Friday, March 13, 2009

Bangali bajey boka

I think the reputation Bangalis have of being lazy at work is closely linked to the other reputation they have of having an infinite capacity of what can be only described as 'bajey boka' and an unquenchable thirst for legendary and, now much commercialized, adda. After dinner, I went to this grocer's shop to get cold-drinks. At the end of the day, at the end of a week for that matter, there was our dear grocer Raju, a philosopher of the first water, all chatty. Someone had come to purchase posta. He was saying that posta does not have its origin in India, but hails from Afghanistan. Customer B said that posta is good for the health, especially in summer, because it apparently keeps you cool. Customer A: That is precisely why it originated in Afghanistan. Raju interjected that he had heard tell that some people even eat posta-baata. Customer B: Why posta-baata? Not here, but o-desh-e they even eat posta-r khichuri. Imagine how much posta they consume! Customer A: It cools the blood, that is why it comes from Afghanistan. Everything has a geographical explanation. Customer B: (and there's no way I'm writing this in English) Shotyi baba, oder desh-e ja gorom podey! Raju: Gorom podey boley posta khaye, sheta edik-e eshechhe. Oder desh-e bomb-o podey. Asha kori sheta edikey ashbe na.
After what is a hard day's work for us Bangalis he comes up with that. (I am, by no means, suggesting that all Bangalis are lazy at work. It's just that I am. Raju, for the record, is a fairly hard working man.) That was when the little helper returned to the counter with my bottle of Thums Up and I left the store. What a line to end an otherwise eventful day. I simply love these conversations Raju hosts every morn and every night.

7 comments:

  1. haha! suzanne, it is your knack of noticing these things, and delighting in them, that makes your blog what it is. chaliye jao ;)

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  2. Raju reminds me of railway raju.
    But baajey boka is nice to overhear.
    it gives opportunity for pishima style stories.
    :)

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  3. Railway Raju brings back sad and painful memories of very uneventful classes, where either we all sat, expected to come up with intellizent koschens about the novel, or I sat, recollecting very sad movie-taglines I'd seen the previous day, while a debate raged on around me.

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  4. In which obviously it was futile to paricipate in, to continue from your last comment. The Don's words keep coming back on the subject of the course. Utter rubbish, mostly. :)

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  5. When the class ended, unable to keep one to myself, I shared it with Aparna. The Adult Version of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hide (1972)had the following poster tagline: A tale of hex and sex, rated "X". Aparna thanked me heartily for bringing her out of the confusion. :)

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  6. Adult Version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?
    Sounds interesting.

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  7. Posto...onekdin khayi na toh?!*runs off to somamashi*

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