Khaane ke liye ya parcel saaab....

Chat (the 'a' part is pronounced similar to the 'a' in cart) is a unique food variety. North indian basically, but because of its wonderful taste and different style it has become quite popular all over india. Chennai, a metropolitan city in the south of india, where the people speak tamil, is an example of the popularity chat items have gained. One can fine 'chat corners' virtually everywhere. However, these chat corners are predominantly run by north indians, who either know little or no tamil. So its kinda mundane to see a tamilian talking animatedly to the chat shop owners to make them understand what they actually want. With dishes with names like 'Dhai paapdi chat', 'Jhal moodi', 'Chenna Samosa' etc, it can be pretty amusing to note the way the tamilians and the joint owners pronounce each name. The following is an incident that happened to me some time back. I must confess at this point that my hindi sucks to the core...
There is a chat corner in my locality where i am a regular. One evening i went there and.....
(Only people who know hindi will be able to understand what follows)
Me: Mmmmmmm namaste bhai... ek.... ek.... chenna samosa chahtha tha.

Him: (looks at me in a quizzical manner) khaane ke liye ya parcel saab?

Me: ummmm.. khaana khaana.

He takes a plate and start making the chenna samosa...

Me: Bhai... Kaaram kuch kuch hota hai ( I wanna say " brother, please add only a little bit of spice)

He shows no signs of understanding what i have just told him...

Me: Hello... Ji, Kaaram kuch, sweet jaasthi ( I wanna say " Sir, lil spice, more sweet)

He smiles at me and continues adding all the ingredients.. I start getting irritated..

Me: Jaldhi karo.. bohut kaam iruku ( I wanna say " Soon i have work")

His smiles turn into giggles now... I stand with my hands folded, impatiently...

Then the most unexpected thing happened.. He turned to another guy inside the shop and said

"Dai, andha omma podi eduthu thaa" (Dude gimme that omma podi... in tamil)

Me: Yow! Unakku tamil teriyuma!! (Do u know tamil!!)

Him: Hahahahah nallave theriyum saar (I know tamil very well)

Me: Aparam edhuku inga na hindi la kashta padum bodhu summa irundha?! (Then why were u silent all this while when i was struggling to speak in hindi?!)

Him: Samma comedya irundhudhu bhai... Adhan... hahaha ( It was very funny bro)

Me: Ada paavigala! (Oh my!)

Him: Indha maari dhan saar elaarum. Engala paatha odane hindi mattum dhaan theriyumnu nenachu ishtathuku hindi la olaruvaanga.. naangalum comedy kaaga apdiye tamil theriyaadha maari nadipom... indha kada mattum ila.. naraya chat kada kaaranga supera tamil pesuvaanga.. Ungala maari neraya per kuch kuch hota hai, dil to pagal hai nu lam solirkaanga.. oruthar ek gaon mein ek kisan ragu thatha nu lam solirkaaru hahahahaha (Only ppl who know tamil can truly appreciate these lines)

Me: Aahaaaa... indha matter theriyaama na neraya chat kadaiki poi hindi la poondhu veladirkene!! ( I have been to many chat shops and spoken a lotta hindi without knowing this!)

Him: Hahahaha jakardhaya irunga saar... (Be careful sir)

From that day i decided i will never talk to a chat shop guy in hindi.. even if he really doesn understand tamil...

P.S:
Moral of the story : Ek gaon mein ek kissssaaaaaaaan ragu thatha