Out of the mouths of babes...

My favorite food du jour is gajar halva, an Indian carrot dessert. It can be made to be a very rich pudding or a subtle and sweet, warm carrot salad. The Indian restaurant next door to the hotel makes it on the light side and I love it so much. This afternoon I set out once again to place a pick-up order for gajar halva and found a child's birthday party in progress.

The ballroom in the restaurant was decorated with red and white balloons and tables were covered with pretty red and white tablecloths. The children were running about laughing, shouting and chasing each other. It looked like a fun and formal occasion.

Once I placed my order I sat in the lobby of the restaurant where, across from me, three, well dressed and well behaved little boys were sitting on a couch engaged in a serious conversation. I later found out their ages were six, seven and ten. When I heard one of them mention diamonds I thought perhaps they were speaking of a video game.

I then I heard the six year old explain."Silver is worth more than cheap metals, but gold is worth more than silver and platinum looks silver but is worth more than gold, you see?"

The seven year old said, "But what I am saying is that a diamond, a big diamond, is worth more than any of those."

The ten year old chimed in with,"No, no, you did not say that, you did not, what you said was a big, big diamond is just like gold and it is not like gold, it beats gold."

To which the six year old replied,"There are times when even a big, big, giant diamond is not worth more than platinum, it depends."

Then they all started to speak at once. I sat there flummoxed and deeply intrigued. I couldn't stand it any longer and had to interrupt,"Excuse me, how old are you three boys?"

After I learned their ages I was impressed and figured that they had family in the jewelry business. Before I could ask anything else, a group of little girls suddenly came in, chasing balloons, laughing and screaming. Some were wearing opulent saris and others dressed in puffy party dresses and sporting tiny, gold and silver heels. One of them stood in front of me and mimicked my way of sitting. I have often had my gestures or way of speaking mocked by children before, starting when I was a kid myself.  The way I had my arms crossed with my finger against my chin seemed to irritate her so she stood in front of me and crossed her arms in the same fashion then squealed, "Eeeeee, ooooooooo", turning her mouth down while shaking her hips and shoulders.  I laughed and they ran off.

The ten year old across from me then winked and smiled. I did a double take. Then the seven year old whispered something into his ear and ran off. The ten year old whispered something into the ear of the six year old who then looked at me with a cold, hard stare for all of five seconds before sternly remarking,"No, you should find a rich girlfriend."

I did not think I was looking impoverished today. I was dressed rather sharply, or so I thought. It was a very chic ensemble with new, black leather boots, black jeans and a new, black turtleneck. My hair was neatly done in my signature up-do. I was even wearing plum lipstick and liquid eyeliner (I started wearing it again). I was neat and clean. What about my vintage, Navajo ring with it's outstanding, large turquoise cabochon that usually brings in so many compliments? Not a cheap relic by any means, despite being only silver. Was it the baby bump? I giggled but they remained serious.

A few minutes later the ten year old looked at me and shyly smiled and then turned to his wiser friend and said, "She is poor but pretty, right?"

Again, what was it about me that looked so "poor" to these young fellows. So I pulled out my compact to see if I had smut on my face and to check my hair. I was cracking a bit under such scrutiny.  I heard a loud laugh when I opened the mirror to look at myself.

The six year old then pointed and said, "Look, your girlfriend, she's looking at how pretty she is, ooooooo!"

He laughed and laughed and the 10 year old only smiled sheepishly, looked down then tried to cover his friend's mouth and said in a low voice, "Noooo, stop, you are being rude."

I couldn't keep a straight face. The six year old then grabbed his friend's hand and off they went to join the party.  My order was ready and I went up the stairs to pay for it. As I was coming down the two boys were on their way up again.  I was so tempted to ask these two sweet faces what I could do to look a bit more affluent. I imagined they had an answer I probably didn't need to hear. 

Labels: ,

3 Comments:

Blogger Missa said...

Catching up on your blog, and I see congratulations are in order! WOW, I got to the part about the baby bump and I was like "wait? what?!"

Aw, I'm so happy for you, how exciting! You will be one of those mamas with so many wonderful stories to tell :)

As for this tale, what a truly bizarre and amusing little encounter!

Saturday, November 19, 2011  
Blogger Tera said...

Thank you so much! I am still amazed and surprised but very, very happy! It is hard not to be giddy.

Yeah those kids were something...

Saturday, November 19, 2011  
Blogger nadine paduart said...

tera, what a story. i've loved this, so spontaneously written while tension rising a little to an anti climax of sorts. i like stories best this way.
well done, well written!

goodness, those boys! and girls! do they need a bollywood backing by any chance?

glad the waiting delivered your halva though... bon appétit!
n♥

Friday, November 25, 2011  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home