Train Journey Con’t – Couple of Indian Jokes
…Also, the fears of an Indian on his First Solo Visit to Delhi.
OK...back to the train where we left off yesterday:
7:15 PM....just when I thought it was too long without food...along come breadsticks and soup again.!
8:10...2 stories were just told me after much laughter in the compartment...so they translated especially for me after filling me in on some background info first...I must write them so I don't forget them (good thing I did at the time, since believe me, I tried now to recall them WITHOUT reading in my notes, and could remember nothing...this brain is far from what it used to be!)
Their storytelling to each other started after they asked me what I was reading and I showed them the Alchemist which they had never heard of but tried to explain it was a "fairytale for adults"...soooo...here are the two stories...
1: One is based on a story they learnt as youngsters from parents or in school but was added to in order to make it into a joke...
A poor man sold hats and carried all his wares on his head in a basket. One day he got tired and put his basket down and fell asleep. When he awoke, all his hats were gone except for one on his head. Then he saw monkeys wearing all the hats up in the trees. So he thought "What to do?" He thought and then decided to throw his hat down and to his surprise and happiness all the monkeys followed suit and threw down their hats as well. He collected them all and went happily on his way...
Now...the addition is a Saddhu was doing the same thing...same story...went to sleep...monkeys take all hats etc. But when he throws away his hat on his head the monkeys don't do the same thing. He is quite astonished and says "I don't understand...my father told me the story as a child...so why didn't it work?" The monkey says to him "I have a father also!"
2nd story:
A poor man is cutting wood and his ax falls into the water. "What to do?" he thinks. When a fairy appears to help him. He pulls out a gold ax an asks "Is this yours ?" "no" says the poor man. He pulls out a silver ax and asks "Is this yours?" "no" says the poor man. He pulls out the iron ax and says "Is this yours?" "yes" says the poor man. And for his honesty, the fairy rewards him by giving him all three axes and making him into a rich man. Eventually he gets married and one day, on a trip to Ooty, he looses his wife in a crowd...Fairy appears again to help him-but decides to test him now that he is rich...first brings him a famous actress (don't remember the names but not important)..."Is this yours?" "yes" says the rich man....then the fairy brings a famous singer "Is this yours?" "yes" says the rich man...then he brings his wife..."Is this yours?".."yes" says the rich man. Well now the fairy is confused..."when you were poor, you were very honest...now that you are rich, you lie...why did you say yes to all the women when only the last one is your wife????"
Well",,, says the rich man, "Last time when I said "no" to all the axes that weren't mine, you gave ALL of them to me....I was afraid if I said "no" this time also, you would give me ALL the women...I have enough trouble with just ONE!"
Well, by then, we had eaten supper, which was similar to lunch ...but when it came time to go to sleep, the other guy in the upper berth started to say goodnight but I decided to go back to my own berth so as not to cause trouble when the guy got on at Nagpur...so at 9 we both went back to our original compartment...I settled in and fell asleep after about an hour of listening to music.
Morning...7 AM...Good morning...actually slept quite well. Only one night time toilet visit. It was cold up there but managed to double over my blanket and slept much better than I thought I would. Used my ear plugs which was really a good idea. Woke up, said good morning to my chum on second upper berth and then tea was served. I went and fixed myself up first, teeth, hair, face cream and then had my tea and read the morning paper and then "came down" It is pouring rain outside! Hope it stops by Delhi. Then speaking to this guy who is going to Punjab for his new position. He is "commissioner of Labor" and will now be in charge of Punjab area. Then he was wondering about his train ticket which continues at 3 PM and wasn't sure what station it leaves from. He's been asking everyone since last nite. I also told him if it just says "delhi" it means "old delhi" (he of course didn't believe ME_)...and this has him very worried since it is not the same station our train comes into.
Now I know why. He has much luggage to shlep around and doesn't speak Hindi! He is just as much a foreigner in Delhi as I am! And it is his first time having to get around delhi by himself. Every time he came for work before, someone always met him at the station. So he is really nervous. So I was calming Him down and giving him hints. Quite funny. He said at work he will be able to speak only English but is expected to learn Panjabi in 6 months. He also worked in Kerala and learned that language easily. Imagine living in the States and each region having a different language. (Although I remember when we first moved down south it seemed like a foreign language was being spoken for awhile!!). Now he is really nervous about taking an auto from one station to the other. He has 3 large heavy suitcases as well as bedding and electric burner tied up together.
When we woke up he says "Great-now we are almost there-only 5 more hours!" I could get to Eilat in 5 hours and that's the longest trip anyone takes in Israel. Here its is considered "almost there"
Well, I'm bushed now...and hungry...looks like there will be a part 3 to this letter...
