Would Somebody Shut Her Up?

Why do I bother? I appear to be addicted to the internet and this blog.

But I had to tell you my most exciting news! There is an article in the Times of India about the treatment of the mentally ill here! Like they said in during the Klondike Pyrite Rush: That's gold baby! This is now my most prized souvenir, I am so excited!

I was just going to take the article but then there was a man, the Restaurant Manager, sitting only 2 feet away from me. When I asked if I could come back the next day and pick up the article in the morning, Mr Restaurant Manager was so nice and said "Just take it now, because I leave here at 8 p.m. and tomorrow it might not be here," (Yes, I have ripped recipes and articles out of magazines in waiting rooms but I've got enough on my karmic head, don'tcha think?)

Sidebar: One day in Rishikesh as Vanessa and I were walking along, a passenger fellow on the back of his friend's motorbike calls out to us "helloooo, how are yoooou?" and I said "bahut atcha." Mr passenger asks, "You speak Hindi?" and I said "Packah," (definitely). Vanessa commented "I love how you did that without saying a word in English."

I was reminded of that moment tonight while I sat waiting for my food, reading the paper and the Manager asked me "Anything good in the news?" and I answered "kabinay" (never). "Kabinay!" He repeated after me, and then he added "You have a good accent."

I felt like I was walking on water.

Kabinay, if I haven't mentioned it before but I think I must have as I'm having a deja-lu feeling, is my absolute favourite word in Hindi, bearing in mind that I have the vocabulary level of a domesticated monkey. Actaully, by my calculations the monkey knows about 108 more words. It's my favourite because of the day I was using it and recognised it breaks down into the words kab which means when, abi which is now and nay which is no. So the word is full on, full power if you will: when-now-no.

How sweet it is, how sweet!