My American Nephew

Today is my nephew's birthday, first birthday. I cant believe he is an year old. I am sure he doesnt understand a bit of what is happening, but we are all excited about it.

What makes this all the more special is, it is a one month long celebration, with 4 birthday celebrations. Can you imagine, this teeny weeny baby is getting a month-long celebration? It all started with his birthday according to his paternal grandparents, then it will be followed by birthday according to Julius Caesar, then according to his parents (over the weekend in keeping with American tradition), then according to his maternal grandparents. Is he lucky or what? He makes me wish I was born now and had so many people helping me celebrate so many birthdays.

That reminds me of a lady who was born on the 29th of February. She celebrates according to the Hindu calendar, on 28th Feb and on 1st March. Her logic, since 29th comes in between 28th and 1st, she doesnt want to miss the moment when it flashes across. Of course, in a leap year, her celebrations are over 4 days, dont want to break the tradition, you see.

And then there is my husband, who thinks that his date-of-birth is numerologically inauspicious for him, hence doesnt like celebrating his birthday at all. I try telling him that it is a lucky date for me, so I should get a chance to celebrate it but to no avail.

Coming back to my nephew, guess how many gifts he will be getting? In keeping with Indian tradition, irrespective of the gender of the child, near and dear ones present them with gold. So already he is rich, and now he will get richer. There is a theory about the birthday parties thrown, it is to collect gifts. Of course, I dont endorse that opinion, a gift once in a while wont do any harm, right? So what if sometimes you have to be explicit about it?

Anyway, Many Many Happy Returns to my nephew, have fun as you have every other day of your life.

Traffic in Hyderabad

The other day I was visiting my cousin and her son was there. I was meeting him after a long time and we had lot to catch up.
Last time I met he was busy with his studies. He was in his inter first year and joined one of the coaching centres that prepare you for engineering exams. I had just a glimpse of him as he rushed in from his classes and gobbled some food and rushed into his room to study. All that effort paid off and he got seat in an engineering college and now he is in his second year. He looked very relaxed. He started regaling me with the stories of his college and his friends. I really enjoyed the day and my cousin was also very much relieved and relaxed.
On the way back I kept thinking of the change that I noticed at my cousin's home. Two years of seriousness and anxiety and now so much ease and fun. It was amazing. But that popped a question in my mind. What happened to all the competitive struggle now? At the tender age of 15-17, the kids are being made to study so hard, watch every mark they gain or lose, compare with their friends, study study study. So what happens to all that? It has to become a part of your life, how can you come from such a hectic lifestyle and be normal? One gets up daily at 5am for a week or ten days out of compulsion, then you automatically wake at that time, irrespective of the need. It is human nature, we are slaves to our habits. So what happened to all those long study hours and all that thinking of one thing for two years, what replaces it?
My thoughts we interrupted by the loud cursing of the auto driver. Some bike guy cut in front of our auto. That brought me out of my reverie. And I started paying more attention to what was going on around me. An enlightenment dawned upon me. All the competition that was drilled into the students didnt go waste, they were displaying their talent right here on the roads of Hyderabad. Look at the driving here. It is like a race going on. All in a hurry to overtake the other, all in a hurry to reach their destination first. Everyone is in a look-out for a short cut, a gap in the traffic to squeeze in, a bit of pavement to climb on, a small gap in divider to take the turn and talking over cell phones. All the while keeping an eye open for the traffic cop, poor guy he blows whistle and rushes to catch the offender only to see him slip by gracefully.
If beating the traffic is introduced as a sport in Olympics, we from Hyderabad will not only take the gold medal but all the first 10 spots will be ours.