All the Sharmas are napping...

...and I am awake. It's a brilliant San Francisco Saturday afternoon, and the house is blissfully quiet. I can't remember the last time the house was this peaceful, for this long - it's been at least 30 minutes, and I'm the only one who I can tell has moved in that time. The silence is delicious...I can actually hear the clock ticking (reminds me: must get nicer Grandmother clock instead of this cheap Ikea thing we have on our mantle), the cat clicking his long claws on the wood floor (reminds me: Must trim cat's nails), and even the wind in the palm trees in front of our house (reminds me: must talk to condo neighbor about trimming shrubbery). Aargh, I have a lot of things on my to-do list...someone please wake up!


This morning we bought Daadi a nice "new" (antique) dresser and headboard - some nicely refinished pieces from a local couple who buys "junk" and refurbishes it, then sells the pieces on Craigslist.

Buying the pieces made Daadi very happy, and prompted her to tell us the following funny story:

Daadi comes from a fairly well-to-do family. And as the custom through the early 20th century in India, a family would receive a dowry for every girl (woman) who married into it. Part of a dowry given to her uncle as part of his wedding was an enormous antique carved wooden bed.


When Daadi was married to Daada in 1950, her family gave Daada's family the bed. However, the bed was so big, and Daada's family home so modest (literally 2 rooms for 3 adults & 6 children as I understand it), that it wouldn't fit through the doorway into the house! So, the bed remained somewhere (in storage?) for years.

The next girl who was married out of Daada's family came to her future betrothed with ...you guessed it...the bed! It was a joke in the family for some time of "Where's the bed going next?"



Postscript for all the non-Indians reading this: the concept of Dowry was alive and well in post-colonial India. While it is still thriving in some areas and socioeconomic classes in India, this Sharma family no longer expects a dowry. Or at least, I sure didn't come with one...in fact, I came with impending plans (and bills) for graduate school! :)

And yes, I know the photos here do NOT match the post, but we had so many cute pictures from when Naana & Naani were in town, I couldn't help it.



Do you like the photo of Deven's messy feet? This is from when he stomped in the mud puddle we created when we buried the placentas last weekend (reminds me: Must go check to see whether they and the bulbs we planted on top are still ok).



How about the photo of Deven wearing Daddy's shoes? He's started to be able to wear his own shoes and socks...and try on everyone else's as well, lately. Very cute, unless he's having a toddler-moment.



Happy New Year, everyone!