Advance warning: Non-Hindi readers, pl skip post as it turned out to be too long to include translations.
Prologue: Daddy dearest has lived all his life in the land of Tamils except for a brief 11 months stint in training school, BARC at Chembur, Mumbai. Mommy has lived in the north of Vindhyas only vicariously through the Hindi movies of the '70s. Here is a record of some of their Hindi 'Laughter is the best medicine' type stories!
PS: Any movie makers looking for material for a Southie spoof, here are your answers!
Year: 1999; Location: Souvenir shop, Katra (near Jammu, base camp for the Vaishno Devi shrine)
Mommy - Yeh, yeh, yeh, yeh and yeh, kitna?
Shopkeeper: Maaji, sab milaaki pachees.
Mommy: Ennathu? Too much, too much. Pachaas. That's all.
Shopkeeper: Hain???!!!!
Year: 2003; Location: Kolkata
Dad: Tum jaanta Raj hotel?
Cabbie: Nahin saab.
Dad: (waving his hands wildly to indicate right) Yahaan se seedha, (then gesturing to the right) phir seedha, (another right)ek aur seedha, (then left) phir udhar se aisa seedha.
Cabbie: Phew! Main poochta hoon kisi se!
Year: 2008 Location:Mumbai
Postman: Yeh parcel sirf Meera madam ko dena hai
Dad: Woh feeding karta hai. Tum apun to deta hai. Main madam ko feeding baad mein deta hai. Ab deta aur jaata!
Postman: Uh, okay. Sign karo!
Not to be outdone, here are two gaffes of mine which my friends never let me forget. (here's to Kunal and Dips!)
Year: 2001, Location: Puri Beach, early in the morning on new year's
Me: Kunal, sunrise kitna sundar hai. I love the sunrise because mein to beach pe hi ugi thi!
Year: 2002, Location: Gurgaon
[I called my friend and her mom picked up the phone. I thought I'd be polite and enquire about her parents]
Me: Aunty, aap kaise ho? Dipti ke baap kaise hain?
Cheers!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Ahoy from the South!
Button turned six months old :) I finally feel like a veteran mommy.... am a certified diaper changer, sleep-deprived soul, story teller in 3 languages and a connoisseur of baby talk, not to mention how I can nurse Button just about anywhere without worrying too much about any skin-show! New skills indeed! My husband and I celebrated by attacking a date-walnut cake and demolishing it in minutes! And of course the brief Kerala trip.
We did Button's annaprashnam at Guruvayoor on the 6th of Dec (the security was super tight and reassuring). Button looked like a doll in a veshti (the south Indian wrapper in cream and gold). We fed him 7 different types of food off a banana leaf at 5.00 a.m. and although it was so early in the morning, he still slurped and licked his mouth. We also did a tulabaram (paid for his weight in sugar and bananas, the proceeds of which would go towards feeding children supported by the temple trust).
He was a model child until we returned to Cochin airport from where the dad and son parted ways to fly to two different cities. I've always rolled my eyes at those babies who become cranky, loud and impossible in a flight and always believed that my baby would remain a paragon of virtue onboard any flight cos' that is how I'd've brought him up. Button CRASHED those dreams of mine into the netherworld on my solo trip with him from Kochi to Chennai. The moment he saw us leaving withought dad, he began yelling, kicking and screaming. He cried non-stop(except when air hostess Bineesha of Kingfisher airways would stop to smile her dimpled smile at him! God Bless her!) The moment he saw my mom-in-law(upon landing) he gave me an evil grin and went to her. As if I wanted him back after that flight!
I came to my mom's place this morning and Button showed off by doing the worm crawl for the first time today. Described as neenjal in tamizh, he basically pulled up his butt and somehow moved towards his fave cloth book this afternoon.
More posts to follow on lots of topics vying for attention on this blog. In a bit! Until then, enjoy the great weather :)
We did Button's annaprashnam at Guruvayoor on the 6th of Dec (the security was super tight and reassuring). Button looked like a doll in a veshti (the south Indian wrapper in cream and gold). We fed him 7 different types of food off a banana leaf at 5.00 a.m. and although it was so early in the morning, he still slurped and licked his mouth. We also did a tulabaram (paid for his weight in sugar and bananas, the proceeds of which would go towards feeding children supported by the temple trust).
