New Desi in Boston

By Pooja Shetty

Moving to a new country can be tough especially as an adult. It’s even tougher if you’ve grown up in India surrounded by a gaggle of relatives and a retinue of people who help you with your household tasks.   Growing up in India I never did the dishes or the laundry or for that matter the cooking. Within the second week of moving here I had done all three. And even after doing it for a while now it’s still a mystery and I learn something new every time. Most of us from the Indian sub- continent never really do much at home apart from studying and playing. Helping our moms out in the kitchen or household chores was more of a novelty than a need. It’s amazing how I once thought running a house was easy! Anyway I put together a few helpful lessons/pointers (from experience) for people who have just moved  here to the US:-
1)      Never mix your light colored clothing with your red cotton top from India unless you really, really like pink! Also don’t dry your clothes on the high temp setting unless you can really rock the crop top scene!
2)      Buy a pressure cooker if you don’t have one already but also make sure you understand how the whistle works otherwise you’ll end up with a big yellow or white mess you’ll have to clean up yourself!
3)      Explain to non-Indian neighbors before hand what a pressure cooker is and how it works or chances are that they might think you are making a bomb (thanks to Tsarnaev).
4)      Invest in a good mixer/grinder for all your chutneys and masalas….those cuisine art kitchen thingys just don’t cut it  or in this case grind it!
5)      If you are a non-vegetarian , do not reheat your chicken for more than 30-60 seconds unless you’re planning to use it as a rock to hit your husband/boyfriends…then by all means go ahead!
6)      While adding some tadka to your dal or rasam..it might be a good idea to turn off your fire alarm for 5 minutes unless you want the firemen/women to know you on a first name basis.
7)      Tie your hair and keep your clothes away from the kitchen or you’ll just have to get used to people on the train sniffing the air and asking what that smell is!
8)      Wrestling with a fitted sheet is great exercise..no really!
9)      Wear gloves while doing the dishes- your mani will thank me later
10)   Quarters are your best friend learn to hoard them as our sense of fashion may depend on a coin operated laundry!
11)   And lastly, call your mom as many times as possible, as you know you should always learn from the best!
Let me know if you like it 🙂
Best,
Pooja.

 
Pooja Shetty is a recent graduate in marketing and advertising from  Emerson College in Boston. The former national tennis player is passionate about writing and culture. She is always looking for stories and innovative ways to tell them. With a soft corner for Indian films and music , she hopes someday that she will be directly involved with the industry. Being part of the BDC-TV family is her way of being connected with her passions while getting a platform to utilize her skills in the best way possible!