Embarassments and goof-ups make for interesting anecdotes and some of the best laugh-worthy moments. Laughter that periodically punctuates a good conversation detailing one's own or better still - someone else's slip ups - some of the best times in life! These moments positively beat the contrived, compressed humor of movies based on mistaken identities, overly exaggerated circumstances trying very hard to whip up a comedy of errors.
Like this one time when : my sister,Vidya who lives in Santa Rosa does all her Indian grocery shopping everytime she comes down to the Bay area. If she knows someone from here is visiting her, she usually gives them a shopping list of things she needs. One time, when a relative of ours, who we call 'kanna anna' was going to visit Santa Rosa, she wanted to send him an email asking him to fetch a few things for her. Kanna anna's actual name is Gopal. My sister who did not know his email id very confidently emailed a list to gopal@XYZ.com ( he worked for XYZ company). Needless to say, it reached the wrong Mr.Gopal in Seattle. Her email said - kanna anna, please bring me the following items from the Indian store......
The reply came in a few minutes - " Dear Vidya, I'd love to bring these things for you, but I am sorry, I do not know where you live and I am not your kanna anna".
The best part is, after seeing this email, my sister writes again - 'C'mon kanna anna, please don't joke. I really need these things, so please bring them ...blah! blah!
A phone convo later in the day with the real kanna anna cleared the confusion and resulted in a great deal of embarassment to my sister and some laughs for all of us.
Another total sardarji joke moment - My mother took my sister and me to have us start carnatic music classes with an elderly lady. When we reached the gate of their house, which was big and posh, my mother asked me to wait before entering. She wanted me to enquire if they had a dog that we should be wary about,(we are all a little fond of and equally scared of dogs) even though there was no 'Beware of dog' sign that most dog owners display. There was a garage at the end of the drive way which was open and inside a lady was teaching a few children - looked like tutorials to us. I opened my mouth and said something that caused everyone to stare at me in shocked disbelief, followed by some giggles and laughs, and my mom gave me a gentle slap on my back! I myself could not believe I had said "Excuse me, nimma manelli aane idiya?" - Do you have an elephant in your house - instead of "nimma manelli naayi idiya?" - Is there a dog in your house? I have been quoted for this one and it has caused some big outbursts of laughs on different occasions, but till today I cannot figure out what made me blurt out something like that!
I'll recount a few more in subsequent articles! why don't you share some of your comic moments ?
How old were you when the elephant/dog confusion happened?
ReplyDeleteI was in seventh grade.The lady teaching in the garage was the daughter-in-law of my music teacher. To add injury to insult( yeah! this happened in reverse order), she joined my school the following month and became my social studies teacher. That first meeting always made me a little nervous and uncomfortable, though she didn't show it at all!
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