English in its interesting form in India

English has invaded common man's life...and how? Its in a way that one does not realize it. Here, in Bangalore, every other bus conductor uses the phrase "Old daene" to notify that the bus driver is supposed to halt the bus for a while. Well,...if you are wondering what is this "Old daene".... Its English!!. Its "HOLD ON". The phrase is pronounced as Old daene. Well, the concept of Bus
Conductors was borrowed from British rule in India.
Coming back to our English phrase, the conductor would use this phrase hundreds of time day in and day out, oblivious to its meaning and more interestingly the language - English.
He would never give a thought to its origin, all he knows is that he has to use the phrase to communicate to the driver that the bus needs to stop for a while.
Similarly "right" short version for "all right" in its adjective form is used to notify the driver taht he can continue(he could now move on)
Such use of English words is part of everyone's life in India, very well blended to suit vernacular language.
Certain English words are used by locals to denote an object..if i can describe it this way, blended perfectly and used as a local language. For eg. it is common for people to call "table salt" as "salt uppu" - denoting free-flowing salt as opposed to rock salt.
Notable here is the term "salt uppu" which translates as "salt salt" as "uppu" in south Indian languages mean salt in English.
In certain remote villages in coastal part of South West India - where fishing is primary occupation, "Nylon rope" is used as a noun to denote fishing nets/ropes. Here "Nylon rope" is something like a brand.
Sometime back when I traveled to Chennai, I visited the beach. I was sitting on the shore, surrounded by hawkers, tourists. One of the hawker was selling packaged water. He was calling out thus "Water-packet thanni" "Thanni"in Tamil means water. Now this literally translates to "Water-packet water"!!! But "Water-packet thanni" for him and for many others its Water packaged in a plastic packet.
Likewise lot of English words are wrongly used to convey something when it means something else. Oblivious again. The word "personality" is used wrongly in place of "physique".
English is used in a variety of interesting forms, but what matters is the message getting conveyed. And yes thats not an issue..

At the traffic signal

"Sanjay vaani.....Sanjay vaani......." I heard a distant call probably of a teen-age boy, the call louder as the boy passed by the auto rickshaw I was commuting in. He looked tired after being out on the road all day and was looking to make some money.
It was a typical monsoon day, skies were dark, way dark for a 5 PM. It was drizzling, the rain could pour down heavy any moment. The boy, restless to sell off few of the last pieces of evening paper he had with him. Not a good day to sell newspaper.
I was looking out of the rickshaw I had hired, I wanted to reach the nearest bus depot and take shelter in a bus before it starts pouring. It was at a traffic junction, one among the numerous traffic signals....men and women riding motor cycles, mopeds hurrying up to avoid getting wet in rains; snugged in their over-sized jackets and coats, shielding their handbags from rain drops spluttering......distant thunder adding a rhythm to the impatient honks of drivers....The traffic signal seemed too long, rain aggravating to already existing traffic woes. No one seems to pay attention to the call of this poor newspaper seller. A motor-cycle rider meanwhile quickly took out his cell-phone and was checking for any important missed calls.
A cab driver tuning to a different FM radio channel; obviously irritated by the never-ending chatters of the RJ......another driver cozy in a luxury sedan lighting up a smoke........most of them looking at passers-by rushing to take shelter from the rain....the auto rickshaw driver moving forward feet by feet closer to the zebra crossing and finally stopped on the zebra crossing making it difficult for the pedestrians to cross the road........a couple of frail-looking kids dressed in rags...sitting under a ragged shelter...they are beggars who perform acrobatics on the road at traffic junctions and beg for money....I come across such kids everyday....obliging to their "Didi...do rupiya dedo...didi do rupiya dedo". They deserve good life, home, food, shelter, education....they don't have any of these.
the traffic light turned yellow...no one was ready to wait for it to turn green...vroooom went the motor cycles...the autos...the buses..the cars.........And the newspaper vendor and the poor girls? Well its another traffic signal for them......

I wish....

This thought has crossed my mind zillion times...whenever my mind thinks "I wish...." proving time and again that I am one among many people out there wondering what ifs...

A fair person want his/her skin tanned....There are skin tanning cosmetic procedures..Gosh!!!
A dark-skinned wants to be fair. We see numerous skin care products promising Fair complexion. Don't these advertisements promote discrimination!!!
Cant help it, its the stigma attached to the society.
The list is endless..........Girls having straight hairs go for perms...girls with curly hairs...straighten them...blond haired people dye their hair black...Voluptuous people wanting to be size zero...thin people wanting to put on weight..........Phew!!!!
Is this in our genes? Are these desires particular to homo sapiens alone? Would a pig wish to have a long tail like a cow's? An elephant wanting to have wings like a bird's? A monkey wanting to have colorful feathers as a peacock's? My mind can imagine without boundaries....
Err....Its not that I am enlightened one..I and my friend have decided to color our hairs...well why?? Oops.. Just for a change..There goes the cliche.....

