Bhindi, Baingan, and other vegetables

After lunch, I asked Bodhram, our cook, ‘Why are you cooking the same dishes for lunch and dinner every day – dal, and a curry of either alu, baingan or bhindi with tomatoes?’

‘Bai saheb yehi sabziyan mangaati hain, Sir,’ he said.

We had just been married, Sanjukta had joined me at Kanker in 1984, and she knew no Hindi.

‘Are you very fond of these vegetables only?’ I asked her.

‘No, but I don’t know the Hindi names of other vegetables. These guys don’t understand what potala (parbal), saru (arvi), bandha kobi (cabbage), makhan (pumpkin), etc are. I thought these vegetables might not be available here.’

I asked the cook to bring from the market a sample of all vegetables and greens that were on sale, and Bodhram dutifully brought a basket of fresh-from-the farm veggies. Sanjukta was thrilled to find all veggies she was familiar with, and a few which were novel for her. She took a notebook and noted down the name of each. Thereafter, our lunch and dinner had varied and delectable fare.

But language isn’t learnt in a day. One day, while I was in the office, and Sanjukta had a sudden craving for a snack, she asked the peon to go to the bazaar and buy a few singhadas.

‘Abhi nahin milega, Bai Saheb, do teen mahine baad milega,’ said Manglu.

In the evening, she complained to me: This is a strange place. Singhada is available only in summer?’

I sent my driver to the market, and he promptly returned with a packet of piping hot samosas. ‘Whenever you wish to savour singhada, just ask for samosa,’ I told my dear wife.

That was a new addition to her meagre Hindi vocabulary, and she happily learned many more as the years went by.

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Note: 

• I can hardly poke fun at my spouse, for in 1981, when I joined the service, my Hindi competence was very modest, and I didn't know how to write 'ksha'. Even after a life-time in the Hindi-belt, I still goof up on gender at times!
• Author's profile may be seen at http://amazon.com/author/pkdash
• Books by this author are available on Amazon.in, Kindle eBook, Flipkart, and Notion Press, Chennai.

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