1. Did you know people would laugh if you say this sentence. Oh NK ab pehli baar appne maika mei gayenge. Biwi bacho ke binay(PG, I know you told me men dont have maika but I used it anyways) I was telling friends about NK’s absence and stuff. They thought it was the funniest thing, Men should have a maike, why not?
2.I dont like golgappas at all. I have tried them at various places but still think the whole thing taste horrible. Everyone who hears that(and is from India) always claim that it just isnt possible. Golgappas are everyone’s favourite, said one very confidently. Uhmm not mine. So is anyone from India and hates Golgappas.
3. NK’s dad is doing really well. His relatives claim Beta ka aanhe say hogaye thik. I so do not like filmy dialogue.Side note, when you talk about your inlaws and their extended family, would you say NK(not NK per say but your spouse’s name) mama,chacha,mami or would you say hamare mama/mami/chachi
4.Everyone used to gasp when they would be talking about some bhai and I would always ask asli bhai yah nakli.I meant saagi but always forget that word. I got a lecture from an elderly relative about this, sab asli hote hai..koon koon crap.
5.The kids got so much candy. I hid the bags before they woke up and they are searching high and low.
6.My American readers, would be back tomorrow with normal news. This is stuff you wouldnt get.Ohh I am reading a really interesting book. Dreaming in Hindi. The author spends a year in India. I am enjoying it so far save for some parts, where she writes about the different studies and stuff, I have read and re-read to get the meaning. She mixed her memoir and various stuff about linguistics and different neurons in the brains type that got to be draggy. I could relate to her baat and bhatt dilemma. They both sound the same to me, the ta and tha sound in Hindi.
OMG THAT BOOK! I have been wanting to read that book for AGES now!
LOL! Fun post. And now for comments -
1.If we actually go by the concept of every marriage forming a new family, men have a right to have a ‘maika’ too. Unfortunately in India, men supposedly continue the same family line, while the wife moves away, and hence she has a maika, and he does not.
Me: Pfft, I was arguing with those friends and said I will call the boy’s house baapka..and they all thought the separation of NK has made me insane.
2. Really? OMG!! You are indeed the very first person I know who has not liked them any form.Usually everyone has a favourite, like mine are the rava ones we have in North India, with aloo stuffing, some like it Bombay style etc etc. However, I guess there have to be people who don’t like it either…. what’s the big deal?? And cool, now after I know a few people who don’t like chocolates, i know someone who does not like golgappas either!
Me: I have tried some in India still didnt like them. I find the minty paani..uhmmm…horrible. rofl.
3. I always prefer DH’s xyz. Its clear and precise. if I just say… mummy/ma how are you to know its not my mother but mother-in law? And to be very honest, it is not practically to actually adapt to someone else’s relatives to the extent where one thinks of them, exactly as you would as you would your own.
4. ‘khoon’ you mean??? Ha ha ha… i know in India, there is no cousin business, sab bhai-behan hain!! My close friend during her admission for school, actually told the principal, she had 15 brothers and 10 sisters, since she did not realise the difference between cousins, and the real ones. I can imagine the principal gasping in horror!
PS – I see this with Roop, and now even with you, your English writing of Hindi, as in writing Hindi in Latin script, you girls spell it so differently from what we are used to in India.
Read more hindi filmi names spelled in English girls.
Me: I write it the way I speak right, so choro means leave while chodo which most people write has me cracking up
Don’t worry you are not the only one who find filmi dialogues strange
It’s typically a more north Indian thing so since I grew up in Maharashtra where people stick to practical stuff I find my husband’s family’s use of filmi dialogue hilarious at times. Of course they think we are very unemotional 
Also totally understand the use of “his uncle” etc vs “ours”. I just can’t get used to referring to everyone in his family as my relatives too. Glad to hear everything is going well and your fil is doing better.
Me: Hmm, they are in MP so are they also prone to filmi dialogue because I have heard quite a few
1. I think it’s funny, but totally logical. “Baapka” just sounds soo weird. Don’t men have “mai”s as well as “baap”s?
2. Oooh, if you don’t like the minty water try the Bengali style tamarind thing. As a true-blue Bong foodie, I think no one makes golgappa – aka “phuchka” – as well as we do! Warning – ask the phuchkawalla to limit the chillies according to your tolerance.
Me: Next trip to India will have to try that.
3. Glad he’s doing better. And not related to your FIL, but to your ILs’ remarks – sometimes I think people fall ill just to demand attention.
Oh, I’d never ever say “hamaare” while talking about relatives. Everyone here is called “mama”, “mami” regardless of whether they’re related or not so I can happily call them that to their faces. But while referring, it’ll probably be “Indira-maasi” and so forth.
4. Bah. In India, every relationship is perforce incestuous. Sab ke sab toh bhai behen hain!
5. Wow, you can still successfully hide things from them? Much much respect!
Me: Its in a really secret place so I am hoping it will be hidden for a bit.
