Padgurum

Hawai Chappal

Padgurum was the term in my homevillage for pants, you know, the kind you and I wear. People natively wore lungi or dhoti. When I was old enough and got out of my half pants, I was allowed to wear the lungi for casual outfit. I loved it. Basically you wrapped a piece of clothing around your waist. It was great for summers.

But padgurum was the local term for pants. What the term meant was that when you fart, the air never gets to escape. The people in the village supremely looked down upon pants that way. Pants made absolutely no sense to them.

Hawai Chappal

The term was Hawai Chappal. Hawai loosely translates to air, as in Air Jordan. Meaning, when you wore these, it felt like you were floating in the air. Hardly anyone in the village wore them. People walked barefoot. Chappal is the term for sandal. But sandals were leather. So there is no exact translation. You had to be well off to be able to wear these. Just like you had to be well off to be able to eat vegetables every day.

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But people still bought them. For when you had to go visit a relative. Or when there was a fair in a nearby village. When there was a fair people would carry the chappals in their hands and walk barefoot for those 40 minutes, and then when they neared the village where the fair was at they would find a nearby pond where to go wash their feet and put the chappals on. I mean, if you wore them all the time they might wear away, and then where were you?

Deaths In The Family
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Gonu Jha
Hum Jayega Burnt His Ears
Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap
"Thanks For Asking"
Prax
"Do You Have An Email Address?"

Deaths In The Family

Image via WikipediaMy grandmother, greatgrandmother and greatgrandfather all died within a span of two years, in that order. A few years later my grandfather one morning left home without telling anyone to become a sadhu in the holy places of India for the rest of his days.

The Mourning Period

My greatgrandfather had been the Founding Father of the family. His had been a rags to riches story. He was not born a landlord. But he worked hard and, ably helped by my greatgrandmother, saved well to end up with more land than anyone else in the village.

I was a few years from finishing high school far away - overnight bus ride - in the capital city when the deaths happened. They each happened when I was home for vacation. I would be home three times a year.

I did not realize at the time but over the years I realized as I do today that those deaths were like there was an umbrella over the family's head, and suddenly that umbrella vanished. My father acutely felt their absences for long years. He likely still does.

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Gonu Jha

Gonu Jha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gonu jha's stories | Facebook



As Birbal was the most intelligent minister of Akbar's court,same way,Gonu Jha was the most intelligent minister of the king from Bihar.Many times he proved his intelligence.
A pahalwan went to a sahukar to ask some money.He was having a big golden "gada" with him,he said"This is my grand father's gada, It is of pure gold,I want to mortgage it and you give me eight thousand rupees,I will pay the interest regularly till the repay.The sahukar believed him and gave him money,but the pahalwan did not give him any interest for six months,the sahukar went to him and asked the interest amount,The Pahalwan said"I don't have money,you can sell the gada and get back your money.The sahukar showed the gada to the goldsmith he said"It is not golden gada,but it is of iron and only covered by thin layer of gold.The sahukar shocked he immediately ran to Gonu Jha,and asked him what should he do now.Gonu Jha said"Go and invite whole village for good lunch."Sahukar surprised"What are you saying?""yes!I am serious,I mean it"Sahukar agreed and went away.Next morning the whole village was running for lunch to Sahukar's House.The Pahalwan saw this and asked one of them"Hey!what is going on,why everybody is running to sahukar's house""I think he has got a Treasure"The Pahalwan thought"It is definitely my Gada,I must get it back"He went to another village,mortgaged his akhada,got the money,went to the Sahukar and said"I have arranged money,Please take it and give my Gada back"The sahukar immediately took the money and gave him back his Gada.The Pahlwan reached to the only goldsmith.He said"Why have you brought it here,it is not gold"The Pahlwan came to know that it is only because of Gonu Jha.He decided to sell the Gada to Gonu Jha.He went to him and said"This is my Grand father's golden Gada,Please buy it,I need money"Gonu Jha took the Gada in his hand and started swinging it,It fell down and a small part broke,Gonu Jha said"Yes Yes!I am going to buy it but we must get it repaired first"Both of them went to the Gold smith"Why have you come again with this Iron Gada,I have already told you that it is not gold.The Pahalwan was speechless now,and Gonu Jha was smiling.

Source

Hum Jayega Burnt His Ears

One day Hum Jayega went to the doctor with both of his ears burnt.
Doctor: So tell me how u burnt your both ears?'
Hum Jayega: I was ironing when the phone rang and I answered the iron by mistake
Doctor: But how did you burn both of them?
Hum Jayega: Well, as soon as I put the iron down, the phone rang again.

Source

Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap

"Thanks For Asking"

This was between high school and college. I was in Kathmandu living on my own. My friends and I would drop by the British Council Library once in a while. On one of those trips a British tourist approached my friend.
Image via Wikipedia
"Excuse me, would you have change for 1,000 rupees?" the tourist asked and briskly pulled a thousand rupee note. That was a lot of money.

"Sorry, no, but thanks for asking," my friend promptly replied, feeling flattered.

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The Cranberries: Dreams

Now playing on the cafe sound system.

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Eric Schmidt On The Case

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Good to see Eric Schmidt on the case.

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(Via Alex Kalausich)

Padmasree Warrior: Top Of The List

This Huffington Post article has been making the rounds today.

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It is no surprise Padmasree Warrior - what a last name - tops the list. I have an Indian friend whose last name is Engineer.

We Indians are the most successful ethnic group in America. No, it's not white people. An average Indian American family makes twice as much as your average white family. And no, it's not the Jewish people. It's not the Chinese, so no, it's not an Asian thing. It's us. It's Indians.

I once got a tweet from Padmasree.