Aishwarya (pronounced Eye-shwair-ee-ah) is a lovely 11-year-old girl (turning 12 soon!) in seventh grade. I met her because she is the daughter of Roopa (pronounced Roo-pah), my lab advisor's maid, who often also helps me take care of hoverflies in the lab. I sat down to interview Aishwarya alongside Roopa to find out more about their lives.
Aishwarya eats typical South Indian fare, including rice, lentils and dosa. Like me, she does not like eating idlis (pronounced id-lees), which are steamed rice cakes. She also usually does not enjoy sweets, although she sometimes eats laddoos (pronounced luh-doos), which are spherical Indian sweets made from flour, butter and sugar.
Aishwarya lives in Bangalore with her mother, father, younger sister and younger brother in a house that is quite close to the National Centre for Biological Sciences, where I work. Her house is made of bricks and has two bedrooms along with a pooja room, where her family conducts Hindu religious rituals. Aishwarya shares her bedroom with her brother and sister, and they often fight over blankets and pillows just like I remember doing when I grew up sharing a bedroom with my brother in the United States!
