Naina. Naina. Naina!

How I love Naina. What a sweetlove. Naina babysits for my niece Moy. She also just landed a job at Karuna Vihar, the school my boys go to. I see her everyday. She doesn't speak much English, and of course, I don't speak much Hindi. She knows a lot of basic English however and is forever teaching me the Hindi for it. I won't even try to spell its Hindi counterpart but she has taught me "How are you?" "I am fine" "Hot" "Cold" "Sad" "Happy" "Small" "Big" "Bad" "Good" "Thank You" There really are no words for "Please" and "Your Welcome" It is all in your delivery.

Naina loves the boys and the boys love her. About a month ago she invited us to her home. She lives near the gorgeous Tea Gardens. This place is beyond belief. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. We walked to her house. We walked past the Tea Gardens , past beautiful homes, and she kept saying to me, "My home. Small, My home. Small" We turned down a lane and got to her little "village" It was another world. All eyes were on us. Naina looked so proud. It was funny. Proud of me and my little imps?! Well, she was.

Her mother greeted us at the door and had chai and special sweets that she had been preparing all day. It was a 2 room hut. It was immaculately clean. The bathroom (with its squat toilet-that the boys LOVED)was outside. Naina's mother is battling Cancer and it worries Naina to no end. These are 2 of the most welcoming women that I have ever met. It was late when we left, both the boys wanted to sleep over.

About 2 weeks ago the boys and I took Naina into town to shop, have lunch, get my nose pierced, you know , the usual. It was Sunday morning. We met her at her house at around 10:45. Owen, Enzo and I walked through the Tea Gardens and came into the village from the back entrance. Like the pied piper, we were followed to her gate by 20 or so children, all freshly scrubbed and in their Sunday best. There they are, at her gate. I wish I had gotten the picture of her shutting the gate! My camera was in need of new batteries. I had some in my bag, but I was too late. Drat. It could have been an award winning series.

So we got a rickshaw into town, something that she never does. We rarely do it either. It is so lazy. A rickshaw is between 80 and 100 rupees and a vickram (shared ride) is 4 rupees! Oh wait! you have to walk an extra 4 blocks. The horror. Today was an important day. I wanted to make it as special as possible for Naina. So we got to town and walked around the marketplace. I wanted to buy Naina a suit. A Salwar Kameez. We went to several stores. Naina couldn't actually believe that this was happening. Most of the suits that Naina buys are about 200 to 300 rupees a piece. I wanted to get her a really ornate one for about 1200 or 1500 rupees. Honest to God, that isn't much at 44 rupees to the dollar. Do the math. I come out looking like the hero for a song!

She was really really surprised when I ABSOLUTELY INSISTED! I felt like some crazy rich Aunt, which I am not. It was gorgeous, and she was so thrilled! Can you imagine MY joy? Unbelievable. So so easy. So little can mean so much.

Next up, lunch. We took her to this really nice restaurant called "Kumar's Vegetarian" Delicious. Naina took one look at the menu and said, "Didi, Cold Coffee only" I was like "WHAT? I am taking you out to LUNCH!, ORDER!" (N.B. The entire bill was $11.00 US for 4 of us. It is easy to look like a big shot at this exchange.)

Reluctantly (I am not kidding) she ordered. We feasted like kings. The food was so incredible. After the waiter took our order, she looked around and got a little teary. She said, "Didi. Me. Restaurant. Never" and she held up one finger. "First time" She is 23 years old. The boys looked at her in utter disbelief. She said, "I am simple girl" She is awesome girl.