My Soliloqy (Blogs)
Feb 2008
Aug 2008
April 2009
May 2009
01 May 2009
02 May 2009
03 May 2009
04 May 2009
My Favorites
Books
People
Songs
Quotes
Poems
Places
Resturants
Food
Hobbies
Movies
Speeches
Motivational Video |
If you love the Bengali Bhadralok.
A-Z of a Bengali.....
A Bengali friend of mine Dr. Nath, from has sent an interesting email about the Bengali culture and english language! It is funny but true! But do not forget the fact that Bengali is on the top of literary world in India!
A is for Awpheesh (as in Office). This is where a Kolkakattan goes & spends a day hard at work. I f he works for the 'West Bengal Gawrment' , he arrive s at 10, wipe his forehead till 11, have a tea break at 12, throw around a few files at 12.30, break for lunch
at 1, smoke an unfiltered cigarette at 2, break for tea at 3, sleep
sitting down at 4 and go home at 4:30. It's a hard life!
B is for Bhision . For some reason Bengalis don't have good bhision. In fact in Kolkata most people wear spectacles all the time.
C is for Chappell (as in Greg ). Currently, this is the Bengaali word for the Devil. At night mothers put their kids t o sleep saying, 'Na ghumaley Chappell eshey dhorey niye jabe.' (If you don't sleep, Chappel will come and take you away!!)
D is for Debashish or any other name starting with Deb. By an ancient law every fourth Bengali Child has to be named Debashish. So you have a Debashish everywhere - they are also called Deb, Debu, Deba with variations like Debanik, Deboprotim, Debojyoti, etc. thrown in at times.
E is for Eeesh - a very common Bengali exclamation made famous by Aishwarya Rai in the movie Devdas. It is estimated that on an average a Bengali, especially Bengali women, use eeesh 10,089 times every year. 'Ei Morechhey' is a close second to Eeesh.
F is for Feeesh . are a favourite food of the Bengalis. Despite the fact that a fish market has strong smell, with one sniff a Bengali knows if a fish is all right. If not he will say 'eeesh what feeesh is theesh!'
G is for Good name . Every Bengali boy will have a good name like Debashish or Deboprotim and a pet name like Motka, Bhombol, Thobla, etc. While every Bengali girl will have pet names like Tia, Tuktuki, Mishti, Khuku, etc.
H is for Harmonium . - Bengali equivalent of a rock guitar. Take 4 Bengalis & a Harmonium & you have the successors to Bheatles!
I is for lleesh . This is a feeesh with 10,000 bones which would kill any ordinary person, but which the Bengalis eat with releeesh!
J is for Jhola . No self respecting Bengali is complete without his Jhola - a shapeless bag where he keeps all his belongings and he fits an amazing number of things in. Note that 'Jhol' as in Maachher Jhol is a close second..
K is for Kee Kaando ! It used to be the favourite Bengali exclamation till eeesh took over because of Aishwarya Rai (now Kee Kando's agent is trying to hire Bipasha Basu).
L is for Lungi - the dress for all occasions. People in Kolkata manage to play football and cricket wearing it not to mention the daily trip to l ocal bajaar. Now there is talk of a lungi expedition to Mt. Everest
M is for Minibus . These are dangerous half buses whose antics would effortlessly frighten the living daylights out of all James Bond stuntmen as well as Formula 1 race car drivers. M is also
for Maunkey Cap and Muphler!!
N is for Nangto . This is the Bengali word for naked. It is the most interesting naked word in any language!
O is for Oil . The Bengalis believe that a touch of mustard oil will cure anything from cold (oil in the nose), to earache (oil in the ear), to cough (oil on the throat) to piles (oil you know where!)
P for Phootball - a phavourite phassion of Kolkattan. Every Bengali is born an expert in this game.The two biggest clubs are Mohunbagan and East Bengal and when they play the city comes to a stop.
Q is for Queen . This really has nothing to do with the Bengalis or Kolkata, but it's the only Q word one can think of. There's also Quilt but they never use them in Kolkata. R is for Robi Thakur . Many years ago Rabindranath got Nobel Prize. This has given the right to all Bengalis no matter where they are to frame acceptance speeches as if they were related to the poet and walk with their head held high. This also gives Bengalis the birthright to look down at Delhi and Mumbai or 'all non-Bengawlees'! Note that 'Rawshogolla' comes close second!
S is for Shourav . Now that they finally produced a genuine cricketer and a captain, Bengalis think that he should be allowed to play until he is 70 years old. Of course they will see to it that he stays in good form by doing a little bit of 'joggo' and 'maanot'.
T is for Trams . Hundred years later there are still trams in Kolkata. Of course if you are in a hurry it's faster to walk.
U is for Aambrela . When a Bengali baby is born he is handed one.
V is for Bhaayolence. Bengalis are most non-violent violent people around. When an accident happens they will fold up their sleeves, shout and scream and curse and abuse, "Chherey De Bolchhi" but last time someone actually hit someone was in 1947.
W is for Water . For three months of the year the city is underwater and every year for the last 200 years the authorities are taken by surprise by this!
X is for X'mas . It's very big in Kolkata, with Park Street fully lit up and all Bengalis agreeing that they must eat cake that day.
Y is for Yesshtaarday . Which is always better than today for a Bengali (see R for Robi Thakur).
Z is for Jebra, Joo, Jipper and Jylophone.
Thank you very much Dr. Nath.
Prahlada N.B
Chitradurga, Karnataka, India.
02-05-09.
|
