Culture Club

Animesh and I had a big church wedding and an even bigger Indian wedding. Following those two big parties I had the best intentions of infusing Indian culture into our family's life wherever I could, whether it was by learning to cook the food or mastering Hindi.

Here we are...10 years and 3 kids later...and I am no closer to being able to whip up Chicken Tika Masala than I am to speaking Hindi. Now, I sure can put away the food (Mom Agarwal, yours is the BEST!), and I can sputter out a few words in Hindi, but using "nunga" (naked), "rani" (princess), "poochie" (kiss), and "bunder" (monkey) doesn't earn me an abundance of "oooohs and aaaaahs" in Hindi conversations. I bet you are wondering how I came to learn the word for naked....I'll never tell! Just kidding--it's nothing too provocative! We call our kids "nunga bunders" (naked monkeys) when they are streaking down the hallway for bath time. : )

I am eternally grateful for the gentle reminders from my mother-in-law as to when certain Indian holidays are about to occur...today happens to be Rakhi, or, in simple English, "Brother/Sister Day." I don't know of such a celebration in the Western world, but I sure am delighted that the kids have an opportunity to participate in an Indian holiday where they can celebrate each other as siblings.

It goes like this: the sister ties a bracelet on each brother's wrist. Each brother gives his sister a gift. Cool. Priya is set for life with 2 brothers. And, when they pick out High School Musical gifts, it's even more awesome of a holiday.

Priya did a good job tying the bracelets on 2 wiggly worms.

The boys model the rakhi bracelets Priya tied on their delicate wrists ever so carefully.

Priya opens her gifts from her adoring brothers. She is such a tremendously loving, protective big sister to those boys. They are so lucky to have her watching out for them.