While scouring local Odia TV Channels, I saw a promotional video of an Odia movie SUNDARGARH RA SALMAN KHAN. A song in that movie goes as- "HEY CHHORI, TU BEAUTIFUL KANYA KUMARI". Nice to know words "Chhori and Beautiful" are new additions to Odia lexicon. I flipped to another Odia channel where a girl was explaining how to prepare an Odia dish in a very PHULEI (Attention seeking girl) accented Odia - DEKHANTU, EI LA JAWAB DISH, KHAILE SONE PE SUHAGA HEI JIBA. She continued further - EI MASALA TI ETHI "BELONG" KARENI. Disgusted, I switched the TV Off.
However I learnt a few new Odia terms - La Jawab, Sone Pe Suhaga, Belong etc. Odia must have surpassed the English language in enriching itself by adapting words from other languages - even if Fakir Mohan Senapati and Pandit Nilakantha Das turning in their graves. God bless my mother tongue.
Reluctantly, he swiped my card. After a minute, he said "AGYAN, MESINI KAMA KARUNI - Card machine doesn't work". I told him to swipe again and leaned over for a closer look. Another guy, think his supervisor, snatched the card from his hand and chastised him, "KIRE MESINI CHALEI JANINU. MATE DE", Don't you know how to run the machine, lemme try". Now the MESINI (machine) worked miraculously and my card went through clean, like a hot knife through butter, resulting in the ejaculation of the receipt, coming out in a stuttering whir.
I have a feeling both of them were acting in unison, a la "Good Cop, Bad Cop". Why so much fuss, NATAKBAJI (histrionics) then ? My guess - One, it's typically the merchant greed, who would love to hold on to that 2% cut at most (transaction and settlement fee has come down a lot these days). Two, these transactions are recorded and accounted for. So, they can't do a Tax FANKI (avoidance), which could come back to haunt them later.
Online Railway and flight reservation in India has cut down the role of touts and middle men and the accompanied corruption. Similarly, more use of credit cards down the road will lead to cleaner, accountable transactions - Adding to national exchequer and substantially subtracting the Tax fraud. It will take time, but more use of plastics in the shop and less use of plastic bags when coming out of it is a step in the right direction. More later....
In the meantime some one tried to sell me a residential plot in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, now marked as premium because it is located on road side. In US, the most coveted residential lots are those located on the cul de sac of the neighborhood with premiums attached to them. In Bhubaneswar, it is other way round. Closer they to the main road, more expensive are they. Two different worlds homes apart.
One of my small plesures of life was fulfilled today - peeing in open air under an open sky (In Odia as they say MUKTA AKASHA TALE), a privilege not so readily available in America. At peak of middle age a softened prostrate can't hold it much any longer. After I consumed couple of glasses of cocunut water, the opportunity to avail this much cherished guilty plessure arrived. I found a secluded location under the cover of darkness on the side of a highway. It can be termed as an eco friendly pee - away from residential area and far from the madding crowd.
Today when I pulled out my credit card to pay, the reluctance to accept it as form of payment was visibly stark from the expression on the face of the cashier. Bet he wasn't so ecstatic to see the plastic, even if the purchase amount was good enough to cover the 2% they need to pay as processing fee to the bank. The cashier gave me unique look - a blend of the feeling of losing a CHARENI (25 paisa coin) and chewing a bitter lemon. Last time I had a similar experience at a merchant as the man at the cash counter said - "SARE, CASH HABANI" (Sir, can't you pay by cash) ? "Sorry, I don't have cash, so please use my Mastercard" - I insisted back.
Reluctantly, he swiped my card. After a minute, he said "AGYAN, MESINI KAMA KARUNI - Card machine doesn't work". I told him to swipe again and leaned over for a closer look. Another guy, think his supervisor, snatched the card from his hand and chastised him, "KIRE MESINI CHALEI JANINU. MATE DE", Don't you know how to run the machine, lemme try". Now the MESINI (machine) worked miraculously and my card went through clean, like a hot knife through butter, resulting in the ejaculation of the receipt, coming out in a stuttering whir.
I have a feeling both of them were acting in unison, a la "Good Cop, Bad Cop". Why so much fuss, NATAKBAJI (histrionics) then ? My guess - One, it's typically the merchant greed, who would love to hold on to that 2% cut at most (transaction and settlement fee has come down a lot these days). Two, these transactions are recorded and accounted for. So, they can't do a Tax FANKI (avoidance), which could come back to haunt them later.
Online Railway and flight reservation in India has cut down the role of touts and middle men and the accompanied corruption. Similarly, more use of credit cards down the road will lead to cleaner, accountable transactions - Adding to national exchequer and substantially subtracting the Tax fraud. It will take time, but more use of plastics in the shop and less use of plastic bags when coming out of it is a step in the right direction. More later....
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