Have you ever been so astounded by another person's comment that you have been unable to talk for some time? It happened once with me when I met that rickshaw puller, and it happened again last week.
As software engineers we are sometimes required to talk/chat with our clients and explain things to them, or get clarifications. This was the first time I was chatting to a French person on the client side, so my enthusiasm got the better of me. I thought I would open the conversation in French, a language in which I know only a few words. The chat proceeded somewhat like this:
I: Bonjour!
He: Hi.
He: Bonjour? You speak French? Where are you? France?
I: No no! I'm in India. I know only that much French. :-)
He: Ok...
*** Confidential chat that will cost me my job if published***
He: I'm sure it's clear to you now.
I: Merci! :-)
He: Only two words in French? :-)
I: Oui.
He: 3
I: Au revoir.
He: 4
He: Bhalo.
He: Pore kotha bolbo.
These last two lines, delivered in pure Bengali (meaning "Good. We'll talk later.") stunned me so much that I was unable to type anything more. My first thought was that the guy was a Bengali working under an alias and had been enjoying himself all this while. However, I was soon told that he knows only that much Bengali which was taught to him by one of my colleagues here. Nevertheless, it was a nice surprise and provided a welcome relief from my boring routine work.
As software engineers we are sometimes required to talk/chat with our clients and explain things to them, or get clarifications. This was the first time I was chatting to a French person on the client side, so my enthusiasm got the better of me. I thought I would open the conversation in French, a language in which I know only a few words. The chat proceeded somewhat like this:
I: Bonjour!
He: Hi.
He: Bonjour? You speak French? Where are you? France?
I: No no! I'm in India. I know only that much French. :-)
He: Ok...
*** Confidential chat that will cost me my job if published***
He: I'm sure it's clear to you now.
I: Merci! :-)
He: Only two words in French? :-)
I: Oui.
He: 3
I: Au revoir.
He: 4
He: Bhalo.
He: Pore kotha bolbo.
These last two lines, delivered in pure Bengali (meaning "Good. We'll talk later.") stunned me so much that I was unable to type anything more. My first thought was that the guy was a Bengali working under an alias and had been enjoying himself all this while. However, I was soon told that he knows only that much Bengali which was taught to him by one of my colleagues here. Nevertheless, it was a nice surprise and provided a welcome relief from my boring routine work.
Yes! the life is full of surprises!
ReplyDelete:-)))))))))))))
ReplyDeleteFunny story.
ReplyDeleteEuropeans seem to have a natural knack for languages.
sahi! :-) life brings so many surprises to us...that too very surprisingly! :-)
ReplyDeletehmmm...
ReplyDeleteInteresting
:)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletenteresting read Sugata.
ReplyDeleteYou are linked at my Blog. [:-)]
@km: I'd say Indians too.
ReplyDelete@kalyan: Thanks for linking me.
@all: Thanks for the comments.