Words that convey a lot!

I feel lucky I have been exposed to many languages in my life and can follow quite a few of them thoroughly. It makes things a lot simpler (and is actually funny too) when you are able to choose your vocabulary to make the communication simpler :)

Bhassad (भसड)
One fine day during my MBA course, there was quite a bit of hotchpotch with too many activities on campus. I wanted to check about something & I walked up to the CR of our class Prashant to check. He replied, 'abhi thodi der mein dekhtaa hoon yaar, bohat bhassad machi hui hai'. That was my first encounter with this word. I loved the word & I wondered how much did that one word convey! Truly! There are versions of this word like 'hotchpotch', 'chaos', 'confusion', 'afraa-tafri' etc. But no other word can convey the gist as this word and such a simple word to use!

Bakala (بقالة)
This is an arabic word for a small departmental store, kirana store, small super market or the kinds. If you are going to buy some grocery & are going to a small store, you can say 'shop', 'grocery shop', 'kirana', 'departmental store' etc. etc. But ever since we came across this word from our stay in Kuwait, we realized how big use this word is of. It was 2006-2007 that we learnt this word & ever since we have been using it. Such a life-saver!

Pindaakudu (పిండాకుడు)
I love this word! Simply love! Anyone from a Telugu Brahmin community from Andhra (by Andhra I mean Andhra Pradesh (minus) the Telangana), would know this word perfectly well. This is not a word that is used in a sophisticated form of communication (yes, I admit, Andhra side is not a lot sophisticated like the Telangana side but let me not get into the divides of the states & regions) but what an amazing word this is! It actually means 'whatever', or 'yaa..fine' (actually not in the literal sense but talking sense, the serious meaning is something else) but the effect that this word can create no other word for any other meaning can do I swear!

Parchooran (પરચૂરણ)
This is a Gujarati word. As much as I love the place I was brought up in (Ahmedabad), I know Gujarat is not a very sophisticated state & so the culture & the language too. It sounds very funny to speak and it doesn't particularly please the ears like some other languages especially Hindi does. This word means 'miscellaneous', but this word can be used in many different contexts - like for the money change to small little household articles to miscellaneous kids' items to small little grocery shopping to what not! If we have to say all these different things in different contexts, it will definitely be a pain trying to communicate & help others understand.


Maamu (मामू)
This is the best part of the Munna bhai movie apart from all the other amazing things. What would Munna have called Circuit when he had random thoughts. If he had said, 'don't behave like a stupid', would it have created that impact or would it have even conveyed the same meaning? Absolutely no! This movie was actually remade in Telugu but whichever language that is not able to translate the word 'maamu' to give the impact would have made a waste effort in remaking the film, honestly! What a word again!!!

The above ones are the high impact ones that I could recollect immediately one after the other as I use them or come across them. Enjoy!

What age does to you!

One more year gone, another started. The first thing I think is that I would become one more year older this year! It comes with a lot more ambition to me & a resolution to start working towards those personal preferences which throw guilt to me always since I am not able to give time to them! Hmmm...till I was a minor, I awaited the time when I turn 18 & I would be eligible to start working, ACTUALLY! I was the youngest always among the peer group (though I never looked like one thanks to my South Indian background! - no offence), I went to school one year earlier than usual, I skipped a class in between due to some stupid test for a higher standard that I passed & so I didn't know the Archimedes Principle till the end of next class (so, as per my peers I was 2 classes behind in knowing about that principle) and I faced desperate struggle to solve those quadratic equations in the next class since I was behind those memorized concepts from the earlier class. Well, not that any of the two above make a difference in my life now, but at that time only I know how I was not able to handle the pressure! I started my first job earlier than my peers, I finished my masters well ahead of my peers and so on.

After celebrating many new years one by one, when I started working in this company, we were too many people from the same college but different batches with about 2-3 years gap. We were all talking about things like 'oh you joined the year when I left', 'oh, strange we didn't meet on campus...' etc. etc. when a girl from another section of the office came in. One of our discussion group members generally asked her about her date of birth. The year she uttered spread a deathly silence across and we had our jaws dropped. One of my friends in that group & I shared a stare with each other, in that same shock! And my friend smartly said, 'okay, I better not ask that question again to anyone!' and that silence converted into a huge laughter with a hidden <tch> :)

Yesterday my school friend called up after a long time & when I shared the news of my younger sister's marriage, she got astonished & said, 'why so early!', I had to remind her it was not a child-marriage & we are much older now :)

Each of us from all my past friends groups have moved on to take different career paths & personal hobbies since then but when I think back one thing I realize is we are still the same people. The only thing I conclude is you change forcibly or voluntarily to adapt to the different circumstances that come to you by themselves or by your own creation, which has unfortunately happened to some of our friends. But you still have that 'yourself' within you and given an opportunity, you would want to remain that same you.

If we were 15 when John Abraham was 30 and we admire him, why should anything change when we turn 35 & he turns 60! [Like that news snippet about our elders (women) being sad & not doing household work for a few days when Rajesh Khanna died :) Deadly that was, whoever's thought that was!]

Happy New Year!