The Adventures of the Little Indian Girl

I awoke this morning at 3:00am. What triggered it was N getting up to use the bathroom. After that I tried to get some more sleep. But I was tossing and turning and kept waking N up. So, I am here and now my stomach grumbles.

Which reminded me of the photo I recently discovered at my uncle/aunt's place in Mumbai. I don't ever remember seeing it even though I am the only one who really goes through all the albums at home regularly (although this changed once I moved away). I shared the photo with MIL to reassure her that I have never eaten all that much since youth.

If you ever ask my mom how I was as a kid. She will first smile and give a big sigh. She will then respond in a brief conclusion, "Smitha was a wonderful child. She just nevet ate." I would take hours to finish breakfast, which would be in time for lunch, etc. People would see my thin frame and chastice mom on not feeding me. Everyone would come home to take up the challenge to feed me (this was more when I was a toddler) and fail. It was a daily battle that mom wishes she didn't need to face. We laugh now, but mom didn't find it very amusing. It was a daily chore. People who wouldn't have seen me well into my teen years would ask my mom first, "Does Smitha eat well now?"! really.

The daily chore would ensue the following dialogue, in Telugu, with a pause of a minute between each instruction, "eat", "chew, ", "take out the food in your cheek and swallow." One day when I was maybe 4years old, mother saw me playing with a doll and diligently sharing the same set of instructions with the doll. Mom overheard and didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.

This is the usual daily scene... I think this was when I was 9-10 years old.

 

Of course, once I left home and returned from college, mom saw a big difference. I was eating as if I hadn't eaten in years! But that was I think mostly because I missed mom's cooking more than anything. I sometimes see that sad/happy look on mom's face when she sees me savouring food like there's no tomorrow.

And now it's MIL. She feels I don't eat much. But really, I do. Although when I look at the photo and see the amount of rice, it baffles me I ate so much! I think that would be my whole lunch now!

But my stomach is growling and it needs to be fed! Mom would be ever so ecstatic... This trip she cooked up a feast, with the hopes that I will still eat a lot! It's a subject that is ever so senstive. Oh the pains I put her through.