"When I go back to India, I will kiss my buffalo."
Thus spake Other Indian guy.
I laughed and he looked mildly piqued. "Why are you laughing?" he asked. So I told him that it just sounded funny.
He was, of course, referring to the fact that he much prefers buffalo milk to the cow milk that's common here.
Of course, he then went on to say that in Punjab, they believe that buffalo milk makes for a strong body, and cow milk makes for a strong mind. And that nobody likes cow milk there.
And he couldn't understand why I laughed again.
April 4 was Indian guy's (not the buffalo-kisser, the original Indian guy) birthday. He was loathe to say anything about it, but Other Indian guy spilled the beans to me and one of the guys at my site that was working late.
So I bought a can of Coke from the vending machine, and decorated it with a Kleenex carnation that I thank my mom for teaching me how to make as a little boy when I saw them all over a wedding car. Indian guy was bemused and a little embarrassed.
A few hours later, over chai, he suggested that all of us get some pizza the following night. We hadn't done that in a while, so we agreed and that was that.
After he went off shift, Other Indian guy mentioned that (and I knew this, it just slipped my mind) in India it's the birthday boy or girl that's supposed to treat everybody else to food and drink and whatnot. And I realized why Indian guy had been embarrassed at the gift of Coke - it was because he hadn't brought anything for anybody and we knew it was his birthday, poor guy.
So it didn't seem so farfetched to think that he'd pay for the pizza the following night out of some sense of obligation.
So I determined to at least pay a share, if not all. After all, we're not in India here, are we? ;)
However, the sneaky bugger just brought food with him, and there was no chance to pay. Samosas with chutney, and the two desserts I can never spell. LeDoux (like dense doughnut holes) and jalabi (pastry like sugar-drizzled patchos from Kelly O'Brien's).
I found some chips, orange juice, and cookies upstairs left over from some catered meal for the new owners of the site, and we had us a feast. And goddamn, but those boys can put the food away.
Remember I was telling you about Other Indian guy being obsessed with the teachings of one guy? He was going off about him again this morning, and I expressed some doubts (as I'm wont to do). Basically I told him that even if there was someone whose opinion I respected, it didn't automatically mean that anything that came out of his mouth would be gospel.
He responded that he thought the same, that he had his BS in political science (hard to believe, but this is what he tells me) and when he read what his hero said about politics, he didn't agree at all.
I seized on this and pointed out that there may be people ignorant of politics that might believe what this guy says about them. The same as how Other Indian guy doesn't know jack about psychology, or physics, or religion and just parrots what Osho (his hero) says.
"Isn't it possible," I asked, "that this guy really doesn't know anything about this stuff and you're only following the man? If he quotes a line out of Thus Spake Zarathustra or A Brief History of Time or the bible/koran/torah, don't you think you should follow the source material so you have your own grounding in the subject rather than just blindly believing the man?"
He looked at me with some distaste and shot out something short in Punjabi. He then said, as I've heard many times before, "We have a proverb in Punjab."
"Do you know when guys do..." he then made a motion. I figured it out in only two tries - he was referring to snake charmers. I'll leave my first guess to your imagination.
I told him I did. He asked if I knew the instrument snake charmers use. I told him I did, but we have no exact equal for it here, so just call it a flute.
He nodded and said "In Punjab we say `Playing the charmer's flute at a buffalo' when we refer to doing something pointless. Me talking about spirituality with you is just like me playing a nice song to my buffalo."
"What is it with your lips and your buffalo? It seems it's all you can talk about lately!"
He was amused, but then got distracted thinking of buffalo milk. This guy needs to get out more often. :P
I laughed and he looked mildly piqued. "Why are you laughing?" he asked. So I told him that it just sounded funny.
He was, of course, referring to the fact that he much prefers buffalo milk to the cow milk that's common here.
Of course, he then went on to say that in Punjab, they believe that buffalo milk makes for a strong body, and cow milk makes for a strong mind. And that nobody likes cow milk there.
And he couldn't understand why I laughed again.
April 4 was Indian guy's (not the buffalo-kisser, the original Indian guy) birthday. He was loathe to say anything about it, but Other Indian guy spilled the beans to me and one of the guys at my site that was working late.
So I bought a can of Coke from the vending machine, and decorated it with a Kleenex carnation that I thank my mom for teaching me how to make as a little boy when I saw them all over a wedding car. Indian guy was bemused and a little embarrassed.
A few hours later, over chai, he suggested that all of us get some pizza the following night. We hadn't done that in a while, so we agreed and that was that.
After he went off shift, Other Indian guy mentioned that (and I knew this, it just slipped my mind) in India it's the birthday boy or girl that's supposed to treat everybody else to food and drink and whatnot. And I realized why Indian guy had been embarrassed at the gift of Coke - it was because he hadn't brought anything for anybody and we knew it was his birthday, poor guy.
So it didn't seem so farfetched to think that he'd pay for the pizza the following night out of some sense of obligation.
So I determined to at least pay a share, if not all. After all, we're not in India here, are we? ;)
However, the sneaky bugger just brought food with him, and there was no chance to pay. Samosas with chutney, and the two desserts I can never spell. LeDoux (like dense doughnut holes) and jalabi (pastry like sugar-drizzled patchos from Kelly O'Brien's).
I found some chips, orange juice, and cookies upstairs left over from some catered meal for the new owners of the site, and we had us a feast. And goddamn, but those boys can put the food away.
Remember I was telling you about Other Indian guy being obsessed with the teachings of one guy? He was going off about him again this morning, and I expressed some doubts (as I'm wont to do). Basically I told him that even if there was someone whose opinion I respected, it didn't automatically mean that anything that came out of his mouth would be gospel.
He responded that he thought the same, that he had his BS in political science (hard to believe, but this is what he tells me) and when he read what his hero said about politics, he didn't agree at all.
I seized on this and pointed out that there may be people ignorant of politics that might believe what this guy says about them. The same as how Other Indian guy doesn't know jack about psychology, or physics, or religion and just parrots what Osho (his hero) says.
"Isn't it possible," I asked, "that this guy really doesn't know anything about this stuff and you're only following the man? If he quotes a line out of Thus Spake Zarathustra or A Brief History of Time or the bible/koran/torah, don't you think you should follow the source material so you have your own grounding in the subject rather than just blindly believing the man?"
He looked at me with some distaste and shot out something short in Punjabi. He then said, as I've heard many times before, "We have a proverb in Punjab."
"Do you know when guys do..." he then made a motion. I figured it out in only two tries - he was referring to snake charmers. I'll leave my first guess to your imagination.
I told him I did. He asked if I knew the instrument snake charmers use. I told him I did, but we have no exact equal for it here, so just call it a flute.
He nodded and said "In Punjab we say `Playing the charmer's flute at a buffalo' when we refer to doing something pointless. Me talking about spirituality with you is just like me playing a nice song to my buffalo."
"What is it with your lips and your buffalo? It seems it's all you can talk about lately!"
He was amused, but then got distracted thinking of buffalo milk. This guy needs to get out more often. :P
posted by Rimmy at 19:16
2 Comments:
Rimmy the buffalo. Well, at least he didn't liken you to a rat, or a sloth.
He's got a big fear on for homosexuals, especially men. I gather he'd never heard of such a thing before coming here, rather than it being taboo for him.
So I tell him I'm REALLY like an elephant, and then I trumpet and start opening my fly.
He usually flees. ;)
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