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| Dwelling by the sea in Kanyakumari. |
-Brian Mendonca
How do you say 'hello' in Tamil?
Despairing at not getting a pao for Queenie's fusion chicken - a melange of chicken xacuti and ros - I turned into the lane opposite Wellness pharmacy on CHOGM road, Porvorim.
It was past 9 p.m. and I was pushing my luck. Yet luck was at hand. On my left as I walked past, I saw the dimly lit blue cart with nothing on it. The flame was unlit and there was no one around -except for one person who was talking on the phone. In the storage rack I saw on the topmost shelf the precious paos. Arranged neatly at the far corner were stacked a few poees.
I was delighted when Yesudas - for that was his name - gladly agreed to part with the paos. When I requested the poees he said almost apologetically that he needed them in the morning.
When he mentioned his name I had visions of Yesudas the Indian playback singer from Fort Kochi. I decided to find out more about him.
As is my wont, I started a conversation with a stranger. For the opening gambit I mentioned that I heard that he spoke in Tamil. He seemed gratified and warmed up to me immediately. I mentioned we had recently visited Chennai. I asked him from where he was. He said Kanyakumari. Yesudas had come from the Southern-most tip of India to open a small eats service in Goa. He was probably talking on the phone to his family members. He was kind enough to request the person to hang up, so he could attend to me.
I asked him to teach me Tamil. He appeared not to know where to start. I said, 'How do you say "hello" in Tamil?' He said, 'Yepadu Irrikeri.' I repeated it after him enunciating every syllable, 'Ye-pa-du ir-ri-ke-ri.' It rolled on the tongue easily. The google translation is Ninkal Yepaddu Irrikerikal. Yesudas had chopped of the beginning and end of the rather lengthy phrase.
I was about to burst into my home and say the words 'Yepadu Irrikeri' with a flourish, but decided against it as Queenie and Dwayne were buried in school work.
Still, I have made a new friend in the new year. I am sure to expand my Tamil vocabulary with him - and have a dal vada while doing so.
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