Halla Bol !

In Banff, Canada, in a Thai Restaurant which seemed to attract all of the few desi tourists, we chose to eat lunch. MOwgli, being mowgli, eats ( much like the rest of the animal kingdom) only when he is hungry and not ( like humans) when he is simply told to. He was not hungry and saw no point in sitting in the high chair waiting for food. The only other thing that could keep him in the chair, Zoo Train App on the Ipad, was MIA. A mistake we never repeated. So we took turns entertaining him in the patio/balcony, watching buses and cars go by. When he was brought in to eat a few morsels, he protested like any other 2 year old would - shouting and resisting. An elderly desi couple sitting and watching said to each other ( softly enough that we could hear) - "Sirf Desi bacche halla karte hain."

I was instantly reminded of my pre-mommy days, when I had made such declarations, frowning on the poor parenting skills of "desis", because it is true - mostly only desi kids make a ruckus. I had told myself that there was no way my kids would be among those. I would be indulgent and yet firm and my kids would be among the well behaved ones, who sat at the table, chatted, ate all the veggies and giggled and squealed but not a bloody tantrum that shames the parents.

So we sat and wondered why are desi kids like that ? Why do we have such a bad rep and most importantly where are the ruckus creating caucasian kids ?? YOu dont believe that species does not exist, do you ? Then I realised what was wrong with the picture. Ofcourse it was all our fault. Parents of other ruckus creating kids do not take their kids to restauarnts and places where they potentially are a nuisance. They dont travel with kids until their kids are older and can be whipped into silence and when they want to eat out they get a sitter to watch their kids and go out and enjoy their meal as opposed to desi parents who dont believe in doing that at all. Either they never go out or they drag their kids along ( guilty as charged ) !!

As for the kids, they are just being kids. What is a childhood if its not about mess, mistakes and a tantrum every now and then. I have learnt that Icecream and Ipad make everything better.