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The 'Angelina Jolie' that I know....

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by Mindian, Mar 5, 2013.

  1. Mindian

    Mindian IL Hall of Fame

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    I have known S, my daughter’s friend’s mother, for the past eleven years. Some years ago as a chirpy ten year old, my dd used to come home gushingly saying Mona said this and Mona said that. Little did I know that Mona was in fact Mohana , a Tamil girl. The international school had totally butchered her typical South Indian name. I was new to this country and very pleased to make an acquaintance with a south Indian family. Any way this M became one of my daughter’s best friends. They had the usual girly get-togethers, birthday parties and sleepovers at each other’s homes.

    I slowly learnt that M was an adopted girl and that she had casually said so to her friends. My daughter also told me that she had two more brothers and one sister, all of them adopted from here but belonging to different nationalities. M herself was racially from Sri Lanka, one of her brothers from Philippines and another from Sarawak, and a very cute Malayalee baby girl. Whether that was by choice or chance I have no idea. I however found the news totally fascinating and casually referred to S as ‘the Angelina Jolie we know ‘. My dd then told me that each of them had two names, a Hindu and a Christian one. Oh, Okay, then ‘Brad Pitt’ must be a Christian; I assumed it was an inter-religious marriage.

    The girls were old enough to invite each other, so we mothers hardly met except to exchange slight pleasantries when we picked up or dropped our kids at their meet up points. S is a very small and petite woman, soft spoken but looked very capable. It came as a real surprise to me when I learnt that she is a single mom and had never married. She is a doctor and also a Bharatnatyam dancer, having taken a break in her studies and learnt the art in a traditional manner from India.

    With each meeting I found her more and more intriguing. She looked after her four children with the help of a nanny and her own elderly mother. She was born a Hindu but practiced Christianity which explained the two names. They celebrated both festivals with gusto and cheer. It was no wonder my dd loved going to her house. She had so much fun company there.

    I kept getting their family news only through her. And you know how it is with kids. So matter of fact my dd would be. It is only we adults who try and form impressions or judge. And so I did, once when she brought home the news that one of M’s brothers was very naughty and so given away to S’s sister. M was very glad that her naughty bro would now be just a cousin and I wondered what that was all about. I needn’t have strained my tiny head with it at all since it was none of my business. Obviously it was some arrangement between the sisters. The kids had just presented it very blatantly.

    After high school the family decided to migrate to the US, and I really admired S for her cool and composed manner in relocating to a new place and settling down there with her career, the kids , their school and college admissions etc. Somehow she always had my unspoken admiration, maybe for handling her life and the life of four kids she did not give birth to, all alone. Also ,for being just a tad different from the rest of us and doing exactly what she felt like.

    M finished her graduation there and the whole family returned back. Probably because here S had ample support from her mom and labour here is surely more affordable. My daughter too came back from the UK and the girls resumed their friendship.

    My dd is very fond of M’s little sister who happens to be a naughty little kid with an impish smile all the time. She is apparently a drama queen and M often has to baby sit her when her mom is busy. And that’s when she calls my dd over for company.Recently, she was telling me that their pet dog had died and all of them were heartbroken. And S had promptly gone and brought home two dogs. In my daughter’s words “their kennels are right in the living room. Now, you will have a fit if you see their house :hide: but aunty says she has to train them before she can let them stay outside. Her house is like a circus tent with the younger ones running around, a fat tubby cat walking majestically as if he owns that place and now, two dogs in place of one.”

    I was totally zapped. Where this woman gets all her energy from, I wondered. Of course, almost immediately I knew the answer too. It was only because of her BIG heart. I realized how correct the saying ‘what matters is the size of your heart, not your home’, was. While I was just an ordinary woman not capable of thinking beyond my little family here was someone ready to open her arms, heart and home to probably as many people as she could. It is people like her who make that little bit of difference to the world we live and thereby a better place for all of us to be in.

    Isn’t she a woman of substance, friends and don’t you agree with me that the least I could do was to acknowledge what a lovely woman she is and pay her a tribute in my little corner of snippets?
     
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  2. knbg

    knbg Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Wow Mindi.......
    Awesome indeed...... :hatsoffto her......
    Thanks for sharing about this Woman of Substance.....and loved the way you brilliantly deduced the dynamics of such a complex, charming personality......:thumbsup

    Truly inspiring........both your own AJ and You too dear buddy........:thumbsup
    Would never have had a chance to hear about such a personality first hand from someone I adore.........Thanks Mindz..........:)Thanks IL...........:)
     
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  3. Anandchitra

    Anandchitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Wondeful Mindian
    I am just astonished and overwhelmed to read about your friend. You have done total justice to her and your friends here by writing about her
    She deserves this special tribute and honor. Thanks for sharing in your pleasant style of writing which made the reading of it so much more special :)
     
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  4. Deepu04

    Deepu04 IL Hall of Fame

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    Hats off to S.. :) Great woman ... thanks for writing about this woman of substance.. :)
     
  5. divyarnair

    divyarnair Silver IL'ite

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    Wonderful Woman indeed..even I am starting to admire her from what you have written :)..
     
  6. kk_karthi2000

    kk_karthi2000 Bronze IL'ite

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    Wonderful Mindian

    hats off to S :)

    Indeed she is a woman of substance and to be accepted....
     
  7. Pallavi4me

    Pallavi4me Platinum IL'ite

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    Minidan,

    first, Thanks for writing about her otherwise we would not be knowing. And she has her heart at right place and more than that she is courageous enough to do what she wants to do. She is really admirable and respectable. Great women.
     
  8. lucky2

    lucky2 Platinum IL'ite

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    truely inspiring..it made me think for while,what am i stuggling for,inspite having enough of everythng..we are in chase after comforts,money etc when the woman you described dint have her own family and working hard for the kids she adopted..you are lucky enough to be in touch with wondeful lady and we are lucky enough to know about her through you..thank you mindian
     
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  9. kelly1966

    kelly1966 Platinum IL'ite

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    hey Mindi.. what a wonderful topic for your 101th snippet.. ( see I'm keeping a tab now!!)..
    truly awesome and inspiring lady S... you've summed it up so well that there is really not much to add..
    thanks for sharing
    Kerman
     
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  10. Sindhurak

    Sindhurak Platinum IL'ite

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    Thanks alot for you Mindi for sharing about such a noble person.. :thumbsup
    Hats off for her.. Hard to find such persons at any time..
    your snippet brought more sense on the occation of Womens day celebrations in IL :)
     
    1 person likes this.

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