Mashima and Mr. Kitojima

Mashima is a new permanent resident of the U.S and a much loved part of our group. But though in her heart I’m sure she feels some affection for the US, as both her children live here, outwardly she denies any and all attachment to this country. Her disenchantment with the US, she cites, is due to the mosquitoes and crickets in our Long Island backyards, the lonely afternoons when her son and daughter-in-law are at work and the grandchildren at school, and also the country's foreign policy (not necessarily in that order).

One summer evening during the Olympics we were having one of our weekend parties. Swimming was on and we were enthusiastically rooting for the US swimmers. Mashima was looking disinterestedly at the TV screen. In the absence of India she declined to support any other country! But then adjusting her glasses, she suddenly pumped her fist in the air with a “come on Kitojima”. Kitojima - who??? Along with US representation, there was this swimmer from Japan. Some of you may feel that the similarity between the names Kitojima and Mashima must have endeared the Japanese swimmer to our dear Mashima, but that was not the case. After India, Mashima’s next love is Asia, and hence Kitojima! All hail to the Indo-Japan water coalition, and talk of extreme......continental patriotism!