A Tour of my Whinery

Picture this. Saturday morning 6:45 am. No birthday parties to rush to. No brunch plans to dress up to. No classes to drive the kid to. The one morning where we get to not worry about a schedule.  The one morning we really want to sleep in. About 45min before actually turning this impossible dream of sleeping late on a weekend into reality, we hear a very familiar tone- one that turned any budding dreams instantaneously into nightmares: our child's whiny tone. It is the single most annoying sound for us. For her, however, it is the single most powerful weapon- one that gets our attention. Every. Single. Time. As I reluctantly got out of my bed to get the morning started- much earlier than I would have liked- I went into some heavy introspection mode.

If I ever were to list the numerous embarrassing moments of my life, one of the first objects that come to my mind is a red unisex sling bag with skinny black stripes. Those sling bags were quite ubiquitous in India in the 80s. I saw my parents use those bags to carry everything from groceries to bank documents. Every household that I know of owned at least a couple of those bags. When I was about 6yrs old, my uncle paid us a visit from out of town. Just like any other out of town visitors, one of the first things my uncle did on this visit to Hyderabad was to go to Koti Sultan Bazaar and buy a bunch of things, sling bag included.  When I saw his shiny new red and black beauty shortened with a cute little knot on the top and hung on the hook that evening, I instantly fell in love with it. I imagined it being my school bag. I imagined all the eyes that would be on that bag as I hopped on to the city bus with that bag. I imagined my pride as my friends shower my shiny red bag with compliments. That red bag would make the quality of my life oh so much better! But there was a minor problem: I didn't own this bag. Yet. I didn't want to waste any time. I went to my mom and whined and moaned. Mom tried logic, reason, bribes of various kinds and finally some serious threats- all in vain. Nothing worked against the power a whiny 6yr old! The next morning, I was carrying my books in the shiny red bag with black stripes that the world was eyeing with envy. Among other family news that day, my uncle paid a second visit to Koti Sultan Bazaar in as many days. 

I think I still carry some of my unreasonable 6yr old tendencies. When we went to India for my sabbatical last October, I had this incredible urge to move back to India for good. I had my resume prepared (in my mind) to be sent out to various industries in India. When we went to Muscat for a family vacation shortly after, Muscat felt like the perfect home for me. I started inquiring with my brother-in-law if PDO (Petroleum Development Oman) had any openings for a chemical engineer. These past couple of days, we have been visiting our friends in California. As Bhaskar and I raced each other on our hike to a 2100ft peak in 80F sun, I imagined moving here. My thoughts raced around the year round sun, great friends, great food, great schools and a world of opportunities!

Only time will tell if my inner 6yr old wins (whines) our way to this sunny land or not. One thing's for sure, I don't have to look too far next time I get to sample my kid's whinery!