Teaching English to school children was never my idea of an fantasy job. But you know, i like the language. And playing like a school bunking kid at play, for whom bunking is first nature, the mind slips into play.
My mind jumps about thinking about ‘store’ as a verb. What could Krishna store !?! Perhaps it is the name of the proprietor of the store. And perhaps nothing sells here. And all he does is store. And so on.
So much for the neighbourhood Krishna Stores !
This was clicked in Bangalore a few months back. ‘ Andhra Style Family Restaurant !’ And immediately, the mind started its pointless mastication of those four words ! And in a few minutes, a chuckle escaped my lips. A solitary chuckle. For the meaning had mutated in my mind.
My mind only. ( The rest of them in the car were sane normal folks )
1. ANDHRA style family restaurant : The style (of whatever) is Andhra
2. Andhra STYLE family restaurant : Well, perhaps a restaurant that entertained only stylish families ! With Chiranjeevi style dialogue delivery and a swish swash back ground music on entry !
3. Andhra style FAMILY restaurant : The onus is on the family. So perhaps they would give you a ETV soap opera on the TV !
4. Andhra style family RESTAURANT : Where it may look like a shady bar, but it is firmly a restaurant.
And so on. And as the meaningless meandering mastication progressed, my brother nudged me to check if i knew what the store next door called CFC was all about.
CFC ! Chlorofluro Carbon…was the first thought before i read what was on the board. Ofcourse it was Chicago Fried Chicken ! If Kentucky arrived here first, can Chicago be far behind ?
The meaningless mutatory mastication in search of more meanings continued for some time.
And it usually raises its head when the mind is drained, the body tired and a pressing omni present to-do list asserts its omni prescence.
Like now.
A very quirky take!!
I especially liked the use of ‘masticate’ as a mental activity. In the same vein, let me add, my mind often ‘chews the cud’, that is, digs up some old matter out of the recesses of memory and mulls over it.
What about you?
Oh to be one of the sane along for a ride with you. Or even not so sane.
Aloha from Hawaii, friend!
hahaha…good one…
reminds me of the time my then 9 yrold, on being told to try te ‘sev’ puri, retorted…’I can’t, i have to save the puri!” though i’m sure you would have come up with something better 🙂
Hello Kavi, thanks for blogrolling. I remember seeing this CFC in Kaggadaspura area of Bangalore!!
I use to translate this in Tamil as “சிகாகோ பொறித்த கோழிகள்”….sounds funny!!!
Nice play on the restaurant name!
So they now have Chicago Fried Chicken in India!? I wonder when New York will get an Agarwal Sweet corner? (these are literally on every other corner in Delhi)
This happens to me as well, and most dont find it funny, when I narrate it..maybe there should be a quirk quotient that can be calculated for individuals, my daughter is learning words that are nouns and can be used as verbs..so she will def enjoy this.
How funny, you’re EVERYWHERE Kavi 🙂
(well, go and see Christine at Strange Pilgram)
On a not exactly similar note,I just came across an ad for a company that provides, made-to-order-modular kitchens. This ad appeared in a Marathi magazine. Amidst the usual graphics of steel contraptions, there is a huge line in English at the bottom saying , “We are Tendulkar in kitchens!”…..:-)
Sucharita : Well well well. Masticate came to me with a ‘bubble gum’ called big fun ! it was very much a physical activity !
The mental muscle was excercised by both chewing the cud and the mastication. Although more featured is the mastication !
Christine : On a sane note…thanks for putting me on the cover ! Phew. I can now sleep a peaceful man !
On a less saner note…that was insane. To put a masticator like me on the cover ! 🙂
Cloudia : Welcome here !! And thats a nice place you’ve got !
Suma : That was hilarious. Save the puri !! children can be lovely in their innocence. Wonder what he will say for dahi puri…!
Perhaps wonder where is da she puri !
Pradeep : Welcome ! Yes. I spotted this somewhere there. And your tamil translation seems impeccable. Impeccable i say !
🙂
Amreekandesi : If Saravana Bhavan can be in LA, i guess Agarwal can indeed land up in NY !!
Patience and hope ! 🙂
Sujata : Sometimes it is such a big relief to note that there are indeed others like me ! And that i am not alone !
Braja : Thank you ! 🙂 You almost made me omnipresent !! Christine is a very generous being !
ugich Konitari : That was interesting. Tendulkar in the kitchens. I wonder if they were speaking of his restaurants or his exploits with the bat.
Of the Mumbai Indian team, i dont think they would speak much…!
🙂
Kavi, I believe that you get more pleasure from dissecting the names of these restaurants than you would by savouring their fare!
Manju : You bet ! 🙂
English teacher ? are you ?
I think mastication is infectious. I started thinking about the Andhra, and could only think about the rectal burning that I had after eating food in an quintessential Andhra restaurant. The moral of the story is; What is good in the mouth is not good in the behind.
There is a similar Andhra style multicuisine restaurant, where all the cuisines that you get will basically be “Andhra style”. So, it will be “Andhra style” Punjabi, Chinese and whatever else you can find…