My stay here in the Maximum City has come with its fair share of bitter and sweet memories spent mostly within the confinements of my office space. As i look back, this city has instilled in me a lot of its features most prominent among them being the love for the Cutting Chai and Vada Pau and the very popular Mumbaiya Hindi. This special brand of Hindi can be heard anywhere, from the road side tapris(stalls) to the boardroom meetings.
My education had started from the very first day, when i thought of reaching my office in a red colored B.E.S.T bus, the cheapest mode of transport here. As i boarded the bus, anxiously i kept on enquiring about the stop to get down at from the conductor, to which the irritated public servant soon reverted back saying 'ghari ghari kya puchta hain'. I always knew that ghari was a watch but here was another way of using the word. True to his word, the conductor soon returned to tell me that we are nearing Vikhroli where my office is and its time that i start approaching the front exit door. As i pushed and shoved my way saying 'side dena bhaiyya' ,the fellow passengers gave me a very mean look. I later came to know that in Mumbai we call that particular brand of look as 'Khunnas' and also the reason why i was at the receiving end of the Khunnas was because i had said bhaiyya a title synonymous with the people from the northern states.
This brand of hindi soon became a part of my daily vocabulary be it in office or outside it. Almost anything was soon being referred to as Item, be it the contents of the restaurant menu or a P.Y.T. I started to ask questions like 'Aur Kya Bolta Hain' a multi purpose question which can mean how's ur health? or hows ur luv life? in general anything concerning you. Soon tujhe became tereko and mujhe became mereko. Instead of saying Yes or haan, i started saying barobar. Pagal hain kya? became Alibaug se aya hain kya? Alibaug being the place where the nearest mental institution is located.
One thing I realised very early, and that was When in Rome, do as the Romans do. So a statutory warning for those people who are well versed in shud hindi. If you use words like Asambhav,Nishit,Zaroori..then please take it out of your system before you become the laughing stock, as a certain colleague of mine came to know of it the harder way. I can go on and on with the wide range of words and their usages that i have learned over the last four years, but i guess its much more fun saying it than writing about it. So before i leave here a few words and their utilisation , which can be very helpful for people who are new in the city.
- Dimag ka dahi -- means i am really irritated and please don't bug me anymore
- Waanda -- Minor problem, Watt -- Major problem
- Gochhi, Jhol -- a mistake
- Shaana -- clever, cunning
- Mandivali -- any sort of bargaining
- Tang dia -- you have been ditched
- sumbdi -- quietly
- Shendi lag gaya -- fooled, bakra.
- hakal diya -- kicked out
