Disclaimer : Written in a tired frame of mind
___________________________________________________
I read an article once about idol worship. It said ordinary people attach themselves so deeply to their idols that they develop a sense of belonging to their respective idols. If I recall correctly that article was referring more to film stars.
Well, I don't know if that is true in my case. Anyways after watching yesterday's cricket match at the Hyderabad stadium, I went blank, hence this post to vent it all out.
An overwhelming affection, admiration and respect (and all the other such feelings)
- For someone whom I have grown up watching and admiring and idolizing.
- For someone whose stature is not determined by his height.
- For someone who has withstood enough pressure over 20 years equivalent to that felt thousands of feet below sea level.
- For someone who has carried this tired, developing nation's burden of happiness and joy for 20 years.
- For someone who has somehow still escaped unscathed with a clean heart and humble demeanour despite the overwhelming adulation.
- For someone whose pain is felt by millions.
- For someone who, if he tweaks a muscle or cramps up, the entire nation feels that pain.
- For someone who, despite all he has done has to answer questions about his match-winning abilities.
- For someone who scores 175 of 141 balls and gets another ignominious record of scoring the third highest runs in a losing cause (the other two were made batting first).
- For someone who feels the pain of losing more than anyone else.
- For someone, whose batting I have never been able to enjoy. I spend most of time in anxiety praying "please don't get out". It is more soothing to see him at the runner's end.
- For someone who is a GOD worshipped in this country.
- For someone named SACHIN TENDULKAR.
There is a saying, "You get a chance to walk with Gods only once in a lifetime." If its true, I used up my chance yesterday.
I imagine myself telling someone 20 years from now - "Do you know that I watched Sachin hit his 45th century. And what an innings that was !!"
I wish we had won yesterday. Not for myself or for a billion others, who would feel disappointed, make a few comments - appreciative or snide, sleep it off and then get back to their daily routines the next day. But for someone who did so much with a tired body of 36. Still with an enthusiasm of a teenager. In the end, I was left wishing that he had scored nought but not have had to feel that same old pain of watching his team fall at the final hurdle. Not to mention hearing the criticism again of not being a match-winner.
In the end, I have nothing left except a tired mind with a gentle sense of melancholy, wishing we had won .. Just for his sake. In the end, there is nothing left except a pathetic looking wrist band which signifies I walked with the Gods at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Uppal, Hyderabad yesterday.
This is a compilation of some comments made about Him on different occasions.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Ghonchu attends a meeting
Ghonchu walked through his office gate with his head held high. He felt important. He was to attend a meeting with his manager and some other people.
As he entered the conference room, he paused to look back into the glass and make sure that his hair looked in shape, tucked his shirt and forced a smile which made it look as though he had toothache. Everyone within the room was present and the meeting had already started.
“You are late”, barked a voice which belonged to his manager. “I am never late. I arrive precisely when I mean to”, Ghonchu nearly thundered, having heard of this quote in Lord of the Rings. However he managed to keep his common sense and mustered a meek “Sorry”.
The meeting proceeded with no one paying any further attention to Ghonchu. Their discussion, none of which Ghonchu understood seemed to be at a climax. They were trying to decide which would be the best way to reduce ETA. Would it be a good idea to compromise on the P0 cases or should they go ahead and not worry about ETA. Since Ghonchu didn’t know what ETA or P0 meant, he lost interest and started day-dreaming.
Suddenly, the room was filled with music, “and we twist, we twist, we twist ...” Everyone looked at Ghonchu. However, Ghonchu was more concerned about his manager’s stare. Ghonchu was reminded of a starving crocodile that had just spotted lunch. He twisted in his seat with a dexterity that Deepika Padukone would have been proud of and switched off his mobile.
The manager however continued to look at Ghonchu and started the following conversation. “Ghonchu, will you do the P1?”
“Ummm, ok.” (“What the hell are they?”)
“Good. ETA?”
“Eh”, replied Ghonchu with a blank expression.
“What do you think the ETA would be?”
“Ummm. I don’t know.” (“What does ETA stand for, please someone help.”)
“Hmm. Also make sure that P0 stays in good health.”
