The Expiration Date

This episode is how my priorities changed from 2005 to 2018 as I raised my children with friends who had kids the same age. We lived near Beacon , New York and Fishkill and I’ve entwined my priorities with the changes I observed in Beacon Main Street.

This is a continuation of part 1 where Mala comes to the house she is invited to. The setting is in the Snowdon Valley. The episode starts and ends outside the house. Instead of learning to march Mala is going to find help where she can grow academically.

The author is nine years old, in fourth grade. The setting is in Ooty. Ooty is known for its eucalyptus oil. And this story revolves around a little girl whose parents extract oil from the leaves.

EXPIRATION DATE. This was way back in 2006 when we did not have excellent cameras in our cell phones. iPhone was not launched yet. We went every year to the studio to take a family picture. The photo shoots were expensive and I always looked out for the coupons. I loved the visits to the studio and they are one of my fun filled memories. It wasn’t easy to prepare my family for the photo shoot. But what aided my planning was that the coupons had a validity date for almost a year and I could leisurely convince and prepare my family for our picture day.

In this short memoir, the narrator, during one of her walks, remembers her forgotten hobby of collecting and pressing flowers. The article starts from when she was a fifteen year old girl to the present when she is an adult with grown children.

The family has traveled from USA and is visiting grandparents in Ooty, India .  The father remains in New York.  This little article shows the breakfast time in India when it’s bedtime for the father in USA. Enjoy the setting.  INDEX:  Idlis - fermented batter of lentils and rice made into steamed rice cakes. Served with sambar - a lentil vegetable curry or chutney-paste of coconut and other ingredients.  Dosa - similar to pancakes made of a similar batter as of idlis  Appam is a fluffier form of dosa served with stew of vegetables or tomatoes.  Upma is dish made of cracked rice or wheat and seasoned with onions, chillies, mustard seeds.  Poori is deep fried wheat flour bread served with any curry but commonly with potato masala.  Ghee - clarified butter.  Masala - similar to curry. Potatoes boiled, mashed and seasoned with onions, ginger, chillies etc.  Bournvita - chocolate milk powder

The story is set in India. It’s the story of a little girl who has lost her father and is unable to do anything about the hurtful customs the widowed mother has to go through. Though she is sad and misses her dad the story shows how she internally accepts her loss and chooses to be happy. Living in a joint family was a normal arrangement in India before the 1980s and still exists.

This story is set in a residential community in the Hudson Valley. A young mother taking her little girl to the park explains the meaning of few words and convinces the child she’s special. The child asks a lot of questions and the mother answers them patiently and handles the situation the child puts herself into with clarity. The tone of the story is caring