THE GERMAN GIRL Waiting for the bus at the City-Gold bus-stop, Ashram road, I saw this tall Fair Girl sitting on the bench. Her white skin and auburn hair suggested a Firang origin, but the Punjabi suit and bags of grocery in her hands suggested that probably she was just another beauty-saloon miracle. Foreigners are not a rare sight in Ahmedabad, and nor are the girls in Punjabi suits, or sarees. But the cloth-bags characteristic of middle aged native women for shopping was confusing me. 'OK, so let’s check out my suspicions systematically' I thought. A bus came from the right side, she got up in a hurry-but it was not destined to go where she wished to be, so she sat down again. A Rikshawallah approached, stopped in front of her (ignoring us not-so-fair-skinned : me, a middle aged lady and her daughter). She came forward and said: "Gandhi Ashram (in a weird accent with something like silent Dh) Yes ! She was Firang then for sure. The Rikshawallah replied w
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Chandi ki thaali
Chandi ki thaali “ Ae Bhopya, makdi bol, makdi” “Makdi”, “nai, nai Mekdi” , “Ma-e-k-di”, “May-k-di” Everyone laughed, I started laughing too. Jagggu smacked me on the head, ”saale, tu nahin sikhega” Jaggu was the tallest of us all, and so enjoyed smacking us whenever he got the chance, as he was also wiser than us all, he got his chance so often. “Ae Jaggu, ek bar fir se sikhaa na!” I pleaded, Jaggu repeated, in his perfect voice, that perfect accent I’ve heard so often. The strange name associated with this strange place. How funny it sounded! But people around here spoke it so casually, like any commonplace name. I repeated it again,”may-k-di” and giggled inwardly. It was a very big Hotal, with glass walls, and glass doors, decorated with colorful ribbons and balloons. There were pictures of various food items it sold stuck on its walls. And there was a big colorful man in red and yellow cloths, as big as Baba,