Author Archives: Nisha Malhotra

Jo Kheer Piyae

Nationality: Indian
Age: 77
Occupation: Anesthesiologist
Residence: Glendale, CA
Performance Date: 4/24/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Hindi

“Jo kheer piyae, so veer thae, dhand zor vuthan, sutha suhan lagan, aakhun jyot vudhay, dhadhi suhan thae, de kheer ama p school vuchan.”

This is a childhood rhyme in India. First the mother is telling the child: The one who drinks milk grows very strong. His teeth are bright white and beautiful, his eyesight is always good, it makes him or her look beautiful.

The child says: Mom, please give me milk so I can drink milk and then go to school.

My grandmother says he says this because he knows that health is wealth. Her mother used to sing it for her when she was a little girl living back in India. Every time I didn’t want to drink my milk as a child, she would sing this song for me.

Ganga and Her Milk Pot

Nationality: Indian
Age: 49
Occupation: Saleswoman
Residence: Glendale, CA
Performance Date: 4/24/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Hindi

“Ganga and her milk pot. Basically the story is that, it’s someone who, so you get a new job and okay, for example, if you’re an aspiring actor, you go for an audition, and the director really likes you and calls you and says you were very good, and we’ll be in touch. And you, the actress, take that and say, ‘Oh my god, he loved me! I’m so good, I’m going to be selected for this role, I’m going to be a phenomenal star, I’m gonna be super rich, a super famous person mingling with celebrities.’ And the next day you get a call saying you didn’t get the part. So Ganga and the milk pot, she carries her milk pot and she’s got milk in there and she thinks she’s gonna sell the milk and get the money and then the pot falls down on the ground and it breaks and all her milk spills.

This is what we were taught as kids, it’s an Indian folktale, the moral is don’t think so far ahead, and start making plans and stuff, and then you already jump to step 10 from one thing.”

This is a proverb of sorts that my mother told me when I asked her if she remembered anything her mother had told her from childhood, any stories or morals. This is her word for word retelling of that story, and it means a lot to her, because when she was growing up, her mother would tell her and her sisters this story all the time. She says it’s taught her to not get too ahead of oneself.

“Santa Claus”

Nationality: Indian
Age: 40
Occupation: Marketing
Residence: Orange County, CA
Performance Date: 4/16/17
Primary Language: English

“Why does Santa Claus have such a big sack? He only comes once a year.”

Sapna, my cousin, wanted to originally tell a joke that her dad had been saying to her and her cousins growing up, but another cousin beat her to it, so she decided to tell this one instead at our annual Easter party. She was really excited about the delivery of it, too.  She said it was a joke she’d heard at work, but then she looked it up online to remember the exact wording and tell it correctly. Sapna’s always leaned towards slightly inappropriate humor, so I was expecting something along these lines, but it did make everyone in the group laugh, if reluctantly. Humor is a really big part of Sapna’s life, and she’s such a funny, outspoken person, so this joke was perfect for her.

Monisha Mantras (4)

Nationality: Indian
Age: 38
Occupation: Alternative Medicine
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/16/17
Primary Language: English

“I am perfectly on time.”

Monisha is my older cousin who has taken a longer route to find what she ultimately wants to do, and that ended up being alternative medicine, so she does acupuncture and provides herbal remedies for people seeking less traditional forms of healing. She’s also very into yoga, hiking, and finding oneself, and as a result, she has lots of mantras that she shared with me after she asked me how college was and I told her I was a little stressed. I decided to write them down, because she’s heard these mantras from backpacking trips through Asia, Europe, and California when she goes with groups of other people for meditation trips. She said that she didn’t know what she wanted to do for a long time, but now she does. I asked her to tell me some of the mantras that helped her at our annual Easter party, and she immediately had some to lend out. She said she uses this one a lot.

Monisha Mantras (3)

Nationality: Indian
Age: 38
Occupation: Alternative Medicine
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/16/17
Primary Language: English

“I choose my thoughts.”

Monisha is my older cousin who has taken a longer route to find what she ultimately wants to do, and that ended up being alternative medicine, so she does acupuncture and provides herbal remedies for people seeking less traditional forms of healing. She’s also very into yoga, hiking, and finding oneself, and as a result, she has lots of mantras that she shared with me after she asked me how college was and I told her I was a little stressed. I decided to write them down, because she’s heard these mantras from backpacking trips through Asia, Europe, and California when she goes with groups of other people for meditation trips. She said that she didn’t know what she wanted to do for a long time, but now she does. I asked her to tell me some of the mantras that helped her at our annual Easter party, and she immediately had some to lend out. She said she uses this one a lot.