I have observed certain marked differences in some commonly used phrases in American English and our Onglish (Odia accented English).
Onglish : One to one meeting.
American : One on one meeting.
Onglish : Going to office.
American : Going to work.
Onglish : Let's have lunch together.
American : Let's do lunch together.
Onglish:Are you Going to lunch with us ?
American : Are you Coming to lunch with us ? And so on...
This evening it felt so nice to meet my childhood friends from BJB Flats where we spent the bulk of our childhood and youth. We recapitulated those crazy days - playing cricket under street lights, stealing fruits from neighbors' orchards and of course tracing the whereabouts of the better known neighborhood girls who have now gracefully grown into middle aged women.
After taking an early morning shower on Monday morning, following my mom's diktat I walked towards SUKHMESWAR MANDIRA, one of several Shaivite (of Lord Shiva) temples scattered around adoring my neighborhood of Old Town. I do this religiously whenever I am in the town. It reminded me an episode from one of my prior trips.
Before walking to the temple I drank Tea, followed by Amul Lassi and couple of glasses of PAIDA (young coconut) water freshly plucked from one of the Coconut trees in our backyard. While on my way back, I realised my bladder was about to burst as I won't be able to hold on to it much longer. As there was still some distance to be covered (distance is a relative term and not just a number when you walk with controlling nature's call), I thought it would be prudent to open the valve midway.
Frantically looking for a spot with privacy, I found a suitable peeing spot by roadside. It was a dry spot near a wet wall, heavily stained by betel leaf saliva and more heavily stenched by rivulets of urine mixed with red saliva. Couple of guys joined me on my side were also inspecting the site for a location. The guy on my right looked up into the sky while relieving himself. I turned my head to the left and smiled at the other. He reciprocated by smiling back at me, exposing his phalanx of all hia dark, betel stained 32 teeth.
We all shook ourselves off, lifted and tightened our pants and bid each other an unspoken goodbye. It is another feeling of the pleasure of relieving oneself under open, blue sky, something I rarely do these days. A la a doggie I managed to leave my scent behind, may be back one day to reuse the spot. It is the best way to recycle these wall urinals lurking around the smart city. No place to wash hands, I knew it will be a few minutes before I reach home to do so - sincerely wishing of not getting an opportunity to shake my hands with someone. Feeling completely light and relieved, I started trudging my way back.
Soon my wish was to be belied. On my way back, I saw a familiar face rushing towards me - "HAIO KEBE FOREIGN RU ASILA. KETE DINA ACHHA" - "Hey when did you come from abroad (foreign in Odia is the term used here to denote a nation outside India, especially Western Countries). How long are you staying", extending himself for a warm welcome handshake. I reluctantly took my hand forward, squinting my nose, hesitantly extended my right hand towards him. The smiling guy on the other side shook his hands enthusiastically for a few seconds.
Post handshake, he rolled his hands over his lip and chins, making me squint and raise my nose further. Hope someone recorded this handshake moment, it could very well get million plus hits on YouTube a la the greatest handshakes in history - Chamberlain with Hitler, Nixon with Chairman Mao, Ronald Reagan vs Mikhail Gorbachev and so on. Glad I didn't meet any more Mr. Fortunates on my way to shake hands with. More later...
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