7QT Monday: The So-Late-That-I'm-Early Edition

So it turns out Jen leaves her Seven Quick Takes Friday links open till Monday, which works perfectly for me, since I write on Mondays. Also, since I just wrote an article for something else, I don't have enough left to write a full-length REAL blog post, so seven quick takes it will be. (You know they won't really be quick, right?)

---1---

I turned 28 last week! As usual I had been thinking about it for so long before it really happened, that I almost thought I was turning 29. So here's a newsflash for those early 20-somethings who are wondering what it feels like to be so close to the big 3-0. It actually feels pretty much the same. Well, maybe there's more maturity mixed up in there, but not enough to prevent me from having a few teenage-y moments every now and again- obsessing/laughing hysterically late into the night, saying/doing awkward things, dancing in public, hiding from people and ignoring phone calls when the Introvert emerges, and other such un-adultlike behaviours.

---2---

So the day before my birthday, I celebrated with just my family. After dinner, we were doing our usual family birthday tradition of everyone honouring and praying for the birthday girl. My 4 yo niece was a little over-tired, and therefore going a little nuts. She bounced from person to person, giggled crazily over nothing and would interrupt the 'honorings' with "Deear Jesus, thank you for (giggle, giggle, giggle)". Then she looked at my mum and said "I juss can't stop laughing, Nana! I juss can't stop laughing!" Everyone was a little exasperated, but also amused. A moment later, she snapped the hairband she was playing with in half.

There was a tense moment. My mum said "NOW you'll stop laughing!" The rest of us started laughing. I promise we weren't trying to be mean, it was just irresistible. My niece's smile was wiped off her face, and there were almost tears. Suddenly I heard a tense voice break the silence. "I FORGIVE YOU, EVA!" said her 6 yo sister.

Turns out it was HER hairband that had been broken. We made sure her unprompted act of forgiveness was suitable rewarded ('The angels are rejoicing in heaven!' etc) I love that that was her first response, hard as it was.

---3---

I read/told my first Hindi story last week! Yeah, my Hindi has been getting so much better over the past few months, mostly because I've actually been using it. So I used a Hindi bible story to read to the kids. It was the story of the Prodigal son. It went pretty well... I used that wonderful maxim to get through the hard parts- 'Fake it till you make it!' ;-) Context clues helped too. I did realize the following Saturday that I maaay not have been clear enough about the point of the story, when I asked them what they learned from the story and they said, "Never leave your parents' house" and "You must obey your parents". They're probably used to that being the moral of every story.

---4---

Have I obsessed before on this blog about how mad the whole 'fairness' thing in India makes me?

How do I know this a real 'thing'?

• We have commercials, not just for 'Fair and Lovely', but also for 'Fair and Handsome' whitening creams endorsed by some of the big names in Bollywood.
• Almost all Indian movies and commercials feature actors and actresses who are probably fairer that 95% of India's population.
• I have met girls (and guys) who 'KNOW' they are unattractive because of their dark skin.
• The words 'fair' and 'attractive' are used interchangeably.
• Girls wear long sleeved coats, gloves and even socks when they are in the sun to prevent that uglifying process of getting tanned.
• To say 'You're looking much darker' to someone is the equivalent of saying 'You're looking much uglier'
• I've heard EDUCATED people who should know better affirm this worldview. Prejudices run deep.
• Whenever you look at people's wedding albums, the bride is usually layered in powder (I think?) and her complexion makes her almost unrecognizable. I suppose she just wants to look 'beautiful' for her big day.
• People have told me sympathetically "You're not THAT dark."

And my most recent observation that brought this all on-

I was looking at people's Bitstrips avatars on Facebook a couple of weeks ago (which is basically an app in which you create a cartoon version of yourself) and I realized that people's issues were showing through. In order to create your avatar, you have to go through a process of defining your face shape, nose type, hair style, and... skin colour. Yes, I know it's hard to define, I had to stare in a mirror while trying to figure out all the details. Mine came out pretty similar to me. But then I looked at everybody else's and I realized most of my India FB friends had made themselves significantly fairer than they really were. Deliberately? Or is that the way they subconsciously want to be seen?

Brown is GOOD, people! (Yeah, real quick take there.)

---5---

Okay, three actually quick takes- I really liked this blog post about what works in a blog.

Seven Things I Love About Your Blog

P.S. She's opinionated. Just like me.

---6---

Do you have a favourite word? I just found out that I've been pronouncing my favourite word wrong all these years.

So it's meLLIFluous. Not melliFLUous.

Sigh. It comes from reading a lot, and not hearing the same words in actual conversations.

Did you even know people had favourite words? And least favourite words? Well, I had a favourite word (that I couldn't pronounce) but had no idea that people actually THOUGHT about their least favourite words until my team played a getting to know each other game, and it turned out that not only do two of my team members HAVE least favourite words... they have the SAME least favourite word.

Which is 'moist'.

---7---

Lent. It's begun. It's been good so far, maybe because it began with Confession on just Day 3 of Lent (instead of scrambling to get to Confession before Good Friday). It is not an intense Lent for me, just a 'coming back to Him' in ways He has been already calling me. I also read Fr. Robert Barron's daily Lenten reflections, which are cool. Thoughtful, interesting, not too complex, and also with a clear morsel of spiritual food to chew on through the day. Sign up at lentreflections.com.

Okay, have a blessed week, peeps.