Twelve years later

Traditionally south Indian brahmins do three things when the kid turns one.

1. Tonsure kids head

2. Pierce ears

3. A ceremony to pray for the kids long life that coincides with both.

When Jr. turned one, we had a cermony at home to pray for her long life. It was a quiet ceremony as it was done in the US with a priest and close relatives only.. on a weekday morning. Well, that last part explains everything else. 

We were told by the local barber shop that "tonsuring" was not legal in the US for one year olds, so we did the tonsuring two months early in India. The ceremony happened on her birthday per the Tamil calendar and that left the ear piercing. It was again a muted affair at the local Claire's in Vallco mall at almost mall closing time. It wasn't all that muted because Jr. let out a scream that could have registered a 2.2 on the Richter scale. A few minutes later, she was her usual self.. 

It was not easy digging up those old pictures. They were in a Maxtor drive that could be opened with an "old PC".. Spent an hour just to get the pics with some bigtime help from Jr.

Today, 12 1/2 years later, we went to another Claire's at another mall to get her a second set of earrings. Given mommy has three in each ear, Jr. has been clamoring for another set since she was ten. We told her she can get it when she turns thirteen. That was many months ago, but we kept pushing it back for no big reason.

Unlike the first one, this was a two minute deal ! The collage says it all...

Apparently that bear is called the Claire-bear.. we don't remember having access to that thing 12 years ago!

Jr. is happy camper for now.

The third set of earrings will have to wait...

Matching Jewelry

Bombay had purchased some Paavaadais for the girls in India recently.

Another installment was released today!

The girls were also very excited to receive matching fake jewelry that goes with the silk frocks.

They made daddy happy by posing as usual for photos.

A detailed analysis of the fake Jewels showed that there are no real stones for most of the necklaces. The thing is actually a faceted hole in a stamped plastic with a coating on the inside. The reflections from the hole create an optical illusion that there are raised stones set on the plastic. Whoever came up with the concept is pure genius! It shines better than real stones would.

Daddy shed some Aaananda kanneer (happy tears) on seeing how far materials science has improved over the years!

Hopefully such improvements will save lots of $ for me when the kids grow up.

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Women: Jewelry :: Men : Memory

What do you buy as a 30th birthday present for your wife?

Jewelry did you did not buy for her in almost 8 years of marriage..

What does the wife buy for your 30th birthday?

A 128 MB Lexmark CF card as an added bonus to your first digital camera.. (please remember, 128 MB was the best of the line in those days.. it was a LOT of memory.. you could take 400+ pictures on that card)

What do you plan to buy for your wife's 40th birthday?

Possibly more Jewelry

What do you want for your 40th?

Possibly more Memory

Yep, that would just be a fair exchange..

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