He was a model child until we returned to Cochin airport from where the dad and son parted ways to fly to two different cities. I've always rolled my eyes at those babies who become cranky, loud and impossible in a flight and always believed that my baby would remain a paragon of virtue onboard any flight cos' that is how I'd've brought him up. Button CRASHED those dreams of mine into the netherworld on my solo trip with him from Kochi to Chennai. The moment he saw us leaving withought dad, he began yelling, kicking and screaming. He cried non-stop(except when air hostess Bineesha of Kingfisher airways would stop to smile her dimpled smile at him! God Bless her!) The moment he saw my mom-in-law(upon landing) he gave me an evil grin and went to her. As if I wanted him back after that flight!
I came to my mom's place this morning and Button showed off by doing the worm crawl for the first time today. Described as neenjal in tamizh, he basically pulled up his butt and somehow moved towards his fave cloth book this afternoon.
More posts to follow on lots of topics vying for attention on this blog. In a bit! Until then, enjoy the great weather :)
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Jaago Re: Vote out the rot
After the shock and anger passed, am now filled with a sense of urgency, especially after reading and watching how some of our "leaders" reacted. RR Patil the Deputy CM of Maharashtra said that there would always be an incident or two such as this (the recent attacks on Taj Mahal, Oberoi etc.) in a big city like Mumbai and his boss, the CM of Maharashtra 'Shri' Vilasrao Deshmukh decided to visit the affected sites with a filmmaker. What empathy!
Now I'd like to do something.... no, I rephrase, I WANT to do something... but what? A million single efforts are not going to solve the problem. Like Obama said, I need Change, I need Leadership and I need Vision. I want to believe that as an Indian I can contribute to bettering my country. I realise that I need a strong leader to take this country to a better morrow. And for all this rhetoric in my blog (and in my head), I realise I NEED TO VOTE.
All media images of polling booths show SEC B, C, D and sub D categories voting. Never has a car stopped to let out a couple of educated MBA professionals/Media Managers/Engineers/Investment Bankers vote. C'mon, how many of you have ever voted? I have promised to myself I shall cast my vote in EVERY election that I can. At least let my voice be heard, use my right as a citizen, show the way to my son and his son. Taking a small step forward, I have already arranged to apply for my voter's ID card (which I am ashamed to admit, I still do not possess at the ripe voting age of 29!) I shall be back with more details of whether you can vote outside your constituency etc. But meanwhile do check out "jaagore.com"
To paraphrase Michael, nee Mikaeel Jackson, lets make the world a better place for you and for me and the entire human race.
ps: Here are more voices -
http://mammamiameamamma.blogspot.com/2008/11/lets-do-something.html
http://orangeicecandy.blogspot.com/2008/11/yeh-desh-hai-meraswades-hai-mera.html
Now I'd like to do something.... no, I rephrase, I WANT to do something... but what? A million single efforts are not going to solve the problem. Like Obama said, I need Change, I need Leadership and I need Vision. I want to believe that as an Indian I can contribute to bettering my country. I realise that I need a strong leader to take this country to a better morrow. And for all this rhetoric in my blog (and in my head), I realise I NEED TO VOTE.
All media images of polling booths show SEC B, C, D and sub D categories voting. Never has a car stopped to let out a couple of educated MBA professionals/Media Managers/Engineers/Investment Bankers vote. C'mon, how many of you have ever voted? I have promised to myself I shall cast my vote in EVERY election that I can. At least let my voice be heard, use my right as a citizen, show the way to my son and his son. Taking a small step forward, I have already arranged to apply for my voter's ID card (which I am ashamed to admit, I still do not possess at the ripe voting age of 29!) I shall be back with more details of whether you can vote outside your constituency etc. But meanwhile do check out "jaagore.com"
To paraphrase Michael, nee Mikaeel Jackson, lets make the world a better place for you and for me and the entire human race.
ps: Here are more voices -
http://mammamiameamamma.blogspot.com/2008/11/lets-do-something.html
http://orangeicecandy.blogspot.com/2008/11/yeh-desh-hai-meraswades-hai-mera.html
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