Strollers

Often I think of my life from the perspective I imagine my mom will have the first time she visits me here. I can’t help but think, She will freak out! I know she will because I know if instinct and survival hadn’t taken over to tell my brain that this is normal, I would be freaking out.

I often think like this when we’re out walking with our strollers. I bought my stroller, which leaves a lot to be desired, for 1200 rupees, and it has been worth every paisa. We take these suckers everywhere! Whenever the kids are awake, we plop them in the strollers and then strap everything we own to the back – purses, shopping bags, laundry to be dropped off at the dry cleaners or iron man, booster seats if we’re eating out – and off we go.

We seem to be the only people in Bangalore who need to push our babies in strollers. Everyone else just slings their kid across their hip with an old saree and balances everything else on their head. We do not have the dexterity or endurance to accomplish such a feat, and I’m quite certain I never will, although Steph probably could with practice.

We’ve gotten pretty good at maneuvering these strollers through a city with no sidewalks or effective traffic rules, avoiding potholes and wild animals. But, I feel like each walk confronts me with the same choice multiple times: Oncoming Traffic or Cow Poop? Do I roll my stroller through a huge pile of cow poop or do I swerve around it and risk being broadsided by a scooter loaded with a family of 5?

In those split seconds, I remember that I have to keep my stroller inside tonight and that while there’s a chance the scooter will swerve away from me, the poop’s not moving, so I logically decide it’s best to take my chances with the traffic. It’s right after the scooter goes screaming by that I think, my mom is going to freak out!