Saturday, July 21, 2007

Daddy's Little Princess

So on the way back from Bejing, I stopped in Singapore and visited Dhana's family. I have worked with Dhana for almost 3 years now. Our friendship is based on mutual trust and respect and the fact that we'd both fail in our jobs if we did not get along. Dhana manages new account transitions - all the new accounts are happening in my region. I am his main customer, he is my right hand.

Anyway, given our close association, I've heard all about his family, and his family knows all about me. But this was the first time in 3 years, that I was going to be in Singapore the same time that Dhana was there. To be accurate we both arrived in Singapore at 6am that Saturday - me from Bejing, Dhana from India - where he'd been working on another new account for me.

Dhana has 2 kids - a little boy about 6 months old, and the cutest little almost 3 year old daughter. His wife made CIO in a multi-national and juggles home and work while Dhana goes globetrotting. They picked me up from the airport, and we travelled into the city to take the 3 year old to drama and elocution class. Why ? I asked Dhana - "oh because she speaks Singlish (singapore english) and we need her to speak properly" - reminded me of my childhood where my family spoke to me in English cos they wanted to be sure that I spoke well.

On the way back, she was acting up, and Dhana and his wife tried to get her to settle down. Dhana's favorite line was "You are my little princess aren't you. That is not what Little Princesses do..." It worked a couple of times, until the little one piped up with "I don't want to be a princess". There was a stunned silence. She had not been known to be quite so rebellious.

...I want to be king!!

Of all the things I had expected, that wasn't one of them. We were all thrilled, and marvelled at her being able to grasp the nuance and know exatly what she wanted. Yes little girl - may you grow up to be king! No doubt the kingdom will be better off for that.

No comments:

Post a Comment