Leave Letter

When I was in my 12th standard, the college I was studying in, was a very strict one....they usually did not give permission to leave the college during lunch or would call home if we missed college even for a day...But then students always knew how to work around these rules...
Each class had an in-charge, who would be responsible for granting permission to leave the college...We had to write a letter to this person, asking for permission, in case we wanted to get out...They usually maintained a list of who all left college for the day and the reason for that...
My lazy friend did not feel like sitting in the class one day. She wrote a letter to the in-charge on the lines of "...I am not feeling well...I would be highly obliged if you could grant me permission to leave the college..." The in-charge who usually never gives permission to anyone, immediately agreed to let her go...When we saw her list, we knew exactly why...under the "reason for leave", she had clearly written - 'Highly Obliged'.

Yeh Jo Desh Hai Mera

Last weekend as we all were just lazing about and discussing the fate of Slumdog Millionaire at the Oscars, when we got to talking about the best Indian movie according to each of us. Surprisingly, we all agreed on one common movie and that is Swades. As we went about discussing the best scenes of the movie, its music etc..G mentioned that he hasn't watched the movie yet...**Silence** We all gave him this "you don't deserve to live" look and then decided that we all should watch the movie (should make him watch the movie)....Meanwhile, each of us had a little round of questionnaire for G that ranged from " How could you miss a movie like that??" " Weren't you told how good the movie was?" to " Don't you watch patriotic movies" etc etc....
Finally we started watching the movie...I enjoyed it more this time than I did before....I think its one of the best patriotic movies made so far....
Though I don't like Shahrukh's acting much, I feel this was one of his best performances(the other being Chak De)...Every scene is so simple and meaningful....We all became very nostalgic and drifted back to those wonderful days in India...I feel they should make more such movies...and yeah G loved the movie!!!

Mind Your Language

“Sorry I did not get you. Can you please repeat it?” This is the common sentence that most of the desis in the US hear. When I go back to India, I guess my friends will definitely notice a change in the pronunciation of certain words. It is so difficult here to use the normal Indian accent because people just don’t understand you. Potahtoes now became potaytoes….tomahtoes became tomaytoes…capsicum became green pepper, lady’s finger - okra, spring onions - green onions, petrol – gas, Z’ed’ - Z’ee’, zero - o and the list goes on. Why can’t you just stick to the general way of saying it? They might question…but this is what happened when my friend very innocently tried using our way of saying things…
We once went to have a pizza and wanted some extra chilli flakes…This was the conversation between my friend and the guy serving the pizza…(S- my friend, G- guy at the pizza place)
S- Hi. Can I have some extra Chilli Flakes?
G (puzzled) - Sorry Sir I don’t understand
S – Chilli Flaikes?? (Trying to change his accent)
G (staring blankly at my friend) - Sorry Sir but we only sell pizza here.
S- No, I want Chilli Flaykes?? Chilli…
This went on for quite some time. G was now looking at us helplessly seeking some intervention….
Finally one of us had to interrupt and explain to the guy that my friend had meant “crushed red peppers”…. Phew!!
As if trying to talk to the natives here is not bad enough, just imagine our plight when we have to pay our bills on the phone through the automated voice recognition system!!!!
Hmm…now you know that this change of accent is more of a necessity than ishtyle :)