6. Haven’t read the book, but one of my friends uses “D” in capital to designate that letter halfway between “d” and “r”. I think that works
Me: Ohhh interesting. I should start using that as well, not that I wite that much in hindi but good to know
I use a simple convention to mark my parents from his.. His parents/relatives are all ‘our relatives’ — ‘humari mummy’ while mine remain mine.. like ‘meri mummy’.. It came rather instinctively to me after we got married, more so because my bro-in-law was also staying with us. And my mom cannot be his mom. Our mom meant mom to all of us
Me: Hmmm… thats a nice way of doing. I still tumari and meri
Bad bad me.
I don’t like golgappas… and I’m not too hot on chhaat, either! Or any ethnic sweets except gulab jamun, for that matter. But then I’m essentially a fraud Indian
Me: I only like ras malai. Hate jalebis and burfis and everything in between. It shocks people when you turn down home made laddus or when someone says this is the best jalebi and you say Hmm no thanks. My kids otoh, love kaju katli–Ashwina, Neil loves gulab jamuns and sooji halwa. Avasha loves most of them as well. Interesting,hai na?
haha! your hindi is cute!!
even i am not a big fan of gol gappas! if i given a choice i prefer other chat! but me dont hate paani puri!
and yes, saccha bhia… oh well cousin is indeed saccha but not sagaa!! :p
and ROFL at chodo! leave waala is spelt as chhodo the double H gives the right sound for words like Chhat, Chhaata and CHhaya!
with a single H the sound is more like chamacch! or chor! cool?! :p
Me: PG wrote the same thing about the double H. Good to know that as well and I should stop being so juvenile. Another word which had me cracking up was Chinar Park in NK’s hometown.
and M never says Abha’s cousin or something like that. he always says “our” cousin! But i say M’s sister or whatever! i try but dont succeed often!
and i LOVED this post!!
glad to know FiL is doing good!
cheers!
Me: Cheers back Abha…
heh – your Hindi-isms crack me up….but yeah, why not a maika for men – go for it!
As for filmi dialogues – I don’t know, that particular one doesn’t sound very filmi to me…and I am as S.Indian as they come
Probably a function of age though – we’ve had several family members go through serious illnesses/accidents etc. in the last couple of years and heard the same sentiment expressed several times by relatives and friends. I think the psychological advantages of knowing your children care enough for you to come when you are sick is huge…
Me: I am just a cynical bitch. Everything sounds filmy to me.
So do you speak good hindi?
Relatives – depends on how well I know them – some of them are “our relatives” some are individual.
M
LMAO
1. Baapka would be the right term, I think..though Mai-ka and Baap-ka followed by some dots, could make for excellent gaalis!!
Me: I love using those gaalis and it doesnt affect me because I didnt grow up speaking Hindi. So I use the horrible gaalis in Hindi when I am pissed and NK uses the Mandarin ones.
2. Dude, hate gol gappas because they are from delhi!
.. try calling them pani puri and I bet you’ll love them. 
3. O forget about mama, chacha.. ask me where I am from in India and i’ll give you my Mom and Dad’s home address…that’s where my heart is and that’s home.
Me: rofl
4. Asli bhai, nakli bhai-LOL… now you have me humming ” yeh sach hai koi kahani nahi, khoon khoon hota hai pani nahi” from amar, akbar anthony.. where the 3 brothers give blood to their mother at the same time..3 bottles flowing into mother’s body kinda CRAP!
Me: We watched it with my older girls a while back and the questions they asked were hilarious.
Glad your FIL is doing good.
Its always spouses’ mama, mami … for cousins, we stick to names …
- When referring to our homes in Bangalore, it is always ‘their house’ and ‘our house’ where ‘their house’ is his parents’ house and ‘our house’ is my parents’ house.
- I hate the panipuri in the bay area as well.
- His relatives are always his but I do call his parents ‘amma’ and ‘appa’ which is what he calls them.
- I hate dramatic dialogues as well, only next to family gossip may be although I don’t mind gossiping about random friends and acquaintances with friends. Weird huh?
Me: Gossiping is the best thing ever. I love a good bitching session with a close friend or my sister.
Heh – yes I speak Hindi – did ICSE in school, and my maternal grandparents lived in Delhi, so spent most vacations there.
M
Well about that… the ‘leave’ waala chhodo, is actually written as ‘chhodo’, when you remove one ‘h’, it does indeed mean what has you cracking up.
There are some basic rules of converting Hindi to English, which most people don’t follow, like aakaash, is spelled with double ‘A’s, a single ‘A’ is suitable for the sound of ‘a’ in garam. But you will read both with single ‘A’s. God! You have me fuelled up now, maybe I will do a post on this. 
Me: Abha just informed me about the double H thing as well. Go on, do a post on it.