“Radishes”, my mother exclaims, “You loved radishes, didn’t you? You there, how much are you selling those radishes for?”
“Maaaaa, no radishes. Whoever said I like them?”, I reply.
“Radishes 8 rupees a puwaa, baidew”, “Only 7 rupees a puwaa”. “The freshest ones right here, baidew”. A puwaa is 250 grams, and baidew is Axomiya for elder sister.
“Alright, squashes then. Squashes are good for health.” She persists.
I make my best windpipe-slit-by-samurai-sword-noise, a kind of wet gurgling that peeves her completely, as she looks at the radishes, and dismisses them, and prods at the cabbages. Cabbages are safe, she decides, because I do not react at all, and proceeds to buy two huge ones.
The shopkeepers look resentfully at the radish-hater and his mother as they exit from the maze of shops. I try my best not to look guilty.
* * *
I tell my parents I am buying a computer for them. My mother, who painstakingly writes out five copies of a question-paper for her tuition students every other day, could do with a printer – she even did an MS Office course thingie a couple of months back, just before my old computer decided to conk out for good. My father who warily circled the old computer until I showed him that it could play movies too, and how, was just getting used to it – I was kind of getting used myself to the phone calls asking me how to make the Windows Media Player fullscreen when a video was playing.
So this time, I tell them I am buying a new computer, and also point out that an internet connection would be good, now that BSNL has these broadband schemes. Somehow my father detects that note of hesitation when I talk about the internet. “What is it?”, he asks me, “A lot of bother? Forget it then.”
“Not really”, I tell him. “It’s just that if you aren’t careful enough, you might get viruses and I am a little worried about how you guys would handle it.”
“No, no, we will be careful. I will make sure nobody’s wearing shoes inside the computer room.”
I love these guys.
Sweeeeeeeet :D Weren’t you thinking of a 5.1 too? And oh, take some pics with that 6.1x camera of theirs!
I was thinking of a 5.1, yes. But they cribbed 5.1 times louder, my parents did, when I told them how much it would cost.
That was such a cute anecdote. :)
Heh.
Baidew and Puwa, words I have heard after a long time. Hope you enjoy the fresh vegetables out there!
I did, I did. But I am pretty sure if I had stayed awhile longer, my mom would have force-fed me jika and potol and tita kerela twice a day. Sheesh.
:D
I love raddishes. But that apart, very well written anecdote.
Parents and computers always generally produce a funny story :)
you love raddishes ?!!
fundamental difference
i disown you
To borrow from Stephen King
Radishes, muli
the wonderful fruit.
Eat more than one
and you go toot toot.
After reading the anecdotes, I love them guys too.
hehehe!
hello old friend
i mean this in the best way possible, nice family you got :)
btw, the ppts from the last post aint working
starving for the quiz my lord
Re: hello old friend
Hey, you got onto LJ too? Will have to do something about the quizzes. I mean it.
:o)
smiled today after a whole day of BLEAH-ness. gonna show my mom your post tomorrow so she’ll have more company in that club of theirs which i like to call “i’m a parent&i cant learn anything anymore”.
honestly, when i was teaching my dad about the comp i started totally from scratch and started with the all the damn buttons to push even!
and classically enuff, when we finally got an email a/c for my dad(with a very banal name), he sat and dictated his emails to me. i cant really see his secretary having a ball at work after that!!!
but parents-god bless ’em! cant live with them after a while and they wont let us live without them either!!!
cheers!
Re: :o)
Heh, very true. So what did your ma say after you showed this to her? My guess is: “Why doesn’t he like radishes? Radishes are good for eyesight.” ;-)
oh yeah!
i’m taking it for granted that you understand bangla so i’ll tell you ma’s reply without you losing out on the flavor at all…
keno mulo khayena?tora shob bayre theke-theke beshi badabadi korish! aar ma-baba’r moja korish keno re? aamra jokhon chhoto chhilam aamrao bhabtam ma-baba kichhu janey na. and then she closed with the clincher…tor jokhon chheley-meye hobey tokhon bujhbi thela!!!
i was suitably chastened coz you dint eat radishes. made sure i ate a double helping of everything put in front of me to avoid getting THE LOOK.
s-i-g-h!
if i was a girl i’d probably go “awwww..so cute..”..oh what the heck “awww..so cute”
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heh.
Oy, we could meet up one of these days, you know. Vandi has my number. Have you moved yet?
not yet moved daa..sure..let’s meet this weekend..will call vandi and get your no..
Won’t be available on this weekend, or the next, or the one after that. Travelling. :)
:)
:)