Day 3

Day 3 11:23 AM July 11th
I have done something very stupid. I spilled my coffee on the floor. I had to call Lalita to clean it up. Lalita is Sonu Mami’s housemaid who I’ve grown quite fond of. She is very quiet, but always very kind and smiling. I took some pictures of her yesterday that she wouldn’t smile in. She never showed her teeth. She is very, very cute, and very nice to me, even though she had to clean up my spill. Mummy said to weary of servants who are sometimes very poor and sometimes will take your money if you leave it lying around if you are a houseguest. But I know Lalita would never take my money because she is just too good on the inside.
Sonu Mami hates getting her picture taken. She makes all sorts of excuses when I try, “I’ve gotten old and fat now, you can’t take my picture, I’ll just get SO depressed!” and all other such nonsensical things. She flails her arms and covers her face with the dog whenever I try to take a picture and she says she’ll steal my camera and break it into a million pieces when I’m sleeping. Chi-chi. She’ll never get the chance. But she is so melodramatic sometimes, it’s very cute.
Yesterday we went to a movie called Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic. Unlike in America, you have to buy your tickets in advance somewhat, in order to get place in the movie theater. This showing was not that full, but it was a kids movie. Also unlike in America, the movie theatre snacks are NOT terribly expensive, because in India people have value for their money, and people have value for your business, so they give you value.
The movie was about this boy who grew up and was separated from his best friend, and then his mom died and then he was kind of a sad little kid, and a loner, who won lots of awards because he was so introverted and intelligent. Then one day, he answers his cell phone while driving and he hits another car and flips it over. (Gross, my coffee has skin.) According to the court, he killed two people and they had kids, and he now has to take care of the kids as his punishment. Remember that this is a movie. I don’t think Indian courts really work like that. So then he takes the kids, there are four of them plus a dog, and they’re all incredibly adorable. There are a brother and a sister, and another brother and sister that the family adopted. So they plot to have revenge on the guy who got into an accident with their parents who is now their guardian, so they pull all these tricks to make him crazy, because you know, he’s a very Type A kind of guy with a bimbo-like girlfriend, who is actually sort of a bimbo in real life based on this article I read about her in the Mumbai Mirror. So basically the guy becomes very upset with the kids, and the kids upset with him and the fact that their parents are gone. Then God sees them crying and calls upon this angel, Gita, you know, like the Bhagavad-Gita, to pretend to be their Nanny and make them learn to love each other. It was actually a really funny movie and like 3 hours long, because Indian movies are like that after you factor in the last minute plot twists and all the random songs.
Yesterday we also went to the bazaar which is fun because all of the clothes are cute and cheap. However they have these men who don’t know you selling you the clothes, pointing at ugly things and hoping that you like them, and looking at you and telling you what will fit you, which is a little disturbing sometimes, because you know that they know what they’re talking about. Some things didn’t come in my size because Indian girls don’t traditionally have really broad shoulders or big busts, so I found myself feeling kind of fat yesterday. (Right: Clothes that don't fit me)
There was drama at the bank too. Sonu Mami and I went to the ATM so she could activate Ishita’s account and so I could withdraw money, and the security guard opened up the door and told us to hurry up and that customers were waiting. Sonu Mami said she was sorry and that she had to open a new account and that I also had to get cash out. Then the guy who was waiting who rode up on a motorcycle yelled at her and said, “Why don’t you just wait for me to go and then open your account? I’ve been waiting for 10 minutes!” Sonu Mami apologized and then went and talked to the manager about the security guard who let the guy speak to us like that. She told the manager not to punish the security guard, but to make sure that he knew that you don’t treat a customer like that, especially if the customer just opened a new account with them. The manager was very understanding and said that regardless of time spent in the ATM, we had the right to use it for as long as we felt necessary. The motorcycle guy was really impolite too. He should not have gotten so upset, especially since there were definitely other ATMs available. I felt kind of bad anyway, because the security guard must’ve been dealing with some crap from the motorcycle guy for a while before he decided to say something to Sonu Mami. Sometimes people get put under pressure and they act like idiots.
When we got home, Arvind Mamu and me ate dinner while Sonu Mami made phone calls. After dinner, we ordered gelato from this place that delivers. It was kit Kat flavored and damn good. I really liked it. Arvind Mamu is so funny and jovial, and I wish he didn’t work such long hours everyday.
Nothing so far has happened today, except I have read some newspapers and spilled coffee. Sonu Mami and I are going to make pasta and flan, but the internet is giving out, and I’m worried that I won’t get to find recipes.
Day 3 again
I wouldn’t have posted again, but I got mehendi done and I wanted to show you a picture. I get so nervous when I’m around fluent Hindi speakers. They ask me simple questions and I sometimes can’t understand the terminology they’re using… well, whatever. My hands are pretty.