Pointless post, really, but

I wanted to share a little family story I think is kind of funny.

The photo is of my cousin Priyala with her daughter, granddaughter and grandson. They’re from India but they now live in England, near London. Some family members are Hindu and some are Christian. In India, Priyala’s sister was a nun, a mother superior, in fact.

The family loves Halloween, and last year when Priyala’s grandson (who has his arm around her in the photo) came to pick her up to go to the big annual community Halloween party, he showed up dressed in a flowing caftan and a turban. Sashed at his waist he wore a long cardboard scimitar with a “jewel” encrusted handle. “What are you supposed to be?” Priyala asked him. “Mohammed,” he said. Priyala told me she was horrified and that she’d gasped and said, ”Stupid boy! You can’t go as Mohammed! The Muslims will kill you, and if they don’t, the Christians will. Get a sheet from the bedroom closet and go as a ghost.” A little while later he came out of the bedroom, still dressed in the caftan and turban and sporting the cardboard scimitar – and looking exactly the same as when he’d gone in. Priyala said, “I thought you were going to change!” “I did," he told her. “Now I’m a sheik.”