Heaven on earth

One such place where I experienced heaven on earth was Lake Tahoe bordering Nevada and California. Its a large freshwater alpine lake known for its water clarity. The lake is surrounded by snowy sierra Nevada mountains. That was the first time I was seeing a place with snow everywhere. A white blanket of snow on the streets, decorating the pine trees. Roofs and window sills of houses bordered with thick layer of snow. All this while I thought such scenes were only creative imagination of man but woho..no one can beat nature at its creative and beautiful best.

There was not a single creature or humans on the lake shore. We actually managed to sneak into it. The sunlight falling on snow capped mountains and the lake scattered the light and my eye could not take in the bluish tinge and sparkling silver.

I stood there facing the lake, the mountains and gazed at them, my senses could not get enough ot the wonder; the blue clear water, the distant mountains, the thick snow bed, the freshness in the air....

All I did was to thank the almighty for giving me this wonderful chance to experience the power of nature. How blessed I was. What more do I ask Him? I got the chance to experience heaven while standing firm on earth....

Was there any need??

Few of us from various teams at work were selected to undergo a training regarding a new technology at work. The trainer was an American who had specially flown down from US and this was his first trip to Bangalore.
We witnessed a funny incident during the first day of our training. One of the participant was late for the training. He came in when we had our first break after about 2 hours of the class.
He was trying to get an idea of what was explained and what he missed. He interacted with others and all seemed normal.
The session started again and as it was an interactive one, people were free to interrupt and ask queries and discuss. This gentleman had a query and it resulted in a discussion with the trainer. What was queer here was this man until now spoke his normal language, but as he started talking to the American trainer, he started putting up an accent. everyone could sense his fake accent and it was too much for people to digest. This went on throughout the morning session. People shared their queer expressions as this guy started talking. All he wanted to talk in his newly acquired fake American accent and steal people's attention even though he had no point to make.
The unusual observation was he talked normal outside training during lunch break. It was only at class that he got transformed to an American....split personality huh??
This continued through out the day and as we were getting used to our Mr. Big, our trainer quoted an example of Lamborghini to support a statement that he was talking about. Phut!!!! here goes Mr Big again, this time with a question - "What is it that you told?" in his unusual accent. Ohhhooooo...the entire class burst out laughing. All this while, this man spoke and poked his nose into every statement that the trainer made as if he knew the world and now he asks what was a Lamborghini? It was not that all had to know what a Lamborghini was. It was just that he created too much hype as if he knew everything and anything.
Coming back, the trainer was patient, (he knew how to handle things well) and enlightened our man that Lamborghini was earlier an Italian tractor manufacturing company, which also manufactures sports car and is now a subsidy of German luxury car manufacturer Audi. Our gentleman, without battling an eyelid said thus - "Oh, is that so. I have never heard of Lamborghini. I know only HMT and Mahindra tractors" - well still with his newly acquired fake accent.
WAS THIS ALL NEEDED?

How I wish I could find the boy.....

Its been a while since I blogged. This particular incident occur ed about 2 months back. It was early May when I and my friend went out to finish off my tasks on a Saturday morning. We were walking on the street, when all of a sudden were interrupted by a boy. He was well dressed, aged about 15 years. He persuaded us to buy "magic ruler" that he was selling. The ruler was a flexible plastic which could be worn around the wrist as a bracelet. It also had 3D images on it.
We didn't need a ruler, and I said I don't want it. He persuaded us to buy and I thought no harm in buying one. He quoted Rs 20, which was at least 5 times the actual price. This time I definitely did not want to shell out 20 Rs for a ruler which I would never use.
I said I did not want it. He then revealed that he was selling the ruler for Rs 20 so that he can earn some money to pay his school expenses. I asked him few more details and I learnt that he would soon be joining class 10, he was trying to save much for his school fees and books during his vacation. He sounded sincere, yet I was doubtful. But his one reason of education was enough for me to buy a ruler. I paid him Rs 20 and bought the magic ruler. He went on his way.
I started discussing with my friend about the boy and his reason. I wanted to know if he was genuine and didn't cook up a story. I recalled how I struggled to complete my education. I remember all I wanted from my parents was that they spend on my education and nothing else.
The times I used to cry when they were not in a situation to pay my tuition fees on time and how I was made to stand out of the examination hall as my tuition fees were due. After much discussions, I would be let in only to lose 215-20 minutes of time and yet emerge topper..
Now that I was in having a good job and earning enough, I told my friend that I wanted to talk to the boy further. I wanted to help him financially if he was truly in need of help for his education. We would have talked maybe for 10 mins, I told her I wanted to go back to the place where we met the boy. We re-traced our path. I went to the spot to find him nowhere in sight. Both of us roamed around, to shops nearby, a park and neighbouring streets hoping to find him..Alas he was gone...How I wished I could track him down....I was disappointed...guilty that my mind didn't react fast enough........

Kuruvi

Naaah....this is not about Vijay's latest flick. But about kuruvis..aka Sparrows. Common house sparrows. Few years back when the city still retained its old charm, one could see these sparrows; incessant chirps flying around, feeding on grains, seeds...How lovely these birds were. When I was very young, the sparrows would be the source of entertainment. I would beg my mama to spare few grains of rice. When she gave me some, I used to put them on the window sill and watch the sparrows have their field day. Now where have all the sparrows gone??? :-(