Out of the mouths of babes ...

Saturday was to be the freshers'. Like Rn said, it was probably the first time that we'd actually decided about dressing up for the night. Last Freshers' in college.

Such events do strange things to the normally bland Girls' hostel. All decked up, people keep passing up and down the corridor where your door is open and you're ironing your clothes. (Yes, this is me, always save ironing till the last minute. At home, the current inevitably takes leave at such times. Thankfully that doesn't happen here). Various perfumes waft your way and people sashay in front of the glass window of the newspaper room to see how they're looking (lack of full length mirrors in the hostel).

I was almost ready, when someone knocked on the door and shouted 'It's cancelled because of the rain.' My first reaction was 'Shit!' and then I grinned. Later went to Pitti's room where Rn and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. She pointed towards 'p and shook her head. 'P was really mad, considering she'd taken a lot of pain to dress up. Then I realized that there was a dawat at home, I could go home and make Mom happy (the extent God goes to to make moms happy!). So I took a bus home with all my jingbang clothes on :D.

Mom and sis nearly screamed when they saw me. I was also eager to go home because I'd get to spend time with my Yumrica-returned five year old cousin. The last time they'd come here, three years ago, the only words she spoke were 'Nahp' ( with an American accent) for yes and a shrugging of the shoulders accompanied by a 'Uh-ah' for no.

This time, her American accent coupled with her cute voice makes everything she says funny and adorable. Her takiya kalaam, my sister said is 'I don't care' after which she automatically inserts 'I care!'. She was having a great time at the dawat ( 'This is a great parthee!') what with getting to watch Ice Age and eating icecream off the qubani ka meetha.
She ate only naan throughout and remarked happily, 'I lerve French toaster sticks!' (I have no idea why she calls them that).

Later, she was stretched across my sister and I, with her head in my lap and remarked ' I wanna kiss your lips'. Being thoroughly Indian ;), Blister and I were a little taken aback and laughed. I said 'What?' Her elder sister gave a warning 'Hmmm!'

She continued, 'I want to kiss Eid on his lips' (Eid being a classmate at school, her sister explained, they had apparently been teasing each other one day which probably brought this up.) 'When I grow up, I'll marry Eid' and then turning to sis she said 'Who do you wanna marry when you grow up?' By now we were in hysterics which brought her (disciplinarian) mom to the room. We told her what she'd said and her mom first gave a smile and then made an angry face. Seeing her mom, she said 'Mummy, when I grow up I wanna marry Eid. Sachchi ammee'. We had to cover our mouths with our hands.
'Come here' her mom tersely said and took her away for a minute.
When she came back, we were still laughing. Little kid, let's call her H, got really mad.

She'd been going to an Islamic school which is probably responsible for her next outburst,
'Its haraam to laugh somebody!'
Now, we couldn't stop. She got quite mad and started closing the doors to the room with an angry 'I don't care!' We still couldn't stop laughing at the 'Sacchi ammee' part :D

The next day, she and I were having lunch, her lunch being 'French toaster sticks'. I pointed at Blister and asked H, 'Who do you like more?' (She'd said in the morning, quite earnestly 'You people are so nice' :D ) She pointed at sis which elicited 'Aww, thank you!' from her and then she pointed at me and kept oscillating her finger between the both of us.

'Diplomat!' muttered sis.
I asked her, 'H, are you a diplomat?'
H strongly follows the policy of never-say-I-don't-know.
She looked up at the ceiling and let out a long 'Noooo' and then looked at me and said seriously,
'I'm a Muslim!'