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Almost But Not Quite Famous

written by Parita 17 Comments

I thank my lucky stars that the internet wasn’t a thing (at least for me) when I was growing up.  For many many many reasons!

While this meant that my childhood days were filled with playing outside, riding bikes, reading books, getting bored, it also meant that there were less opportunities to become instantly famous.  Not that I had any aspirations to do so.  I was happy with my Baby-Sitters Club books and weekly slumber parties!

This is where it’s important to note a couple of things about my parents.  My mom was interested in learning more about things like baby photo contests and beauty pageants.   Fame had nothing to do with it for her.  My mom’s a creative girly girl and thought it would be fun for us to take part in these kinds of activities. My dad, on the other hand, was 100% against that kind of stuff.  So we never did any of it.

For me and Vishnu, the conversation is a little different.  It’s not about pageants and photo contests, it’s about whether or not we’ll even post pictures of our children on the internet. 

I brought all of this up during dinner last week and learned something very interesting.  I was thisclose to being famous.

It all started when my mom and I travelled to India for four months.  This was my mom’s first visit after leaving to settle in the US.  On top of that, I wasn’t even two years old yet.  A huge deal for our little family of three on so many levels.  The biggest being that my dad would be alone for four months. Funny side note – our neighbor at the time was convinced that mom left my dad even though he told her where we really were!

Anyways, my mom and I had a grand old time in India.  My grandparents and aunts were so excited to have us.  My mom said that I quickly went from missing my dad and crying all the time to being the life of the party. 

My close encounter with fame came towards the end of our trip.  One of my dad’s best friends owned an ad agency at the time, and one of his clients was Parle G.  Parle G is a brand of Indian biscuits/cookies.  Apparently it’s the largest selling brand of biscuits in the world.  And on the cover of the packaging, there’s a picture of a super cute little Indian girl…the face of Parle G.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

That face could’ve been mine!  My dad’s friend wanted to use my picture in a campaign!

Par Parle G

What happened, you ask?  Well, my mom was ok with it and didn’t think it was a huge deal.  However, when she called my dad to ask him, he said no.  He didn’t want my face on the world’s best selling biscuits.  And that was that.  Now if you’ve met my dad in real life, you know that he’s one of the gentlest, most laid back people in the world.  But when he says no, he means it.

After my mom told me all of this, I looked at my dad and shook my head.  He started laughing and shook his head back.  I then looked at my sister and jokingly said, “We missed out on the royalties…and Bollywood!”  Says the girl who doesn’t plan to put her kids’ pictures on the internet…

But in all seriousness, I get it.  Seeing your kid’s face on a package of biscuits would be a little weird and unsettling.  And I guess there’s that whole thing about privacy too.  Good decision making, dad!

And that’s my story about being almost but not quite famous!

Did you ever have any almost famous (or really famous) moments?

Written on December 4, 2015 Related:Family, Humor, random

Weekend View Via My iPhone

written by Parita 8 Comments

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Reunited and it feels so good!

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Gatorland – my dad’s new favorite place!  You wouldn’t know it from this picture (because it was something like take 5), but we were really excited to spend a few hours exploring the park.

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Sleeping in on Saturday morning was priceless.  And there were no bathrooms to clean, no clothes to wash, no meals to prepare.  I missed Vishnu but man was it nice to not have to worry about a thing all weekend long.

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Marco’s Pizza – not bad for a chain.

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Gatorland was so much fun!  I definitely recommend checking it out if you’re ever in Orlando.  And yes, my scaredy cat self fed AND touched a turtle.  A really big turtle.

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Almonds.  Covered in dark chocolate.  Need I say more.

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Spice heaven aka Patel Brothers (an Indian grocery store).  It’s funny how I used to despise setting foot in this store because now I actually like it, given there aren’t a million people squished together in the small aisles.  Word to the wise – DO NOT go to an Indian grocery store between the hours of 9-3 pm on the weekends.

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Sev sar – Indian comfort food.

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Bed time reading.

Hope you had a nice weekend! 

Written on February 18, 2013 Related:Family, Food, Life, Weekend

The Parental Unit + Isaac

written by Parita 8 Comments

The parental unit came to visit this weekend.  So did Isaac.  It’s a good thing we aren’t the kind of people who let a little rain and wind get in the way of a good time.  I kid…kind of.  Regardless, we were able to fit in a few meals out, outlet shopping, and a short visit to the beach.

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Here’s a little rundown on our weekend…

On Friday, Vishnu and I took my parents to Lime Fresh – one of our favorite casual places in the area.  It was a huge hit!  My parents loved it.  We left absolutely stuffed, but somehow found ourselves at the fro-yo place next door! 

That night Vishnu and I headed downtown for his school’s annual bar crawl.  Good times were had by all!

Saturday was dreary, yet we still made our way to the beach.

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Quite literally, it was the calm before the storm.

Next up, it was time to shop.  No major purchases were made – just a couple of pairs of shorts for me ($12.99 at Banana Republic!!!!) and a shirt for Vishnu.

After completely tiring ourselves out, we headed to Sublime for dinner (post to come on this soon).

And then came Sunday – the day we stayed inside.  We looked through the professional wedding pictures, watched The Kingdom, and ate. 

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The parental unit hard at work!

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One of our tasty meals of the day – Aloo Tikki (small potato pancakes, chickpea curry, onions, and both sweet and spicy chutneys).

The parental unit left yesterday morning. Sad smile  Because of Isaac, I worked from home, and it was sad not having them around.  But as one of my aunts likes to say, you always have to look ahead to the good times waiting for you in the future…there’s no point in looking back.

While I did over prepare for Isaac (radio, flashlights, water, canned goods, etc. all ready to go), I’m so glad that the worst of what we got was some heavy rain and wind.  Talk about thankful!  From what I see on the news, other parts of the country have not been/may not be so lucky.  Please keep those people that have been/may be affected in your thoughts and prayers.

Written on August 28, 2012 Related:Family, Food, Indian Food, Life, Shopping

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