“Ok”, said Ghonchu praying for the continued good health of P0.
“P2 shouldn’t be a problem anyways.”
“Ok.” (“How many damned P’s are there?”)
“If you can’t decide the ETA, I think EOW should be enough. What do you think?”
Silence. (“Which idiot had to call me! I was sitting peacefully.”)
“Ghonchu?”
“Ummm. Fine.” (“I had to start saying something other than – ok.”)
“Great, while looking at P1, make sure that the NRPT settings come up if you are outside. However if you are inside there should be no SAs created.”
Another silence. (“What is this new devilry?”)
“Ummm, hmmm.” (“Anymore of this and I will start screaming for help.”)
“That’s it for today.”
“Thanks.” (“Whew!! I refuse to attend any more meetings.”)
PS:
ETA : Expected Time of Accomplishment
EOW : End Of Week
P0,P1,P2 : test cases for a product
As he entered the conference room, he paused to look back into the glass and make sure that his hair looked in shape, tucked his shirt and forced a smile which made it look as though he had toothache. Everyone within the room was present and the meeting had already started.
“You are late”, barked a voice which belonged to his manager. “I am never late. I arrive precisely when I mean to”, Ghonchu nearly thundered, having heard of this quote in Lord of the Rings. However he managed to keep his common sense and mustered a meek “Sorry”.
The meeting proceeded with no one paying any further attention to Ghonchu. Their discussion, none of which Ghonchu understood seemed to be at a climax. They were trying to decide which would be the best way to reduce ETA. Would it be a good idea to compromise on the P0 cases or should they go ahead and not worry about ETA. Since Ghonchu didn’t know what ETA or P0 meant, he lost interest and started day-dreaming.
Suddenly, the room was filled with music, “and we twist, we twist, we twist ...” Everyone looked at Ghonchu. However, Ghonchu was more concerned about his manager’s stare. Ghonchu was reminded of a starving crocodile that had just spotted lunch. He twisted in his seat with a dexterity that Deepika Padukone would have been proud of and switched off his mobile.
The manager however continued to look at Ghonchu and started the following conversation. “Ghonchu, will you do the P1?”
“Ummm, ok.” (“What the hell are they?”)
“Good. ETA?”
“Eh”, replied Ghonchu with a blank expression.
“What do you think the ETA would be?”
“Ummm. I don’t know.” (“What does ETA stand for, please someone help.”)
“Hmm. Also make sure that P0 stays in good health.”
“Ok”, said Ghonchu praying for the continued good health of P0.
“P2 shouldn’t be a problem anyways.”
“Ok.” (“How many damned P’s are there?”)
“If you can’t decide the ETA, I think EOW should be enough. What do you think?”
Silence. (“Which idiot had to call me! I was sitting peacefully.”)
“Ghonchu?”
“Ummm. Fine.” (“I had to start saying something other than – ok.”)
“Great, while looking at P1, make sure that the NRPT settings come up if you are outside. However if you are inside there should be no SAs created.”
Another silence. (“What is this new devilry?”)
“Ummm, hmmm.” (“Anymore of this and I will start screaming for help.”)
“That’s it for today.”
“Thanks.” (“Whew!! I refuse to attend any more meetings.”)
PS:
ETA : Expected Time of Accomplishment
EOW : End Of Week
P0,P1,P2 : test cases for a product
Friday, September 4, 2009
Hmm..unfair..
Well, the AP CM has passed away!
Along with 4 other nondescript people!
Why are they nondescript? Because we don't care about them. All that matters is the CM.
On the little time I spend surfing news channels, I see only condolences to the CM's family etc etc.. No doubt the gesture is appreciable, but nobody apparently remembers the personal secy of the CM or the pilots etc.
I wonder about the others' families. Having lost their loved ones, and then to bear the humiliation of not being given their due importance; forget condolences. Oh no, all that is important is the CM. For him, all kinds of security forces, commandos and others not to mention the helicopters are expendable.
I also wonder about the pilots especially; they would have known that it is not advisable to travel, but they couldn't refuse the top brass, could they? Now they are gone for no fault of theirs and lie quietly in their anonymity.
