i[...] c[...] (I thought it was banned?...)

[Narayan S. Raja]

On Tue, 19 Nov 1996, Robert Zydenbos wrote:

> communication. To ask an utterly crude, blunt and crucial question: yes, one
> can say "caay denaa" at any Indian railway station and actually get tea. So
> what? At Miraj station (N.B.: southern Maharashtra) a northerner one time did
> just this at a tea stall. The attendant just stared at the man. Then I asked
> for tea, in Kannada; I got my tea first, and then the northerner (oh! another

It's quite possible that you were 
served first because you are a foreigner, 
and that too, speaking an Indian
language.  (You might have been
served first even if you had said
"chaai dena" -- or emitted hoarse cries
suggestive of being parched -- instead 
of saying "chhayi ondhu kodtheera"). 


When one studies a foreign culture
with enthusiasm, there seems to be a
danger of embracing the local prejudices 
(which may be viewed with scepticism even
by many local people) and making them 
one's own... 

All the best,


Raja.
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