Pujo talk
Transcript of last weekend's conversation with Bill's mom.
Me: Hello aunty. How are you?
Mrs. S: I am fine. How are you?
Me: I am doing okay.
Mrs. S: You have get ashirwad from me since its pujo.
Me: Oh yes, I remember now. Shubho bejoya!
Mrs. S: Well, when you talk to elders, you are supposed to say bejoya pronam. Shubho bejoya is for people your age.
Me: Oh okay. Bejoyo pronam. Bill never told me that!
Mrs. S: Tell him to teach you Bengali. Its okay if you don't know how to talk Bengali. But when you are in Kolkata, you should understand what people are saying na?
Me: Yes aunty. (Let your son get around to saying my beloved "Tamizh zha" atleast once and then we will think about it. And anyway all I have to do is to cut off a couple of letters from Hindi and "sho"ize every other word and its Bong. What's the big deal?)
Mrs. S: And dear, how long is your hair now? I know you like short hair but your mother was saying that you were planning to grow it long for the wedding. She said that you have to have an elaborate flower arrangement on your hair.
Me: I am not sure about that. I did decide to grow my hair aunty but since I decided that just a couple of weeks ago, I don't think it would grow enough.
Mrs. S: Oh! So we can't do the hair the way we do for the Kolkata ceremony. Is it atleast shoulder length?
Me: Not yet. But maybe it will get there. (Yeah right.)
Mrs. S: Maybe.
Me: Hello aunty. How are you?
Mrs. S: I am fine. How are you?
Me: I am doing okay.
Mrs. S: You have get ashirwad from me since its pujo.
Me: Oh yes, I remember now. Shubho bejoya!
Mrs. S: Well, when you talk to elders, you are supposed to say bejoya pronam. Shubho bejoya is for people your age.
Me: Oh okay. Bejoyo pronam. Bill never told me that!
Mrs. S: Tell him to teach you Bengali. Its okay if you don't know how to talk Bengali. But when you are in Kolkata, you should understand what people are saying na?
Me: Yes aunty. (Let your son get around to saying my beloved "Tamizh zha" atleast once and then we will think about it. And anyway all I have to do is to cut off a couple of letters from Hindi and "sho"ize every other word and its Bong. What's the big deal?)
Mrs. S: And dear, how long is your hair now? I know you like short hair but your mother was saying that you were planning to grow it long for the wedding. She said that you have to have an elaborate flower arrangement on your hair.
Me: I am not sure about that. I did decide to grow my hair aunty but since I decided that just a couple of weeks ago, I don't think it would grow enough.
Mrs. S: Oh! So we can't do the hair the way we do for the Kolkata ceremony. Is it atleast shoulder length?
Me: Not yet. But maybe it will get there. (Yeah right.)
Mrs. S: Maybe.
posted by Veena | 11:41 AM
3 Comments:
Veena,
I stunmbled across this accidentally, but I must say I LOVE your blog.
Just a warning, my Coorgi English teacher (who was married to a Bong) told me about Bengali imperialism. Not only are we completely resistant to your kalchar, we try to colonize every aspect of you. So be bhery bhery carephool or you will find yourself whipping up those malpoas whie humming to Hemanta.
Red,
Thanks for the warning. Though I must say we Tams are not that bad in the colonization department. Soon Bill will start quoting Bharathi for all we know :)
Veena
Re Bharti (of the Subramaniam variety)
When my tam (most of the time) significant other mentioned Bharati, I hastily pointed out that having a poet laureate who is run over by a crazed temple elephant does not bode well.
I will admit, however I'd rather watch Bharatnatyam or even Bhangra than the woosie Shantiniketan school of Bangla dancing.
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