Telugu Daughter, Tamilian Daughter-in-law

That's what my profile says. I think after 7 years of being with Prabu I have become more Tamilian than ever. So much that while typing the title for this post I wrote, "Tamil Daughter, Tamilian Daughter-in-law". I do forget sometimes that I know Telugu and that I am born an Andhriite:).

It's not about just speaking the Tamil language. I still suck at it even though Prabu's family thinks I speak better Tamil than him(BURNNNNN ;)). From the outside we are just two South-Indians. However, the truth is for me it's two worlds apart. The food, clothing, music, movies, culture... you name it I can show the difference. Good part for me is I somehow started embracing the difference and started to be a part of it instead of staying outside and being a total spectator. I learned the language, I watch the movies, I cook and still try to cook authentic Tamil food.

When I started dating Prabu, the only thing I liked was some Tamil songs. When we got serious about our relationship I started learning the language just to make Prabu's mom comfortable. It's hard enough to know your son decided to marry some girl of his choice without the parents' input, you really want to make it hard for them by saying, "Oh by the way she won't talk to you in any language except English." Not that Amma cannot speak English, it's just that everyone feels much more comfortable in their mother tongue. So after I was done kissing Prabu's family with my Tamil speaking skills, I moved on to the food.

I truly believe that whole "You can get to a man's heart is through his stomach" blah blah bull. Why? Only because I know Prabu truly enjoys anything and everything I cook for him. And on the quest of making him say, "Wow you make good Tamil food", I bought all the Tamil Cooking books I can get my hands on. Got recipes from Amma and what not. I thought I had to make so many dishes but one authentic Kozhambu and my man fell in love with me all over again. I should have known that he is sooo flippity flap easy to please.

Any who, all I am saying is, it's not that bad at all. I love the changes I went through and I still enjoy it every single second. And at the end of the day, it's not about what part of the country you are from and what language you speak or what color dress you wear, it just truly is about the person you do it for. I do it all just for this smile.