411. BUT THAT’S A GIRL’S NAME

I hear something. Ringing. Dinging. Binging. I pop open one eye and survey my surroundings. Hhhmm. This is not my bedroom. Well – wait it is my bedroom – just my childhood bedroom in my parents’ house. Oh yes I came back to Minnesota last night. New York feels a million miles away and a million years ago.

Again I hear the ring, ding, bing. My hand roams around the bed for the phone, which I find and open. Text message. It is 5.30 am in the Central Time Zone. From Rohit. Hhhmm. I am sleepy but I sit up to read the note. It says. Taara Rohit Surname, weight, height, date of birth. Mother and baby are doing well.

Ugh. I don’t have the brain power for this. Taara is a girl’s name. They were having a boy. I don’t even find this remotely funny. So I go back to bed. Rohit is a little prankster, which is one of the reasons he is fun to chill out with. But at 5.30 am CT I do not find Rohit amusing.

Mom comes into the bedroom an hour later asking if I want tea, I say yes and ask her to come back in five minutes to wake me up. Which she does, with military precision. When I sit I reach for my phone again and re-read my text message. Hhhmm. Is it possible that they really did have a girl instead of a boy? But didn’t I throw the bluest baby shower known to man? I text him back and ask “Taara? That is a girl’s name.” He texts back and says yes, they had a girl. I ask again how Meera and … Taara are doing. Rohit reports back, with pride, rightly so – great.

Okay – well this is fine with me. I would have loved a little nephew to pieces, but I can TOTALLY deal with this. Taara - Auntie Desi Girl cannot wait to finally meet you!