Reminds me of a scene in 'The Dark Knight' where the Joker convinces Harvey Dent, "When a mayor goes, everyone panics. But when normal people are blown up, it doesn't matter. Because it is all according to plan. Introduce a little anarchy!!"
The world is apparently kind of unfair.....
Along with 4 other nondescript people!
Why are they nondescript? Because we don't care about them. All that matters is the CM.
On the little time I spend surfing news channels, I see only condolences to the CM's family etc etc.. No doubt the gesture is appreciable, but nobody apparently remembers the personal secy of the CM or the pilots etc.
I wonder about the others' families. Having lost their loved ones, and then to bear the humiliation of not being given their due importance; forget condolences. Oh no, all that is important is the CM. For him, all kinds of security forces, commandos and others not to mention the helicopters are expendable.
I also wonder about the pilots especially; they would have known that it is not advisable to travel, but they couldn't refuse the top brass, could they? Now they are gone for no fault of theirs and lie quietly in their anonymity.
Reminds me of a scene in 'The Dark Knight' where the Joker convinces Harvey Dent, "When a mayor goes, everyone panics. But when normal people are blown up, it doesn't matter. Because it is all according to plan. Introduce a little anarchy!!"
The world is apparently kind of unfair.....
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Ghonchu talks on the telephone
Ghonchu entered his office for the first time. He saw a glass door in the distance which seemed closed. There was no gate-keeper and no apparent way to open the door. He walked towards it with trepidation and wondered how would he enter. However, as he went closer the door opened on its own. Unnerved but relieved, marveling the tech-savvy organization, he entered the office.
After entering, and completing some formalities, Ghonchu went to his new cubicle and looked around. 1.5 meters high, it gave him the protection and freedom to do whatever he wanted. However the drawback was that he couldn't see anyone (read girls) passing by.
He sat on his desk and looked around. A number of things were lying on the table - the computer monitor, a telephone, a water bottle etc. Impressed, Ghonchu praised his company for taking good care of the employees. Nobody from the adjacent cubicles was paying any attention to him. He opened his favourite website : www.orkut.com.
Within 10 seconds of opening orkut the telephone rang - trrrrng trrrrng. Ghonchu jumped one foot on his chair and looked at the telephone as though it was a snake. Ghonchu's train of thought went as follows :- "This is a very techy organization. They know I opened orkut.com which must be banned. They are calling me and going to scold me or worse even expel me."
Ghonchu quickly closed the website and looked at the phone hoping it would stop on its own. However, the telephone continued to ring, trrrrng trrrrng. With shaking hands, Ghonchu lifted the telephone.
The ringing stopped soon after.
Ghonchu said 'Hello' in a quivering voice.
He heard a 'hello'. After which, there was a silence for 10 seconds. Ghonchu thought they were deciding on what punishment to mete out to him.
After another 10 seconds, Ghonchu mustered enough courage to then say 'Yes?'.
He heard, "That cannot be done. It won't work."
Worried, Ghonchu said, "It worked for me, but I am sorry. I won't do it again. Maybe your site-blocker didn't work properly."
The reply came, "What? No, even that isn't possible."
"But, orkut did open."
"See, if you add this feature, it would mean a lot of change to the code. That would be difficult. The entire thing would have to be rewritten."
Ghonchu blinked in perplexity, slowly as realization hit him, he cautiously got up, saw the person in the next cubicle talking on the phone. He sat down quietly, kept the phone back on the hook and reopened orkut.com.
After entering, and completing some formalities, Ghonchu went to his new cubicle and looked around. 1.5 meters high, it gave him the protection and freedom to do whatever he wanted. However the drawback was that he couldn't see anyone (read girls) passing by.
He sat on his desk and looked around. A number of things were lying on the table - the computer monitor, a telephone, a water bottle etc. Impressed, Ghonchu praised his company for taking good care of the employees. Nobody from the adjacent cubicles was paying any attention to him. He opened his favourite website : www.orkut.com.
