The Value of Money

Since we have been back from Nainital we have not done much of anything and have actually gotten some much needed rest. Mia has had 2 days of decent naps and I have had a little time to organize my many suitcases to get ready to come home. Speaking of that, I have to admit that I am so ready to come back even though I have heard its pretty cold. I hate living out of a suitcase and I don't like other people doing my laundry. I am also not used to the fact that the house boy washes all my dishes and picks up after me. This may sound awesome to many of you, but when you are actually in the situation,  its strange. I am not really sure what his name is, but the common name for all of the house boys is Chotu (not sure if I spelled that right but it means little). And he is little, probably only about 5 feet tall and very petite. I don't think he speaks much English and he is extremely soft spoken. His basic duty around the house is cleaning, helping with the cooking, running errands and making tea. He is live in help and I was shocked to see that his bed is outside under a makeshift roof next to his own private bathroom.  He tries to help me out when I am making something for Mia but I am so self sufficient and I am sure he finds that strange. I also find the whole situation interesting because I actually feel bad for the poor guy. However, someone pointed out to me that he was probably extremely poor and its better for him here where he is fed, clothed and has a bed to sleep in. And I have definitely seen my share of poor people,  its the children that I feel extremely sorry for. If you have seen slumdog millionaire,  that's exactly what they look like and they tap you car window and beg. I was told to ignore them and not even make eye contact but its so hard when I see kids Mia's age running around dirty and barefoot in a polluted intersection. Yesterday I saw two young boys about 5 & 7 doing flips and tricks with mustaches drawn on their faces in front of our car. And then they came up to our window to beg and could see Mia in her car seat watching movies on the galaxy. Its just not right. Its the parents fault because schooling in India is totally free (including their meals) but the parents make them beg cause they are more likely to get money. I actually gave some apples to a woman in the street who had a young baby in her arms but she looked displeased and kept asking for more. Jas's sister gave me a bunch of baby clothes that we gave away and we still have tons of candy to pass out to kids when we see them. There are millions of these poor children in India, and its hard to help them all but every little thing counts. Even if its just giving a candy to a small kid to put a smile on their face.
On the other hand, yesterday Mia learned the value of money at the young age of 2. She was napping so I decided to run downstairs and grab some lunch and hang out with the family.  Every once in a while we would go up and check on her but she was out cold. After a while I kept thinking that she has been sleeping for a long time so I ran up again to make sure she was ok and I couldn't believe what I caught her doing.  She quietly got up, went into the diaper bag got my purse out and got back on the bed where she proceeded to go in my wallet and take out all of my money.  What did she do with it? She ripped it in shreds!  I startled her as she was in the act and she started wailing.  I couldn't be mad at her but she managed to rip apart $84 into small pieces!  I brought her and all the puzzle pieces of twenties downstairs and everyone helped tape and piece it together.  The only way I could make her understand is by telling her that without money we wouldn't be able to go back home. She just said sorry momma and said she wouldn't do it again.  But I won't make the mistake of leaving my purse in the room anymore when she is supposed to be napping!
We ended our night by going to a drive up food joint. And of all times I didn't bring my camera or my phone it had to be last night! It truely was a chaotic scene. First there really was nowhere to park, cars were quadruple parked all over the place almost into the intersection.  I couldn't really tell who worked there because people were just everywhere until a guy came up to our window and took our order. While we were waiting for our food I was just observing my surroundings and noticed all the stray dogs around. You could hear them fighting for someones leftovers and then a guy would come hit them with a stick if they became to bothersome to the people.  And once again I saw many poor kids running around barefoot trying to grab any extra leftover food. The smell of grilled fish and chicken was so strong and I am sure that was torturous for their hungry tummies.  They brought our food on paper plates and we ate in the car. It was kind of a cool experience but I wasn't too sure about the meat so I ate very little.  We got out and crossed the street to go see how they make an Indian sweet called jalabi (I probably spelled that wrong). Jas's uncle bought a fresh batch and once again I don't think I have seen a bigger smile on Jas's face! We started to make our way back home and must have passed about 10 weddings on the way....on a monday night! I guess people here get married any day of the week and there are thousands of weddings each day in Delhi! This is a fact I believe because since I have been here I have seen a million weddings going on. So Aims if you are reading this, the place to be for a wedding planner is India!