Am I out of place??

"Oh, it's the favourite chunk of the year.

The summer holidays are here and I'm going to stay at my grandparents house", chimed little Arya.

Even though she is 5 years old she is an excellent planner and has already finalised the blue print of her vacation.

The day would start at 10:00 a.m. , followed by all favourite breakfasts made by granny, play time with neighbour's didi Nia, no nap time in the afternoons and evenings are booked for swimming pool and park games.

If you need to take Arya somewhere, you have to take a prior appointment.

The vacations started and she travelled to hers and my favourite place in the world, my parents house.

As expected she was welcomed with new toys, yummy mangoes and lots of love by her grandparents.

Although she was very excited but she was extremely tired with all the traveling. Soon she dozed off still mumbling her plans for the next day.

She woke up to a beautiful morning all fresh, energetic and exuberant. We had steaming idlis for breakfast. She finished her food in a jiffy which otherwise takes an hour to be fed. Either it was the magic of grandma's cooking or she is bored of my food, anyways her tummy was full and she was all set for play time with her new friends.

Our neighbour's kids were very cordial and happy to see her and came forward for introductions. 

The first statement of "What is your name?", went fine. I was glad probably the ice is broken and they can have a good vacation.

Next Arya said "Didi let's go there and play." The other kids paused for a while looked towards me and asked "Does she always speak in English?". I nodded casually.

Soon after all the kids left giving vague reasons for not playing. Arya was left alone, I somehow managed to pull her inside the house and engaged her with a new doll house.

The whole incident made me ponder - "Was speaking in English the issue?".

English and Odia were the two languages Arya was introduced to since early days. Stories and rhymes were usually in English and we would converse in Odia, it being our mother tongue.

We gradually realised she had an inclination towards English, which we pursued considering her educational journey will as such start with A for apple and B for ball. She can always learn Odia, Hindi and other languages later. 

By the age of 2 she started saying broken incomplete sentences in English. We considered it normal for her age and encouraged and improvised her.

Now at the age of 5, she speaks much like a native English speaker. She is building a strong vocabulary and learning new words every single day. We have not compelled her into English language, it is just she has imbibed it. And she has done it beautifully.

She has even started incorporating different phrases and bigger words onto her conversations.

We just felt proud to see our little bud slowly developing into a flower. But never in our wildest dream we ever imagined a language which is commonly used in India will become a barrier for making friends.

Nowadays a lot of the kids in urban areas are going to schools where English is a common mode of education. How can English be such an alien language for them?

Maybe I was over thinking as a mother and scuffed the thought away. And settle down for some lunch, I was actually very hungry and my mother is indeed a great chef. The food looked and smelled luscious.

With the onset of evening, Arya all geared up with her sand toys to go down to the park. By the time we reached the park, it was quite crowded but she was excited to see so many friends, sand and slides.

Initially she evaluated and explored the park and tried different slides and swings before sitting down with a group of friends.

Some girls were sitting in a circle and playing with sand. Arya also joined them with her toys.

Before she could even make friends with them, they heard her speaking in English and started frowning. "We make friendship with kids who speak in Hindi not English", was their statement before leaving the spot. 

Arya was again alone and a bit frustrated this time.

The next day to distract her from the sequence of events, we took her to a water park and the day went well. For a couple of days she avoided going to the park. We kept her occupied with cycling and swimming. 

One day she got an invitation from the neighbour's daughter's birthday party. It was the same Nia didi's birthday.

I was reluctant to send her but my father encouraged me and said "let her handle the situation in her own way. When she needs you, she will let you know, don't be so over protective."

Arya got dressed in a beautiful unicorn dress and was ready for the party. After the cake cutting the kids sat down for some colouring activities.

And bang on, just in line with my greatest fears Nia said "Arya, nobody likes you here." 

Before I could react or stop Nia, Arya replied "it's find didi. I have lots of people who love me a lot," and there she was my little warrior Arya isolated but not lonely.

She thoroughly enjoyed the party - played with balloons, jumped on trampoline, ate yummy chocolate cake and came back with a return gift. 

The other day she insisted on going to the park. The shackles have been broken. She was comfortable in playing alone. 

A little boy came forward and started playing with her. They spoke different languages but could still communicate.

They enjoyed a lot and by the end of the vacation they became very good friends.

Hindi, English or for that matter no language is superior or inferior. It is just a way of expressing ourselves. Some languages we know, some we learn and some always stay alien for us. It is important in being comfortable in what we are and respect others if someone is different.

In the whole episode Arya was a child and so were the other kids. Even kids feel depressed of being left out or mental agony of not being good enough.

It is very much important as parents and guardians to listen to them, understand them, support them and help them whenever they need.

As a grown up it is our utmost responsibility to help the next generation in becoming a better human being first. Education, success and everything else will fall in line.

Now being Arya's mother even I am more comfortable in writing in English. Gender and spellings of Hindi is very difficult for me.

But one of my friends writes so fluidly in Hindi. And he is my best friend.

We are what we are, different, unique yet so similar.