Within 10 seconds of opening orkut the telephone rang - trrrrng trrrrng. Ghonchu jumped one foot on his chair and looked at the telephone as though it was a snake. Ghonchu's train of thought went as follows :- "This is a very techy organization. They know I opened orkut.com which must be banned. They are calling me and going to scold me or worse even expel me."
Ghonchu quickly closed the website and looked at the phone hoping it would stop on its own. However, the telephone continued to ring, trrrrng trrrrng. With shaking hands, Ghonchu lifted the telephone.
The ringing stopped soon after.
Ghonchu said 'Hello' in a quivering voice.
He heard a 'hello'. After which, there was a silence for 10 seconds. Ghonchu thought they were deciding on what punishment to mete out to him.
After another 10 seconds, Ghonchu mustered enough courage to then say 'Yes?'.
He heard, "That cannot be done. It won't work."
Worried, Ghonchu said, "It worked for me, but I am sorry. I won't do it again. Maybe your site-blocker didn't work properly."
The reply came, "What? No, even that isn't possible."
"But, orkut did open."
"See, if you add this feature, it would mean a lot of change to the code. That would be difficult. The entire thing would have to be rewritten."
Ghonchu blinked in perplexity, slowly as realization hit him, he cautiously got up, saw the person in the next cubicle talking on the phone. He sat down quietly, kept the phone back on the hook and reopened orkut.com.
Interesting...
A couple of interesting things which I observed at my office :-
- Whenever, people around here wish you to look up something - they say 'bing' it. On a couple of occasions, it was actually a conscious effort, something like 'goo..bing it'.
- Recently, during a presentation, the speaker gave an example of what might go wrong with a program. His words were as follows - "Let's say a program crashes. A program like uh..uh.. google talk may crash" .. and so on. Again, the pause was palpable.
Interesting though :-)
- Whenever, people around here wish you to look up something - they say 'bing' it. On a couple of occasions, it was actually a conscious effort, something like 'goo..bing it'.
- Recently, during a presentation, the speaker gave an example of what might go wrong with a program. His words were as follows - "Let's say a program crashes. A program like uh..uh.. google talk may crash" .. and so on. Again, the pause was palpable.
Interesting though :-)
Thursday, July 16, 2009
The end of the beginnning
I seem to like this title as I wrote a previous article with the same heading. However, this time it is about a different topic. Well, so-to-say my student life has ended. Can I call it the end of the first phase in my life? Probably yes, 23 years are done and dusted and so is my education with a couple of degrees.
How do I look back at these years? With nostalgia? Relief? Happiness? Sadness? Probably neither! Just a trace of melancholy as I look back upon those happy years as they passed by. Happy because I was always happy as a student. Time to move on?
Unless I suddenly decide to do a PhD which seems unlikely, I am going to stay in the corporate sector for some years to come. People who have been there tell me all sorts of things. Some of them are already fatigued and bored within two years, others are happy with the pay check but there isn't a zip in their tone when they talk, some others crib about the work they get and so on and so forth. Everyone is happy (however you may define happiness) but none of them are enthusiastic about what they are doing. I try and remember the enthusiasm and expectations in their eyes when they went out into the industry a couple of years ago, while I went to IISc. Two years down the line their tone surprises me a bit. Will I suffer from the same fatigue an year down the line?
Another thing which I have heard is that the industry sucks all your innocence out. You need to learn to be diplomatic, to lie, to be able to wheedle favours out of your superiors and all such stuff.You can't be frank and honest or rude if you want to. Well, I never did such things and have more often than not said what I wished to. I still intend to try and retain that. How will it all pan out?
Lots of such questions and the answers are yet to come. Time will hopefully answer these questions.
How do I look back at these years? With nostalgia? Relief? Happiness? Sadness? Probably neither! Just a trace of melancholy as I look back upon those happy years as they passed by. Happy because I was always happy as a student. Time to move on?
Unless I suddenly decide to do a PhD which seems unlikely, I am going to stay in the corporate sector for some years to come. People who have been there tell me all sorts of things. Some of them are already fatigued and bored within two years, others are happy with the pay check but there isn't a zip in their tone when they talk, some others crib about the work they get and so on and so forth. Everyone is happy (however you may define happiness) but none of them are enthusiastic about what they are doing. I try and remember the enthusiasm and expectations in their eyes when they went out into the industry a couple of years ago, while I went to IISc. Two years down the line their tone surprises me a bit. Will I suffer from the same fatigue an year down the line?
