Ask mom what the best part of moving is, and she’ll tell you that it has nothing to do with the feeling of returning to the land of her birth.
Nor is it the fact that she can drop her faux accent and say “cawn’t” instead of “can’t” and “hawf” as opposed to “half.”
It’s not even the abundance of mango and jackfruit in the summertime or being able to afford eyebrow threading at the closest beauty parlor every two weeks.
The best part, according to mom, is her hiatus from the kitchen thanks to the lunch and dinner invitations extended by generous friends until the humans leave.
For the first time ever, mom is refusing invitations. “Sorry, that weekend is completely booked,” she says, thumbing through her calendar. “We might be able to squeeze you in for tea on Wednesday if there’s a cancellation.”
Never have the humans been so much in demand as now, when they’re about to leave town and country.
This past weekend, my humans were graciously hosted by Zoey’s humans. Like the D.E.A.R. program at Anu's elementary school, this group of friends belongs to the D.E.A.H. (Drop Everything and Help) category. Many an evening has mom passed benefitting from the largesse of their hospitality.
Unlike her last visit to my home, Zoey has matured from a piddling puppy into a fine young lady with good manners. (Forgetting her own manners, mom spent most of the evening on the floor with Zoey, making occasional polite conversation with the hosts and guests.)
As befits her pedigree, Zoey now lives in a mansion by a lake, easily the most gorgeous house mom has seen in recent memory. Zoey’s parents kindly led the humans on a tour of their new home, by the end of which mom needed a map to guide her from the north to the east wing.
In addition to being gracious hosts, Zoey’s humans are also the kind of people who take cleanliness rather seriously. “Drop in anytime,” they say, knowing full well that their house is always camera-ready, unlike my humans who panic when the doorbell rings and pretend they’re not home.
“Must be nice to live in a house like that,” said Anu wistfully as the dinner party ended and the humans drove away. Mom followed his gaze to the large plate glass windows that overlooked the swimming pool and the lake, where the humans had stood savoring the sound of gentle waves lapping against the shore.
“Actually, it’s better to be a guest,” mom was tempted to say to her son. “That way you can D.E.A.L. (Drop Everything and Leave) once dinner is done."
What do you say?
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Guess Who's Going to Dinner?
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9 comments:
hmmm...There are many stages to the moving process... The initial Euphoria of the move to "Am I doing the right thing" to "Do they have houses like this in India?" to "I hear getting a gas connection is very tough in India"..
It all works out in the end :-)
At least you dont have to contend with "What? Only Doordarshan on TV??"
vijay, I was disappointed to see that they have the same Disney offerings there also. I had to shout at the kids to turn that damn TV off and pick up a book instead. Remember those days when all they had on TV was Krishi Darshan?
I remember when we were kids and the cousins from the States would visit. It would take us 3-4 days to find common ground for a conversation.
Recently a friend visited.. took our respective sons exactly 5 minutes.. thanks to Nintendo and Pokemon...
vijay:
is it poke-e-maan or poke-e-mawn in india? what about in japan?
btw, i am a firm believer that upbringing plays a big role too. who knows, the current version of "usa cousins" might break out in an rtp the minute they set foot in india (it might not help break the ice if their cousins respond with their best hannah montana impersonation).
all said and one though, you are right. while east is east and ... the gulf has now shrunk to a moat ;-).
- s.b.
Am so glad you delurked...just see what I have been missing!!! Love your blog and your, err...dog.
The pleasure was entirely ours. Will miss having you guys around here. And Terri's mom, you are being way too modest about your skills at keeping a beautiful home. I can personally vouch for that:)
terri, yer mum is so sharp, she's scary! DEAL is the way to go, me lad, er, mutt!
desigirl, finally somebody agrees! I was starting to think I'm the only shameless soul around.
sands, bring Z to India and leave her with us while you tour the country.
kiran, thank you.
You will have three more months of no cooking once you arrive here. The thalai-vaazai-vadai-paayasam invitations will abound from parents to second cousin's sambandis. Not to mention the gazillion weddings that will happen from now until September.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
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