Timeless parental advice

G and I made a trip to the UW today with the little one to relive our decade-old journey. We were filled with nostalgia as we walked by the campus and the University Ave. Look, this is where we met! Look, this is where we worked! The Harborview Medical Center shuttle. Chipotle. The Thai lunch place. Starbucks. Agua Verde. Chili's. And the second hand clothes store (that closed down eventually) where I used to buy clothes during the first few years, because I was a poor student and had no money. We were glowing in nostalgia, reliving every moment of those two years we spent there.

The little one looked clueless, so I was making up a corny line or two to tell her, something like, "Look, this is how I met your mother." Before I could say anything, G gave the most profound speech to the little one-

"Look kanna (little one), auntie and amma (mother) studied here. This is where you will study, okay? Every day, I will nicely pack you thair saadham (curd rice) and maawadu (mango pickle). Appa (father) will drop you to the bus stop every day, and will hug you tightly and do total PDA (public display of affection) so that you don't do any boyfriend stuff in undergrad, but only focus on studies. You can study anything kanna, medicine, engineering, or architecture. Puriyar dha? (Do you understand?)"

"Puriyar dhu (I understand)", bleated the very clueless child meekly.

And I thought to myself, Wow! Curd rice and daily bus ride and a protective daddy and living with your folks and studying engineering. Long live Indian parenting! Ironically, I flew half the way round the world to come to the UW to escape the same Indian parenting.

sunshine