That's it for now
OK...back to the train where we left off yesterday:
7:15 PM....just when I thought it was too long without food...along come breadsticks and soup again.!
8:10...2 stories were just told me after much laughter in the compartment...so they translated especially for me after filling me in on some background info first...I must write them so I don't forget them (good thing I did at the time, since believe me, I tried now to recall them WITHOUT reading in my notes, and could remember nothing...this brain is far from what it used to be!)
Their storytelling to each other started after they asked me what I was reading and I showed them the Alchemist which they had never heard of but tried to explain it was a "fairytale for adults"...soooo...here are the two stories...
1: One is based on a story they learnt as youngsters from parents or in school but was added to in order to make it into a joke...
A poor man sold hats and carried all his wares on his head in a basket. One day he got tired and put his basket down and fell asleep. When he awoke, all his hats were gone except for one on his head. Then he saw monkeys wearing all the hats up in the trees. So he thought "What to do?" He thought and then decided to throw his hat down and to his surprise and happiness all the monkeys followed suit and threw down their hats as well. He collected them all and went happily on his way...
Now...the addition is a Saddhu was doing the same thing...same story...went to sleep...monkeys take all hats etc. But when he throws away his hat on his head the monkeys don't do the same thing. He is quite astonished and says "I don't understand...my father told me the story as a child...so why didn't it work?" The monkey says to him "I have a father also!"
2nd story:
A poor man is cutting wood and his ax falls into the water. "What to do?" he thinks. When a fairy appears to help him. He pulls out a gold ax an asks "Is this yours ?" "no" says the poor man. He pulls out a silver ax and asks "Is this yours?" "no" says the poor man. He pulls out the iron ax and says "Is this yours?" "yes" says the poor man. And for his honesty, the fairy rewards him by giving him all three axes and making him into a rich man. Eventually he gets married and one day, on a trip to Ooty, he looses his wife in a crowd...Fairy appears again to help him-but decides to test him now that he is rich...first brings him a famous actress (don't remember the names but not important)..."Is this yours?" "yes" says the rich man....then the fairy brings a famous singer "Is this yours?" "yes" says the rich man...then he brings his wife..."Is this yours?".."yes" says the rich man. Well now the fairy is confused..."when you were poor, you were very honest...now that you are rich, you lie...why did you say yes to all the women when only the last one is your wife????"
Well",,, says the rich man, "Last time when I said "no" to all the axes that weren't mine, you gave ALL of them to me....I was afraid if I said "no" this time also, you would give me ALL the women...I have enough trouble with just ONE!"
Well, by then, we had eaten supper, which was similar to lunch ...but when it came time to go to sleep, the other guy in the upper berth started to say goodnight but I decided to go back to my own berth so as not to cause trouble when the guy got on at Nagpur...so at 9 we both went back to our original compartment...I settled in and fell asleep after about an hour of listening to music.
Morning...7 AM...Good morning...actually slept quite well. Only one night time toilet visit. It was cold up there but managed to double over my blanket and slept much better than I thought I would. Used my ear plugs which was really a good idea. Woke up, said good morning to my chum on second upper berth and then tea was served. I went and fixed myself up first, teeth, hair, face cream and then had my tea and read the morning paper and then "came down" It is pouring rain outside! Hope it stops by Delhi. Then speaking to this guy who is going to Punjab for his new position. He is "commissioner of Labor" and will now be in charge of Punjab area. Then he was wondering about his train ticket which continues at 3 PM and wasn't sure what station it leaves from. He's been asking everyone since last nite. I also told him if it just says "delhi" it means "old delhi" (he of course didn't believe ME_)...and this has him very worried since it is not the same station our train comes into.
Now I know why. He has much luggage to shlep around and doesn't speak Hindi! He is just as much a foreigner in Delhi as I am! And it is his first time having to get around delhi by himself. Every time he came for work before, someone always met him at the station. So he is really nervous. So I was calming Him down and giving him hints. Quite funny. He said at work he will be able to speak only English but is expected to learn Panjabi in 6 months. He also worked in Kerala and learned that language easily. Imagine living in the States and each region having a different language. (Although I remember when we first moved down south it seemed like a foreign language was being spoken for awhile!!). Now he is really nervous about taking an auto from one station to the other. He has 3 large heavy suitcases as well as bedding and electric burner tied up together.
When we woke up he says "Great-now we are almost there-only 5 more hours!" I could get to Eilat in 5 hours and that's the longest trip anyone takes in Israel. Here its is considered "almost there"
Well, I'm bushed now...and hungry...looks like there will be a part 3 to this letter...
That's it for now
posted by Jane @ 10:27 PM
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