Another thing which I have heard is that the industry sucks all your innocence out. You need to learn to be diplomatic, to lie, to be able to wheedle favours out of your superiors and all such stuff.You can't be frank and honest or rude if you want to. Well, I never did such things and have more often than not said what I wished to. I still intend to try and retain that. How will it all pan out?
Lots of such questions and the answers are yet to come. Time will hopefully answer these questions.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Ghonchu drives a bike
Ghonchu saw an opportunity to impress Sweetu. He had learn to drive a bike from his friend Shanu. Shanu was out of station and had left his bike keys with Ghonchu. Ghonchu, even though not very confident of his driving skills decided to take Sweetu out for a ride. He phoned Sweetu and asked her if she would take a ride on the bike. Being free then, she accepted his offer.
Ghonchu made a rush to the bike which was parked at N-Block to pick Sweetu from girls' hostel. He tried to start the bike. The bike refused to start. After n failed attempts where n ->infinity, the time consumed was five minutes, the spectators watching him trying to start the bike increased from zero to ten; Ghonchu realized that he hadn't put the vehicle in neutral. After doing so, and having to endure the smiles of ten people, he tried to kick start the bike again. The bike sputtered to life and became dead. Ghonchu's phone rang. Sweetu scolded him for keeping her waiting. Ghonchu sputtered through out the conversation after which the line went dead. She would wait five more minutes for him.
Ghonchu cursed the following- Shanu for having chosen a bike with kick-start; his audience of ten people who didn't seem to have anything better to do and himself in case he got late. His audience started whispering amongst themselves. Two of them exchanged money. Ghonchu thought they had a bet as to whether he would be able to start his bike or not.
After n more failed attempts where n → infinity raised to the power infinity, one of the audience, an angel from heaven came to him and asked him to get down. Ghonchu mumbled, 'this bike isn't starting' and got down. The angel from heaven started the bike with one strong kick. Ghonchu thanked the angel while the two of the betting syndicate started arguing whether this was allowed by the betting rules or not. Half of his audience left in disappointment thinking that there was nothing more to do in life except research.
The other half optimistically waited. It wasn't daily they got such a treat. Ghonchu was yet to drive the bike so they waited. Fortune favours the patient. Ghonchu started the bike in first gear. Slowly and steadily the bike picked up speed. Two pedestrians walked past Ghonchu as his bike picked up speed. After swerving one of the pedestrians, and nearly trampling the other, Ghonchu successfully made his way to girls' hostel. His audience had a few more laughs and went on its way to do research. Some of them pitied the person who would sit behind him.
This extremely lucky person – Sweetu had nearly given up hope that Ghonchu would ever come. Suddenly however she saw Ghonchu coming at a distance. The events unfolded as follows (from Sweetu's point of view) – Ghonchu came closer on the bike. He lifted one hand and waved. He lost control of the bike. The angle made by bike and the ground became 60 degrees having originally been 90. The angle then became 0 degree in a split second. Ghonchu and his bike were on the ground at the same point with Ghonchu underneath the bike. His spectacles were lying 10 feet away.
Sweetu lifted the bike off Ghonchu, told him coldly to get up, sat on the bike, started it easily, and drove Ghonchu to the Health Center.
Ghonchu made a rush to the bike which was parked at N-Block to pick Sweetu from girls' hostel. He tried to start the bike. The bike refused to start. After n failed attempts where n ->infinity, the time consumed was five minutes, the spectators watching him trying to start the bike increased from zero to ten; Ghonchu realized that he hadn't put the vehicle in neutral. After doing so, and having to endure the smiles of ten people, he tried to kick start the bike again. The bike sputtered to life and became dead. Ghonchu's phone rang. Sweetu scolded him for keeping her waiting. Ghonchu sputtered through out the conversation after which the line went dead. She would wait five more minutes for him.
