Oiled my hair after a decade. And what’s strange about it...I wasn’t even forced. I actually volunteered for it when Ma arrived last weekend. Funny how things you absolutely hated as a child, become acceptable....to the extent that you “miss them”, as a grown up. Here’s my list of top-10 things-I-hated-as-a-child-but-miss-as-a-grown-up:
- Patla macher jhol and bhaat (mild fish curry, Bengali style, with rice)
- Oiling my hair
- Having house-guests who took over my room (and sometimes my life)
- Loudspeakers playing “popular” Hindi/Bengali songs during pujo
- Having nosy neighbours who would drop in any time of the day and sometimes stay back for dinner
- Uchchey bhaja with kasundi (fried bitter gourd with a mustard sauce, popular in Bengal)
- Having to do any sort of art and craft (how I hated my SUPW classes!)
- Visiting relatives and spending whole evenings listening to them complain about some other relative or praising their own kid
- Rituals and traditions (not of the “fasting” variety...but of the “make-yummy-food-and-decorate-the-house-and-wear-traditional-clothes” variety)
- Being told what to do (so much easier than having to decide)
