Saturday, March 14, 2009

Experiencing different culture

Enjoying days with in laws these days. A nice happy family... what else does one want from life.

One would die laughing to see how we communicate. Hindi, English Bengali....all mixed. How we started is really funny. I would speak in Hindi, they answer in Bengali. They would speak in Bengali, I answer in Hindi. And the good thing is we would understand each other really well. Their knowledge of Hindi is as good as my knowledge of Bengali.
And even today.... we communicate the same way, hehe. I tried, but couldn't get rid of hesitation to speak the language, I did speak fairly good at one of the marraiges in the family recently though. And to my surprise my mom in law has overcome the hesiation to speak in Hind. Now she has started speaking to me in Hindi... in sweet broken sentences :). Love you mom.

Same way our food... a good mix of Himachali and Bengali food. Veg, Non veg, Khatta, meetha...a mix of all.
For us in Himachal its mandatory to have one khatta item in the menu and sweet is part and parcel of Bengali cuisine. Before marriage I was not quite fond of sweets, its only on festivals that I used to have some sweets. But now I have developed a sweet tooth. A meal seems incomplete without a sweet. Another big difference is the number of items served in a meal. Himachali meal is very simple and Bengali cuisine is known to have variety. A meal starts with some Bhaja, then comes Dal, then some vegetable then fish\chicken\mutton, then chutney, papad, sweets. Its like never ending. We have develped a style thats a mix of both... Khatta meetha...veg non veg...simple on weekdays...eleborate on weekends.

I love wearing saree, listenig to Rabindra sangeet, talking on a topic for hours over a cup of tea, traveling.... some of things very peculiar to this new culture I was introduced some time back. Not long ago, just 5 years back...hehe.

It was a big decision in my life to get married in a diferent culture. But I think it was a good decision. Experiencing different culture is really too exciting and interesting. Its fun!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Love

Love is...
Knowing a person more than yourself
Taking care of his every little need
Keeping no record of his wrongs

Love...
Does not envy, it does not boast
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.