Last night I took Sullivan to the park in his stroller where I met a little punjab boy named Ranajit. Ranajit wanted to play with my dog. The demographic of my neighborhood must be predominantly indian by now. The experience of being a minority has been fairly enlightening for me. One of the puzzling things for me as I know more children than adults is the names given to these kids by their parents. They have greater meaning in the Hindu language, but in English they simply hinder. How will these boys get through high school???
Ranajit = Victorious
Aannahswarup = Full of Joy
Abhyudaha = Luck
It's interesting to draw comparisons between our cultures; when is the last time you met an American boy named Lucky? Wasn't Hitler's middle name Victory?
Also interesting was watching Ranajit attempt to play with my dog. Most Indians have a great fear of dogs, apparently the only canines in India function as guards. Most of the neighborhood kids cower away from my fierce beast but Ranajit was brave and used his hand as if he were dribbling a basketball to pet (slap) Duchy on the head. Duchy was stiff as a board. I showed him how to pet a dog, and scratch behind the ears, Duchy rewarded him by rolling over on her back for a belly scratch.
When it was all said and done and time to go home Ranajit asked, "Why did you name your son Buster?"
"Because dude, Ranajit was already taken."
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