Strolling along a typical Chennai street on one of my evening walks around the block where I live, the two way traffic is a tight jam :(. With no 'foot path' dedicated for such strollers like moi there's nothing to do but gingerly press along the compound walls of the buildings whilst dodging on-coming cyclists and bikers. Suddenly from out of the blue this cyclist comes straight at me and says 'side walk please ma'! meaning please step aside. This took my mind rambling to the many instances of chennai-ites and Indians on the whole using English words and phrases woven into the vernacular to convey meaning that makes perfect sense to the local listener. So only in India you have phrases like : 'nadu-centre' meaning bulls eye, 'aana-but', 'backside entrance', 'cooling glasses' meaning sun glasses, 'loose motion' (lol) , 'one tight slap' and 'time pass'!
Only Indians will get what 'wheat complexioned' is, or that the bridegroom 'purchases suitings and shirtings' while the bride 'itself' wears loads of jewelry around her neck though it may be 'paining' her but still pose with their 'batchmates' for an album pic. They also 'take the blessings' of their co-brother' and 'co-sister' who present the bride with a 'nose-pin' all the while 'ragging' the newly weds about their 'first night'!
Yes don't be surprised to hear words like 'godown', 'gully', 'mugging', 'tiffin-box', 'vote-bank', 'dickey' and 'flyover'. It is only in India that you will find people who 'cheat like anything', students who 'bunk' classes and get pulled up by the 'Princi', who will send for the 'lab ass' (laboratory assistant for those of you 'scratching your heads' wondering what a lab ass is) to buy her 'samosas' filled with spicy 'masala' while she thinks of a way to punish those playing truant.
Only in India going on outings with the extended family can be 'pakka' fun, 'chaddy buddy's' are 'childhood friends' and you may not like being called an 'enthu cutlet'! MIL's (mothers in law) are the real terrorists even in an 'arranged cum love marriage' and you call your friends mother 'aunty'.
Sigh! only in India while I stroll along I pass the 'puncher shop', near the corner 'bungalow' with its 'gurkha' keeping watch, I quicken my strides as I find 'pye dogs' sniffing at my heals while my nostrils are assaulted by the overpowering smells from the 'chaat' shop that's just a stones throw away from the 'bus stop' where 'traditional girls in modern dress' wait to get a ride home. Finally I reach home...sigh! only in India can I expect hot dinner waiting for me! freshly cooked steaming rice and curry courtesy my 'ayah'! If you are not a local reading this blog please google 'samosapedia' for the meanings of all the phrases you dint get! :)
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