so she was just content to rest her head on mom’s shoulder and sleep while everyone around her was fussing about her allergies. After examining her, the doctor had this bright idea of giving her an oral dose of the medication. Try feeding medicine to a sleepy two-year-old. The first attempt resulted in a lot of crying. On top of it, the medicine came right back out (along with the food that had made its way into her stomach) and landed all over mom’s clothes. Mom couldn’t care less. Desperate parents pleaded to the doctor an nurse to inject the medication but the they wanted to try one more time! The second time it stayed in but the swelling did not subside even after an hour. The only thing keeping the parents sane was the monitor that showed that sweetie’s heart rate and oxygen levels were perfectly normal. After an hour, the doctor injected a stronger medication, which seemed to help. After observing sweetie for a couple more hours the doctor told us we could take her home but needed to watch her for signs of heavy breathing. We reached home around 2.00 am, extremely sleepy and tired but too afraid to sleep. We did manage to take turns and catch a couple of hours of sleep. Around 6.30 am a refreshed baby woke up, smiled at mommy and said “Hello mommy!”.
“Hi honey, go back to sleep”.
“Wake up mommy!”
And so another day began.. with a toddler having no recollection of the previous night’s incidents and parents too guilty to feel frustrated about an energetic toddler waking them up at 6.30 am! Now mom and dad have to be the sleuths and find what the culprit was!
On another note, we attended 1st birthday party for a special baby this Sunday. There are plenty of birthday parties to attend all the time but this one was special because the baby was extra special. A couple of years ago, a neighbor lost a 6 year old only son in a horrific accident. The parents were devastated. The mom took it especially hard and was extremely depressed. Last year they had another baby boy. The gave him the same name as the son they lost. When I went to visit the new baby, I realized the baby had failed to lift mom’s spirits. In the hour and half that I spent at their home, mom mentioned the new baby only once or twice. The entire conversation was about the son she lost. There were a lot of tears. It was extremely heart breaking. The baby turned one recently and the parents had hosted a party this Sunday. The baby was healthy and happy and seemed to have spread that happiness to the entire household. It was extremely satisfying to see both the parents happy and smiling.
This past weekend started off on a scary note. Friday evening, we were out doing some household shopping when my 2 year old daughter(will be referred to as Sweetie pie from now on) and hubby both got hungry. There was a Mediterranean restaurant nearby so we decided to stop by and get a bite. Sweetie pie is allergic to nuts so whenever we go out to eat we make sure that we do not order anything with nuts/nut oil etc. The restaurant had a dinner buffet so after inquiring about the nut contents of the items we decided that sweetie pie could eat chicken kabobs, pita bread and hummus. Sweetie pie always enjoys her meals at restaurants (yes there is no running around, screaming or throwing food on the floor) so we can usually let her work on her food and enjoy a peaceful dinner. She finished her chicken happily so I encouraged her to try the pita bread and hummus. She tried a little and decided that she didn’t want to eat anymore. Over the next few minutes, our usually peaceful toddler started getting cranky. I picked her up and put her on my lap thinking that she must be sleepy. The next thing I know her eyes start swelling. It was very similar to reaction that she had a few months ago when we first discovered that she was allergic to nuts. So we immediately rushed to the nearest emergency room. After a brief argument with the receptionist who acted like she worked at the post office and not the emergency room, we were able to see a nurse , then another nurse and then finally a doctor. By this time sweetie pie’s eyes were so swollen that she could not open them. Thankfully she was very sleepy so she was just content to rest her head on mom’s shoulder and sleep while everyone around her was fussing about her allergies. After examining her, the doctor had this bright idea of giving her an oral dose of the medication. Try feeding medicine to a sleepy two-year-old. The first attempt resulted in a lot of crying. On top of it, the medicine came right back out (along with the food that had made its way into her stomach) and landed all over mom’s clothes. Mom couldn’t care less. Desperate parents pleaded to the doctor an nurse to inject the medication but the they wanted to try one more time! The second time it stayed in but the swelling did not subside even after an hour. The only thing keeping the parents sane was the monitor that showed that sweetie’s heart rate and oxygen levels were perfectly normal. After an hour, the doctor injected a stronger medication, which seemed to help. After observing sweetie for a couple more hours the doctor told us we could take her home but needed to watch her for signs of heavy breathing. We reached home around 2.00 am, extremely sleepy and tired but too afraid to sleep. We did manage to take turns and catch a couple of hours of sleep. Around 6.30 am a refreshed baby woke up, smiled at mommy and said “Hello mommy!”.
“Hi honey, go back to sleep”.
“Wake up mommy!”
And so another day began.. with a toddler having no recollection of the previous night’s incidents and parents too guilty to feel frustrated about an energetic toddler waking them up at 6.30 am! Now mom and dad have to be the sleuths and find what the culprit was!
On another note, we attended 1st birthday party for a special baby this Sunday. There are plenty of birthday parties to attend all the time but this one was special because the baby was extra special. A couple of years ago, a neighbor lost a 6 year old only son in a horrific accident. The parents were devastated. The mom took it especially hard and was extremely depressed. Last year they had another baby boy. The gave him the same name as the son they lost. When I went to visit the new baby, I realized the baby had failed to lift mom’s spirits. In the hour and half that I spent at their home, mom mentioned the new baby only once or twice. The entire conversation was about the son she lost. There were a lot of tears. It was extremely heart breaking. The baby turned one recently and the parents had hosted a party this Sunday. The baby was healthy and happy and seemed to have spread that happiness to the entire household. It was extremely satisfying to see both the parents happy and smiling.
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