A questionaire to Indian women settled in US

PushpavalliSrinivasan · Apr 20, 2009

Dear Lalitha,
Thanks for answering the questionarie. Please refer to first page where I have given reply to Supriya for the question.
With love,
PS

ayeshajaveed · Apr 20, 2009

Here goes my set of ans:

1. Do your children prefer only pasta, noodles, sandwich and other western dishes for breakfast and lunch?..nope mine jus love south Indian food only always..:thumbsup
2. Do you cook Indian food at least once in a day? one and only Indian food 365 days in year..:cheers
3. Do you always prefer to wear western dresses when you go out? only western dress i wear is jeans wid our chudidhar top above:hiya
4. Do you put pottu on your forehead every day?NA:crazy
5. Do you allow your children to choose subjects on their own for the degree course or you force upon them your choice?romba kutties so NABig Laugh
6. Are you very particular about maintaining the status and keep buying unwanted things?definitely NO:spin
7. Do you converse in your mother tongue with your children?YEs:thumbsup
8. According to the saying, “when you are in Rome do as Romans do.” Will you allow your children dating?Pichipuduven PichiRant
9. Do you throw parties for birthdays and anniversary every year?NO
10. If given the option would you like to return to India? Personal commitments so would be here atleast for few more years but alas! who doesnt like to return to India??Thaai madi aachey!

Regards,
Ayesha.

__________________

Nittu · Apr 20, 2009

Here is my answer...

1. Do your children prefer only pasta, noodles, sandwich and other western dishes for breakfast and lunch? NA
2. Do you cook Indian food at least once in a day? YES,3 times a day,try to keep fresh ing
3. Do you always prefer to wear western dresses when you go out? YES,depends on the weather and place where i am going.
4. Do you put pottu on your forehead every day?YES
5. Do you allow your children to choose subjects on their own for the degree course or you force upon them your choice? YES.IN future, i will allow to the extent ,if they r not in the wrong path.
6. Are you very particular about maintaining the status and keep buying unwanted things? No.want to be simple as ever
7. Do you converse in your mother tongue with your children? NA
8. According to the saying, “when you are in Rome do as Romans do.” Will you allow your children dating? NO
9. Do you throw parties for birthdays and anniversary every year? NO
10. If given the option would you like to return to India? YES want to be with our parents! i know they r not happy here

likemychai · Apr 21, 2009

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5Ctmm%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><style>  </style> Dear Pushpa, I hope you don’t mind my replying also, as I am not born in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">India</st1lace></st1:country-region> but in US only with diverse background. My husband is born in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">India</st1lace></st1:country-region> however. I wanted to answer because hope it will give you another perspective and maybe some surprises.

1. Do your children prefer only pasta, noodles, sandwich and other western dishes for breakfast and lunch?<u1></u1> No, mosaru-anna, gobi Manchurian, bisi bele baath and pizza are her favorites these days.

2. Do you cook Indian food at least once in a day?
<u1></u1> Nearly every meal I cook Indian food, unless we are in the mood for a change - then I will make whatever we are craving, but I do that in India also as my in-laws like pizza and mexican

3. Do you always prefer to wear western dresses when you go out?
<u1></u1> No. Indian dress is so much more comfortable but I work in lawfirm so I have to dress in western (although I did not comply in my last trimester of pregnancy, LOL…) but I wear saree or salwar whenever we go out as a family.

4. Do you put pottu on your forehead every day?<u1></u1> No, according to dress.

5. Do you allow your children to choose subjects on their own for the degree course or you force upon them your choice?<u1></u1>
She can choose her own career path as we all have in our family.

6. Are you very particular about maintaining the status and keep buying unwanted things?
<u1></u1> Nope – we are environmentally conscious so we try not to buy unnecessary items and reuse things whenever we can. We try use our actions as much as possible to set a good example for others in this way also. I highly recommend freecycle.org!

7. Do you converse in your mother tongue with your children?
<u1></u1> Yes and no – we converse in Kannada with her, but if she chooses to learn her other ancestral languages as she gets older she may do so after she is fluent in Kannada.

8. According to the saying, “when you are in <st1lace w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Rome</st1:city></st1lace> do as Romans do.” Will you allow your children dating?<u1></u1> NO. We are realistic in that we expect she may want to, but we intend to do our best to make her understand it is not in her best interest to date casually. We would prefer that time stand still and the day never comes, but when it does we hope she will take our guidance in selecting a partner and marry someone with our values.

9. Do you throw parties for birthdays and anniversary every year?
<u1></u1> Not until she was old enough to understand did we invite anyone home because most of our family are far away so we had small at home function via webcam with family abroad. Now we will have small party for her to enjoy with friends also.

