Things I Hated as a Child but Miss as a Grown Up

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:

1. Patla macher jhol and bhaat (mild fish curry, Bengali style, with rice)
2. Oiling my hair
3. Having house-guests who took over my room (and sometimes my life)
4. Loudspeakers playing “popular” Hindi/Bengali songs during pujo
5. Having nosy neighbours who would drop in any time of the day and sometimes stay back for dinner
6. Uchchey bhaja with kasundi (fried bitter gourd with a mustard sauce, popular in Bengal)
7. Having to do any sort of art and craft (how I hated my SUPW classes!)
8. Visiting relatives and spending whole evenings listening to them complain about some other relative or praising their own kid
9. Rituals and traditions (not of the “fasting” variety...but of the “make-yummy-food-and-decorate-the-house-and-wear-traditional-clothes” variety)
10. Being told what to do (so much easier than having to decide)

Image below stands proof of #9. My first Laxmi Puja at home.