Yep – I related to most of these, particularly the name thing. My parents chose a name (“Arpan”) that wasn’t spelled anything like the pronunciation (Or-pone) – and it’s pronounced differently depending where in India you are.
And while I didn’t have school lunch issues (my mom usually made bad Western sandwiches I didn’t eat), sleepovers and camping were things that Other People Did. I finally went camping for the first time at 24 with my future partner and loved it (now I refuse to camp without a trailer or something to simplify things with 4 kids involved).
Dating thankfully was a non-issue but since we are Indian, there would be regular suggestions like So-and-so’s daughter blah blah nice blah blah. I’m convinced that matchmaking is part of the Indian DNA.
And then there’s the long-distance phone calls – regular chats with family with lots of Can you hear me?! and I can’t hear you! Fun stuff 🙂