10. If given the option would you like to return to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">India</st1lace></st1:country-region>? YES, because when I am here I miss my in-laws. Otherwise I can be happy anywhere if you give me some dirt and let me garden :thumbsup

PushpavalliSrinivasan · Apr 21, 2009

Dear Ayesha,
It is really gratifying to know that our lsdies do prefer thai madi and to be surronded by near snd dear ones. Thank you for stepping in and answering,
Love,
PS

PushpavalliSrinivasan · Apr 21, 2009

Dear Nittu,
Hearty welcome to IL family! It is really sad to be far away from parents. Though parents wish wherever their loved ones are, they should be happy. But they do wish them to be in a place where they could reach them fast.
thank you for answering,
Love,
PS

PushpavalliSrinivasan · Apr 21, 2009

Dear Likemychai,
You are welcome and I should thank you for answering the questionarie. As you say it is realy surprising for me that a person born and brought up in US prefers and cooks Indian food. Even those who migrated prefers to buy frozen food and then heat it up in micro and eat it up.Another surprise that you miss your in laws. It seems you are an extraordinary person. Wishing you all the best,
Love,
PS

Sindhuja · Apr 21, 2009

Dear Pushpaji,
Here are my answers:

1. Do your children prefer only pasta, noodles, sandwich and other western dishes for breakfast and lunch?
My kids eat both western and our Indian tiffin.
2. Do you cook Indian food at least once in a day?
Twice a day!
3. Do you always prefer to wear western dresses when you go out?
No, not really.
4. Do you put pottu on your forehead every day?
Depends upon the place I go. For office, I don't keep pottu. But If I go shopping or to my friend's place, I definitely keep bindhi.
5. Do you allow your children to choose subjects on their own for the degree course or you force upon them your choice?
We suggest/advice them to take the right courses. But the final decision is theirs.
6. Are you very particular about maintaining the status and keep buying unwanted things?
NO!
7. Do you converse in your mother tongue with your children?
My kids can speak, read and write Tamil.
8. According to the saying, “when you are in Rome do as Romans do.” Will you allow your children dating?
NO!!!!
9. Do you throw parties for birthdays and anniversary every year?
Used to call friends for our birthdays and anniversary, but not now-got busy these days. But my kids' call their friends for their birthdays.
10. If given the option would you like to return to India?
Yes, but after few years.

mom2gurls · Apr 21, 2009

Well I am totally in tune and in check with my desi side. I was born in delhi but came here when I was one, my husband also punjabi..was born in kansas!! LOL....So I think we are a great blend of east/west. So to answer your questions...

Do your children prefer only pasta, noodles, sandwich and other western dishes for breakfast and lunch? YES.
2. Do you cook Indian food at least once in a day? hmmmnn maybe not ONCE a day..but I would say at least 3x a week..but for some strange reason, I "indianize everything"...even my eggs in the morning can a sprinkle of masala... LOL
3. Do you always prefer to wear western dresses when you go out? YES..even at my indian parties..no one is wearing suit/sari anymore.
4. Do you put pottu on your forehead every day? you mean sindoor? NO.
5. Do you allow your children to choose subjects on their own for the degree course or you force upon them your choice? My kids are not in college..but elementry....but when they do go to college me and my dh are raising them to be productive, functioning, members of society..if any one of our girls wants to be a renound author we will support them, if one wants to be a cardio doctor..that is fine too. We believe "if you do what you truly enjoy, the money will come"
6. Are you very particular about maintaining the status and keep buying unwanted things? HMMNN I wish...having three girls...I tend to splurge a little..but I am VERY good at picking where I splurge...if I can find a deal..I will go for it!
7. Do you converse in your mother tongue with your children? I am guilty of not doing that...I understand and speak proper hindi and also understand punjabi....my dh speaks very good punjabi...but the problem is even in india now when we visit..every thing is so western..that really english has become the norm. WE are happy and satisfied if the kids understand basic phrases in hindi and can understand the meaning of a bollywood film..other than that...there is no need.
8. According to the saying, “when you are in Rome do as Romans do.” Will you allow your children dating? YES..no question..me and my dh had a love marriage...and we are happy..we would be hypocritical if we didnt allow our children to do the same.
9. Do you throw parties for birthdays and anniversary every year? sometimes.
10. If given the option would you like to return to India? I would like to visit more..

Jyothika20 · Apr 21, 2009

Hello,

My Answers are as follows :

1. Do your children prefer only pasta, noodles, sandwich and other western dishes for breakfast and lunch? No, My son is more used to Indian Food, Dosa, Idly and especially Chutnies.

2. Do you cook Indian food at least once in a day? All 3 meals are Indian, Once every fortnight I make Pasta, Sandwiches Etc.

3. Do you always prefer to wear western dresses when you go out? Both Western and Indian.

4. Do you put pottu on your forehead every day? Yes, Everyday.

5. Do you allow your children to choose subjects on their own for the degree course or you force upon them your choice? Yes I will let them choose, but will definitely give my 2 cents of Advice.

6. Are you very particular about maintaining the status and keep buying unwanted things? NO

7. Do you converse in your mother tongue with your children? Yes, Always

8. According to the saying, “when you are in Rome do as Romans do.” Will you allow your children dating? Yes

9. Do you throw parties for birthdays and anniversary every year? Child's Birthday, Yes.

10. If given the option would you like to return to India? Yes, ANYTIME Im ready.