Dec 31 2005

I’ll never forget Dec 31 2005 - One of the scariest days of our life. This is what happened -

We gave our 1.5 year old an Indian sweet (Cashew sweet) and he really enjoyed it. But within 20 minutes he had an allergy breakout in a way we haven't seen before . His body was fully covered with rashes and his face began to swell out of proportions .In case you have seen the movie ‘Hitch’ – it’s the same thing that happens to Will Smith in that movie after eating oysters. Believe me - it is not funny as portrayed in the movie. It’s really scary when it happens to someone in your family. We were horrified, had to call 911 and thank god he became fine after a few hours. But those few hours as a parent was excruciating.

To those reading this – Don’t give any form of nuts to kids unless you are very sure he/she is fine with nuts.

There was a report in CNN recently which said that these incidents of allergy in kids have increased immensely in the last few years and they don’t have a reason for this. So be safe than sorry.

Cannot watch this!

Today Saddam as many know has been executed. I don’t like him just like many around the world for all the atrocities he did. I am not going to argue whether this war is good or bad. I guess enough has been said about it.

But the photos and videos of him minutes before he was hung was something that was not palatable to watch for me as a fellow human being. I don’t know why the media kept showing it as many times as they did.

‘A capital punishment is always tragic news, a reason for sadness; even if it deals with a person who was guilty of grave crimes’ said the Vatican. I totally agree.

I don’t think it’s possible for any human being with heart to watch somebody else die. His last minutes were very depressing to watch.

Stop Comparing!

One thing I have always seen with many parents is that they have this tendency of comparing their kid with some other kid. Personally I think this is bad. Situation is even worse for a kid when he is compared with some other kid within his own or extended family. I think most parents think that it is means of inspiring the kid. But I think they are actually hurting the kid’s feelings rather than influencing in a positive way. This doesn’t stop sometimes even after you grow up. There will always be a peer whom you are compared against and life becomes tough in those situations.

Thank god it hasn’t happened to me. But it used to happen to one of my friends and I know how frustrated he becomes every time that happens.

On the other hand I have seen some for whom such comparison really works. They work hard to reach the same heights as the other. But personally I think you get very stressful in those situations.

There is one more type of people who always compare themselves with some others. They don’t need any outside influence. Those people really get depressed when the person they are looking up to becomes successful. Hate, jealousy and anger just broods inside them.

For very few this kind of self comparison might have a positive influence too.

What do you think?

Research before you move in !

When I lived in an apartment 3 years back, there used to be this landlord who was excessively obsessed with his apartments. He was a nice guy except for his obsession. He maintains the apartment very well, takes care of all repairs in a timely manner etc…

Just like any other Indian we cook really spicy aromatic food and it used to bother him so much. So once in a while he would knock the door to tell us to keep the windows open when we cook (Even in winter!). That used to bug all the Indians living in the apartment because he does the same thing to all the Indians. Looking back if I had enough money I would have sued him. In fact I looked for any NRI organization which could help me. But I really did not find anything. So just like others we just ignored it and eventually moved out after we bought a house.

That I think was the only incidence of ‘racism/profiling’ that I have experienced in 7 years I have been here in the US. I hope it is the last.

So for people moving into apartments, I would suggest that you check the reviews from some reputed websites before moving in. I would also avoid apartments owned by a single landlord. Also talk to fellow Indians if you can.

Go Away!

My 2 year old son is going through a phase right now where he says ‘Go Away’ to anything or anybody he doesn’t want at that moment. This is true for both living and material objects. If he bumps his head on the wall he says ‘Go away Wall. It’s not right’. Obviously we are enjoying every minute of his innocence.

Today I was driving him to his daycare and I was on a freeway. This car in front of me was going really slow (I guess it was the policeman’s curse from yesterday!) and I controlled my road rage and was patiently driving behind it. After a lot of time it gave me way. And as soon as I passed it, My 2 year old turned back, looked at the car and said ‘Go away Red car. It’s not right’. Even though I enjoyed his cuteness, I was surprised and at the same time shocked. I guess we still have a lot of things to teach him.

I used to have the road rage initially when I came here and started driving. But now I have got over it and usually yield to crazy drivers. Anyway it came as a big surprise for me this morning.