We have weekly status meetings on friday here in office. I remember right before the first meeting i was attending, my manager, who happens to sit right behind me, uttered with a wicked smile on his face, "CHALO". I was heavily engrossed in work, but i was lured to turn back to him, because that hindi word came from an Israeli mouth, who knew precisely when to speak it.
Startled, i asked him, "what did you just say ?". With a big pride and smile on his face, he repeated "Chalo !!". & i've been hearing this word on almost all fridays since then. He had learnt one hindi word, by-heart, & he remembers exactly when to throw it. It brings smiles on all Indian faces around.
We are a bunch of Indians here, many Israelis, & a few local Finnish guys. So it's a mixed breeding of several cultures. & it's fun.
Yesterday, Daniel, another guy from an application team came up to discuss a few things with us. But we were all busy, & heavily loaded. So he went to another Indian guy, & asked him, "How do you say this in hindi - i'm very busy today". He got his answer, recited it a few times, memorized it within a minute, & then came back to us - "Aaj bohot kaam hai ?" & we all burst into laughters. He wasn't sure whether he was pronouncing it the proper way, but he knew we already understood. We told him, "Haan, aaj bohot kaam hai". All smiles !!
I myself tried a couple of words/phrases, but i can't hold it long enough. It goes off after a couple of times (Apart from the fact that i still remember the maddu work Entraa, & a few more). It's not about learning a new language, it's not about self-improvement. That's simply enjoying life. Trying to communite to others in their language. The universal language. The reason why i could bear Spanish songs without understanding them at all (I've actually started to enjoy Finnish rock songs as well). It's the language of love.
One fine day, my manager had a strong urge to learn counting in Hindi. So a friend of ours searched youtube for a song, & told him "This song will teach you counting till 13". & there it began. He asked, "who's she ?". We replied, she's the bollywood hearthrob Madhuri dixit, dancing on a hit number ek-do-teen. He said "Leave the counting. I'm liking the dance. We are all dirty men after all"
I'm happy i've such people around me. & it makes little sense to me why & how people go fighting over caste, creed, religion, nationality.
As Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues aptly said,
Great men, like nature, use simple language...
All people smile in the same language, isn't it !!
Startled, i asked him, "what did you just say ?". With a big pride and smile on his face, he repeated "Chalo !!". & i've been hearing this word on almost all fridays since then. He had learnt one hindi word, by-heart, & he remembers exactly when to throw it. It brings smiles on all Indian faces around.
We are a bunch of Indians here, many Israelis, & a few local Finnish guys. So it's a mixed breeding of several cultures. & it's fun.
Yesterday, Daniel, another guy from an application team came up to discuss a few things with us. But we were all busy, & heavily loaded. So he went to another Indian guy, & asked him, "How do you say this in hindi - i'm very busy today". He got his answer, recited it a few times, memorized it within a minute, & then came back to us - "Aaj bohot kaam hai ?" & we all burst into laughters. He wasn't sure whether he was pronouncing it the proper way, but he knew we already understood. We told him, "Haan, aaj bohot kaam hai". All smiles !!
I myself tried a couple of words/phrases, but i can't hold it long enough. It goes off after a couple of times (Apart from the fact that i still remember the maddu work Entraa, & a few more). It's not about learning a new language, it's not about self-improvement. That's simply enjoying life. Trying to communite to others in their language. The universal language. The reason why i could bear Spanish songs without understanding them at all (I've actually started to enjoy Finnish rock songs as well). It's the language of love.
One fine day, my manager had a strong urge to learn counting in Hindi. So a friend of ours searched youtube for a song, & told him "This song will teach you counting till 13". & there it began. He asked, "who's she ?". We replied, she's the bollywood hearthrob Madhuri dixit, dancing on a hit number ek-do-teen. He said "Leave the counting. I'm liking the dance. We are all dirty men after all"
I'm happy i've such people around me. & it makes little sense to me why & how people go fighting over caste, creed, religion, nationality.
As Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues aptly said,
Great men, like nature, use simple language...
All people smile in the same language, isn't it !!
2 comments:
entertaining post...
Everyone smiles in the same language. So true.
Loved the post. :)
Cheers.
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