Ghonchu cursed the following- Shanu for having chosen a bike with kick-start; his audience of ten people who didn't seem to have anything better to do and himself in case he got late. His audience started whispering amongst themselves. Two of them exchanged money. Ghonchu thought they had a bet as to whether he would be able to start his bike or not.
After n more failed attempts where n → infinity raised to the power infinity, one of the audience, an angel from heaven came to him and asked him to get down. Ghonchu mumbled, 'this bike isn't starting' and got down. The angel from heaven started the bike with one strong kick. Ghonchu thanked the angel while the two of the betting syndicate started arguing whether this was allowed by the betting rules or not. Half of his audience left in disappointment thinking that there was nothing more to do in life except research.
The other half optimistically waited. It wasn't daily they got such a treat. Ghonchu was yet to drive the bike so they waited. Fortune favours the patient. Ghonchu started the bike in first gear. Slowly and steadily the bike picked up speed. Two pedestrians walked past Ghonchu as his bike picked up speed. After swerving one of the pedestrians, and nearly trampling the other, Ghonchu successfully made his way to girls' hostel. His audience had a few more laughs and went on its way to do research. Some of them pitied the person who would sit behind him.
This extremely lucky person – Sweetu had nearly given up hope that Ghonchu would ever come. Suddenly however she saw Ghonchu coming at a distance. The events unfolded as follows (from Sweetu's point of view) – Ghonchu came closer on the bike. He lifted one hand and waved. He lost control of the bike. The angle made by bike and the ground became 60 degrees having originally been 90. The angle then became 0 degree in a split second. Ghonchu and his bike were on the ground at the same point with Ghonchu underneath the bike. His spectacles were lying 10 feet away.
Sweetu lifted the bike off Ghonchu, told him coldly to get up, sat on the bike, started it easily, and drove Ghonchu to the Health Center.
Of IPL and its divisive nature!
As a regular follower of English and European football, I happen to know of its divisive nature and the bitter feelings that it rouses. The fans there go totally berserk on winning or losing and taunting the opponent fans is one of their chief pleasures. This has lead to riots/stampedes and what-nots in the past in
I followed the IPL in new hostel last month. I realized that in block 2 there is a clear cut division – bengali supporters sit on one floor while the others sit in another. This is because some taunts went overboard and nearly led to a fight.
In the IPL final last month, things went out of hand. The telugu group went totally mad and jumped up and down, created a huge bedlam, hit stones on tables to make noise, taunted the other few
If this is the case in IISc, what is the scenario outside. I wonder if we are going the same way as
Monday, May 25, 2009
Of cynicism, Howard Roark and more cynicism ...
I read the Fountainhead recently. My conclusions -
It is a very heavy book and it hurt both my wrists.
It is a very heavy book and gave me a headache after reading it.
It is a very powerful novel, whether you agree to it or not, it gives you a lot as food for thought.
It hurts one's self esteem a lot; I found I have a lot in common with Peter Keating and none with Howard Roark.
I feel unworthy of even doing a review of this book; it seems similar to analyzing the 'The Gallant Gallstones', a futile book written by Lois Cook. Ayn Rand subtly or not-so-subtly mocks fun at such frivolous people who try to analyze books and incorporate them in their own lives.
I felt as though every thought or question I had for the book, was answered then and there itself.
Normally, I am indifferent to philosophical books unless I am in a disturbed state of mind. The fact that this book affected me is a testimony to its power.
Also I read this blog post recently. Enjoyed it a lot; for its tinge of cynicism. All in all, I feel quite cynical right now towards a lot of things.
I attended a meeting recently where I was the youngest. Without going into details, it was about trying to do something. Is it the case, that as you grow older you tend to ramble a lot? That was the conclusion I came to. The people in that meeting were all wonderful, they had vast experiences and were genuine. However, they talked on and on about what they had done, rather than what needed to be done. Some of them told us what they didn't like, what was actually the problem with the system!! ; and bored me to death, apart from irritating me as well. I listened and listened and listened. Also, somewhere it made me feel cynically like one of those people who sit under fans, ACs comfortably and casually discuss what should be done. That is a pity...
This does away with my cynicism. I am not proud of this post.
