I've found myself strangely drawn into 'Bombay-speak'. It's hard to explain really- it's the English of the educated and definitely the lingua franca of young people at social gatherings. You wont hear much Hindi in any clubs!
It's essentially one part English left over from the Raj, with some hilariously creative vocabulary, mixed up with some interesting grammar and sung in an intonation that mirrors that of Hindi.
And, whatever 'nuance gap' there is, gets filled by some hand gesticulation. It seems to do the job; sometimes you can say less and wave more, and the point is equally conveyed..."So why not to save the talking?"
I'm an accent sponge, and I now find myself mirroring the accent of people with whom I am speaking, while they give me dirty looks as they think I'm mocking them. But hey, the kids love my accents- I do it for them :).
So last night Arjun and I went for a little excursion out to the waterfront on Carter Road, where we sat and took in the views from the Cafe Coffee Day that overlooks the water. I had the most delicously creamy Iced Mocha and got my sugar rush for the week. On the way back we stopped at Olive, where I had a Mojito or 3 and stumbled back in time for dinner at the house.
Tonight I went back to Olive for more mojitos, (hey back off- it feels like summer to me!) and a great dinner- some old friends and some new. You can read more about Olive in all the good tourist books but it's one of the more successful venues where the young set go to see and be seen, especially on Thursday nights. White stucco walls and candle light, white pebbles on the ground...all make you feel like this could well be in the Mediterannean...and the food is quite nice too.
Arjun has me hooked on Boston Legal, so our evening ritual includes watching two or three of them on the laptop.. What a great show! Denny Krane!! Pritinder Rangar!!
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