Indian Ameri

Ninth among the 'nano' children, was my dad! With 3 paternal fathers and 5 Aunts, I'd suppose I should be the pick among the most pampered in The Chirra family. Fortunately and also not so fortunately, the age difference between my dad and the eldest of his siblings made me a grand pa by the age of 8. :D

About five days ago my parents ended up visiting my cousin-grandson's (Don't ask me? Coz I never understand my relatives and their relations) wedding in Hyderabad and had a chance to do some relationship concreteness. While dad being the youngest among the surving 4 siblings, and goes cushy-mushy and cuddly with his eldest of the sisters, mom still continues to be that "ideal" sister-in-law/aunt/grandma/great grandma/etc (how many names for a single person), making sure that she is a Chirra by nuptial. And quite often comes the usual talk of "How'z your eldest son doing?" But now, with a few past family trips in the States with the new generation of governing Chirras, there's an added statement of "Heard/Saw a lot of Jayanth! Jayanthi/Aunty/Grandma/etc, you should call me when he comes to India." etc related to Jayanth and his cuteness.

And finally, about me, well! You all guessed right! It's a curious case of Hari Chirra in my family. Most often it starts with the cliche question, "What's the youngest doing?" (Never ever they ask "How'z". Sheesh!), and a simple truth of my current work/aim generally throws the Chirras off-guard. I've somehow fall into the category of, "The exemplary kiddo"

The reason I had to self-elate myself (which I do most often to survive as a fitt'est' :D) now is to mention a really funny incident I had with my dad. Being the next in line (in terms of age) among the herd of cousin-sons, cousin-grandsons, and among the three cousin-siblings of the Chirras, the game of peacock dance starts against my parents. And somehow all the cuddly cuddly mushiness gives my dad the youthful flare of being sarcastic. This was from Tuesday's discussion with him. :D

1. "Hey Reddy! Blah blah blah... My daughters doing Masters in Comp Sci... Blah blah blah" (Ended up with an offering). Dad - "Oh No! Too bad! My son hates Computers in general!"
2. "My old friend! blah... You remember XYZ? His daughter ABC should be the right fit for your son". Dad - "My son's pant doesn't fit his waist. Let me wait till he puts on some weight" (You wish dad! :D)
3. "So CVB! Whens your sons marriage?" Dad - "After your daughter's marriage, I'd suppose" (He just threw the guy in the gutter)
4. 78 yr aunt - "Dear Bro! When am I going to see my nephew's marriage?" Dad - "Sis! Next Feb 29th for sure" (Nice one dad! that's 2012! :D )
5. The best snub! "Reddygaaru! (Shines some bling bling) We're gonna start looking for a groom for my bro's eldest daughter. Blah blah blah... Do you know how much my bro is offering as a dowry?" Dad - (Gawd! This guy is blinding me with his bling blings. How the hell am I gonna tell him to get the hell out of my sight?) "No idea" The other Yu(n)ckle - "Two crores!!!!!!! (Big pause and then of nowhere) Interested?" Dad - "Has your bro had a tax raid before?" (and then dad used the opportunity to blast at him with some sincere threats about tax raids, while on the inside he was smiling all along)

Wednesday during the reception: "Son! It's going crazy here. What's your say?" "Dad! You know it ain't gonna happen that easy! Have some fun. Who knows, you might get a second job of a marriage broker :P" (Mom pulls the cell from dad as he started laughing and) "Chachi! Dad saw a girl in the train and he liked her. He even asked me about her? But I din't. Anywayz! You remember ******? She is back in India after her MBA. She was showing interest in you a LOT. She told all the things you guys did in the family trip. She loved Jayanth too"
"=)) First of all, she's committed to %%%%%. You remember the Atlanta trip? I hat to patch things between them. :D Secondly - Who doesn't love your grandson? He's got your name. Right? :) "

"Oh! %%%%%! Nice selection by ******! (and then recollects the same name - grandma-granson statement and goes greave) Everybody missed you! I missed you a lot! I missed you sitting beside me, shouldering my tired head and making your aunts and paternal fathers and their families laugh with your 'naughty' stories."
Me - (Uh Oh! Don't cry now mom! Change the topic) "Met Aikiya? Isn't she cute?"
Mom - "Oh yeah! She is the most cute among all Chirras. She sat over my lap and told about how much she loved the milkshake you got for her that night. Sniff! Sniff!"
Me - "Now, you don't cry in the reception"
Mom - Sob! Sob... and then came the flood
Me - (Crap! The genes from mom!)

(2 minutes, all I heard was sniffles, cry cry and more cry) (Then... I heard my 2 aunt's voices, Little Aikiya's concerned voice followed by the queen of Chirras, her sis - Kshema, three more cousins involvement, a few more known relatives attempt to chill out mom and then finally Dad :O)

(Then Kshema took the cell from mom, and the game of passing went for another one hour and finally back to Dad)
Dad - "You missed the Drama! Hehehehehehe"
Me - "What were you doing standing next to her watching her cry till the end? :-x"
Dad - "She was beautiful! And I waited for the family's reaction to her crying"
Me - (Aaahaaaaaaaa! Need to learn a lot from the old man) "Beautiful when she cried! WhaaaKaaay!! Ensoiiii! Tell mom later that I miss her too....... Actually! Don't! I am not giving you the opportunity to see her beautiful tears again. :D "
Dad - "As you say! Bye"
Me - "Bye. Call you later when you reach home"

Hours ago I called my parents from my lone Denny's visit and all I heard was mom's non-stop narration of everything and everyone in the wedding, and the slurp of milkshake that went into my hungry tummy. Although I am happy about my decision to stay here and work on some PhD issues, I wonder how different this marriage would have been if both I and Jay were there. It's that one rare opportunity to be in the family that I rarely get a chance to be with.

And today, I had the #1 Irony of life, inking the iota of the biggest '?' of my lively phase. All I did in the lab tonight was "my first night doing Nothing"