PS : If I try to be too cynical, after re-reading the post, I found that I did exactly what I mentioned. Narrated my own experiences, rambled on.. and told what I didn't like ... Either cynicism is making me too clever, or I am falling prey to my own criticisms.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Ghonchu speaks Kannada
Ghonchu was standing in the queue for tea-board. He was feeling sleepy and wanted to drink a cup of tea. While he was waiting, a couple of girls joined the queue behind him. After overhearing their conversation, Ghonchu figured out that they were talking in Kannada. He decided to try and impress them with his Kannada knowledge.
Ghonchu quickly revised all the Kannada that he knew. He knew the word 'madi' from a sign-board he had seen once - 'scratch madi jeeto gaadi'. He also knew the sentence 'Kannada gothila'. However, he suddenly remembered proudly that he had learnt counting in Kannada from one to nine - ondhu, yeradu, mooru, naalaku, aidhu, aaru, yelu, yentu, umbatu. He decided to show off his Kannada knowledge by asking for yentu (eight) tea-coupons.
When his turn came at the counter, he asked for yentu tea-coupons. The shop-keeper was counting the money given by the previous customer absent-mindedly said 'yeshtu'. Ghonchu stood perplexed. He thought his kannada was flawed and maybe eight was called 'yeshtu' and not 'yentu'. He replied 'yeshtu'. The shop-keeper looked up and again said - 'yeshtu ?'
'Yeshtu', Ghonchu nodded promptly now convinced that he had come to the correct conclusion and mentally praised himself for doing so.
'Yeshtu ?', asked the shop-keeper again , now exasperated.
'Yeshtu', replied Ghonchu, also getting impatient and exasperated.
The shop-keeper now held his head in his hands. 'Yeshtu ?', he asked again now looking like a drowning man who clutched at a straw and found that it was broken.
Behind Ghonchu, one of the girls interrupted and asked Ghonchu, 'how many?'
Ghonchu turned and seeking sympathy, he said, ' eight, but this fellow doesn't understand !! '
The girl moved over to the counter and smoothly said, ' Yentu tea-coupons. ' Then she told Ghonchu, "Yeshtu means how many .'
Ghonchu was left clutching his yentu tea coupons open-mouthed with a similar expression to a person who had put more sugar in his coffee thinking there wasn't any, and later on found that all the sugar was at the bottom.
Ghonchu quickly revised all the Kannada that he knew. He knew the word 'madi' from a sign-board he had seen once - 'scratch madi jeeto gaadi'. He also knew the sentence 'Kannada gothila'. However, he suddenly remembered proudly that he had learnt counting in Kannada from one to nine - ondhu, yeradu, mooru, naalaku, aidhu, aaru, yelu, yentu, umbatu. He decided to show off his Kannada knowledge by asking for yentu (eight) tea-coupons.
When his turn came at the counter, he asked for yentu tea-coupons. The shop-keeper was counting the money given by the previous customer absent-mindedly said 'yeshtu'. Ghonchu stood perplexed. He thought his kannada was flawed and maybe eight was called 'yeshtu' and not 'yentu'. He replied 'yeshtu'. The shop-keeper looked up and again said - 'yeshtu ?'
'Yeshtu', Ghonchu nodded promptly now convinced that he had come to the correct conclusion and mentally praised himself for doing so.
'Yeshtu ?', asked the shop-keeper again , now exasperated.
'Yeshtu', replied Ghonchu, also getting impatient and exasperated.
The shop-keeper now held his head in his hands. 'Yeshtu ?', he asked again now looking like a drowning man who clutched at a straw and found that it was broken.
Behind Ghonchu, one of the girls interrupted and asked Ghonchu, 'how many?'
Ghonchu turned and seeking sympathy, he said, ' eight, but this fellow doesn't understand !! '
The girl moved over to the counter and smoothly said, ' Yentu tea-coupons. ' Then she told Ghonchu, "Yeshtu means how many .'
Ghonchu was left clutching his yentu tea coupons open-mouthed with a similar expression to a person who had put more sugar in his coffee thinking there wasn't any, and later on found that all the sugar was at the bottom.
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