Cinque Terra

Cinque Terra
Italian riviera. Picture taken from the lover's walk.

The Helpful lady

The Helpful lady
She- the lady standing behind the wife- helped us reach the B&B by calling the owners on her cell phone when we were quite hopelessly lost. Next day we were shopping for artifacts and coincidentally entered a small store and there she was- behind the counter. Helped us again choose some wonderful local white wines.

Making sure the Pisa tower does not fall

Making sure the Pisa tower does not fall
Everyone's favourite picture- to hold out your hands as if you are supporting the Pisa!

Firenzi- Florence

Firenzi- Florence
The covered bridge on the Arno taken from the Uffizi.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

My daughter's religion

We now have a 4 month (almost) old black Lab puppy (More later- an old  dream come true) and I am amazed at the difference a pet makes to the house. We have had to baby-proof (Puppy proof?) the house and block access to some of the parts through temp gates et al. Still, if he gets his  mouth to anything anywhere near being destructible, he will destroy it. No questions about it. From shredded newspaper to dry wall- anything is game.

The other difference makes the first worth the while- the difference in the kids. Our recently- turned- teen daughter returns from school and says "Hi" to the puppy in a shrill, high pitched voice, so full of love- and then the same voice turns more gruff and she say's "Hi Dad" to me. The difference in tone is so amazing! 

Our 8 year old son has mostly forgotten hindi (I will change that through classes in the near future) but when the Pup is being naughty, he says " Aye, Salman Khan nahin banega"!  Where did  he get that from?

The kids  do most of the puppy chores- and do them happily. 

A few days ago, my daughter and I took the puppy for a walk around  the community and we got talking about things. "Dad" she  said, "When I grow up, I am going to decide what religion I am going to be". 

Wow, I thought, this line of thinking  needs to be killed right away. So I explained how one is born into one's religion, and changing religions mid- way, is a bit like chickening out. Then we discussed how throughout history, people had been forced by another religion to convert through threat and violence.

I was relieved when she replied that actually, she was quite happy with her religion, but she would search for any major faults when she grew up. Also, "What if a prophet or God  comes down to Earth when I grow up and I  see Him right in front of me doing all  the things God does? Shouldn't I then follow Him?"

Touche! What are the chances of that  happening, I thought, and left it there. 

Or is there more to it as I am still thinking about it four days later?




1 comment:

Ranas - wwwok said...

...and so Pathania rises from his deep slumber - much like his first name - UDAI!

The kids have obviously grown up and are quickly proving to have minds of their own.

Great hearing from you Udai. We often talk about you and your father's trip across the border. No visa no passport!!!!!!

Pratap