The 'Just Married, Please Excuse' Contest

    I have been following Y's blog for quite some time. When the contest was announced I already knew what I was going to write about.

Here is my entry!!

After our wedding, there was some puja at my husband’s place. All his relatives swarmed around me. Each one was asking, “Do you understand Hindi? Can you speak Hindi?”  I am a south Indian and my husband is a north Indian. North Indians still find it impossible to believe that South Indians can speak fluent Hindi. My language skills vastly improved due to my friends’ circle and also due to my husband’s never ending effort. I answered all their questions in Hindi using English words only when absolutely necessary. They broke into fits of laughter whenever I pronounced something wrong or used a wrong word. I was providing them free entertainment. Then came a new challenge, I had to go and speak to my husband’s dadi. She was a little hard at hearing and didn’t speak very clearly either. I sat next to her and strained my ears hard. I almost felt like a dog, with ears cocked up. She also spoke in a slightly different dialect. So, using my natural common sense I was steering the conversation forward. She asked something on the lines of working. I said that I was working. Then she said something like when are you leaving, or it was something that I presumed she asked. Promptly, I replied, “baarah dadi”. Everyone around me started laughing very loud. I didn’t have a clue as to what was wrong with the answer. I asked a cousin as to why she was laughing; she controlled her laughter with great effort and said, “Dadi asked you how many kids you wanted”. Apparently, she said “Kitne bacche?” and I thought she was asking “Kitne baje?” Our flight was at two in the afternoon and we were leaving at 12. So I had replied    ”baarah”. I also joined in the mirth. The incident acted as an icebreaker and helped me forge stronger bond with the family. Needless to say,  I am dadi’s favourite now, since I wanted to give her more than the desired number of great grandchildren.