It’s the school summer holidays in India, it’s too hot for the school bus and too hot for algebra. There are two little boys that live next door to my in-laws and they both love playing with Alfonso. I’ve known these kids for nearly two years now, they call me “Lauren didi“. Didi means “elder sister” in Hindi. A couple of months ago the younger boy, who is four years old, must have heard someone refer to me as a foreigner. After knowing him for well over a year, he suddenly called me “foreigner didi“! He scooted towards me on his lime green scooter, with a huge beaming smile on his face, and said, “hello, foreigner didi“. He seemed pretty proud of himself as he zoomed away, leaving me with my jaw dropped.
So, school is out for summer and the boys elder sister, their didi, is visiting Nagpur. She was too scared to play with Alfonso, instead she asked me about the books I like to read.
“Do you like books?”
“I love books!”
“Have you read Harry Potter”
“Yes, I have”
“Have you read all of them?”
“Yes, twice!”
“Me too, I love Harry Potter!”
“Harry Potter is from the same country as I am from!”
“Wooooow, really!”
The little girl’s eyes lit up when I told her that I belonged to the same country as her favourite fictional character. On the other side of the room, playing with Alfonso, the elder of the two little boys was listening to our conversation and seemed very concerned.
“Lauren didi, is Voldemort from your country also?”, the little boy asked.
“Yes, he is! Scary huh?”
He stared at me blankly for a while, frowned, gulped and quickly wiped the horror from his face with a small smile. I can only imagine he was thinking, “woah, I shouldn’t get on the wrong side of Lauren didi then”.
***
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Lauren didi, Hermione is also from your country..She is the first gal I fell for..
Kindly tell her that she is very very beautiful.
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That’s sweet! I will let her know if I see her!
Take caree! 🙂
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So sweet of you.. Thanx.
How’s the heat?? Miss the chilled weather back home??
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Sorry for this really late reply, Ango! We are having lovely weather here now, a couple of cold days- and I’ve loved it! x
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Little they know that Frankenstein is from your country too! 🙂
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Hehe,
The author was English but Frankenstein himself was from Germany right??
I am still scared of Cruella De Vil LOL xx
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“Lauren didi” sounds super cute!
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Marghini!! I just checked out your blog to see if you are my didi, but it seems we were both born 1989.
I am October….
Soooo, is it Lauren didi or Marghini didi? 😛 xx
P.S. Your blog is GORGEOUS!
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I am April! So I am your didi! You can call me “marghini didi” from now on 😀
I am very happy you liked my blog! I really love your stories (and your dog) as well.
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Aww thank you so much!
Alfonso and I say “Hi Marghini didi” 😀 xx
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“Woah, I shouldn’t get on the wrong side of Lauren didi then” – Hehehe good one 🙂 I would probably feel upset if someone called me “foreigner didi” instead of by my name + didi, but I guess kids pick up what they hear from others and one shouldn’t take these things to heart…
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Hehe, yes, I was very shocked but he has been calling me Lauren didi for ages so I knew he must have picked it up from an adult 😛
He hasn’t done it since xx
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Kids say the darnedest things… Lol. They sound super cute. I’m jealous now. No cool characters are from my country. Well actually that’s not true, Santa is from Canada 😉
Allyce
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😀 what about Wolverine? He is pretty awesome!!
:O Santa is not fictional… 😛 😉 xx
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Santa cannot be Canadian. Sorry. He does not say “eh?” at the end of every sentence 🙂 Though some member of your parliament seem to disagree with me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jxb-HjReJg
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😛
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haha u pulled their legs, didn’t you 😛
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Sure did 😉 hehe
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Haha funny! I love Harry Potter too.
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I was actually in London when the last book came out. 🙂
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I have seen footage of that day, people went mental! 😀 xx
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I love the movies and the books, JK is a genius!! 😀 xx
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@ Lauren
I just found out that you are way younger to me. I guess I will start calling “little sister lauren” lol. I hope u don’t mind. I guess “bhaiya friend” also sounds endearing.
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Hey Bhaiya! Yess, I am only 25! I feel a lot older though for some reason lol.
I hope you are well! 😀
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Touché
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Oh no! They went from Lauren didi to Foreigner didi… 😦 That would feel a bit bad. 😦
The only strange thing I have been called was “Ma’am” by a little girl. I didn’t feel old enough to be a “Ma’am”
DN’s niece calls me “Cristy Aunty” haha for now anyway. When we marry, I’ll be chachi to her 😀
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It wasn’t bad, it was them being very naughty and cheeky 😛
Bad is when you get called aunty by kids who are very close in age to you 😛 xx
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Poor kids ! btw, what do they call “younger sister” ? because you are not “a didi ” to me as i was born in 1986.
Lauren, you blog makes me to love India more and more, day by day……….
( There is some “chemistry”, I cant understand , between me and India )
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Hey Sindu, I think they just call them by their names! I think.. I will try and find out 😀
Come and visit India soon!
Take care, Lauren
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Lauren, what about if your younger sisters start addressing you as Lauren didi. 🙂
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Hehe, that would be fun lol xx
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Hi Lauren, I just discovered your blog and read all you articles. So much fun to read and very recognizable! I came to India 2 months ago to be with my Indian boyfriend/fiance, and I find it very helpful to read these stories 🙂 I still struggle with getting around in the city (I live in Bangalore) and how to behave with a maid around in the house.
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Dear Anita,
Thank you so much for your kind message! Good luck with your new life in India!!
Yess, those two things are very tricky. With time you get comfortable with the maids but I am still struggling with the getting around part!!
There are lots of expats in Bangalore, if you join internations you may be able to connect with some!
I hope you are well and having a good monsoon! Lots of love xx
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So cute!!!!!!!! awwwww
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❤
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My husband’s name is Deepak and I call him ‘Didi’, but he doesn’t mind. Somehow it sounded like a perfect shortname for him, before I learned what it means of course ;p
Don’t the kids call you “Gori didi” sometimes? 🙂
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Haha, that is cute!
No one has ever called me Gori didi or even Gori here, I just get called foreigner 😛
I hope you are well! 😀
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Hilarious! Amazing how their innocence can change us. Great little post, Lauren! 🙂
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Thank you so much, Los!
How are you? I hope you are well!
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You should visit Shimla my state’s capital. It was the summer capital for Britishers as they too could not cope with the heat waves 🙂
also I loved so much your story that I read almost everything in one night.
good luck to you and Bhaiya 🙂 ..stay blessed ..
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Thank you so much!
I hope to visit it one day!
Take care 🙂
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Lauren Didi! Love this name! Beautiful lesson learned by the young man.
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Hehe, thank you, CF! ❤ xx
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