April A-Z Challenge: A Tale of Four Cities [N]

Blog entry #14

Nerul | Nakko (and Hau) | Naduvula konjam pakkatha kaanom | Never say never

Nerul
Sector 27 - Just Books CLC. 
Sector 21 - Cine Homes earlier, now Sun Star Apartments
These two places would always be etched in my memory. Also, Jhama Sweets, Gupta’s Sandwich, and Haware Mall - which was newly constructed at that time, in 2011. Weekends with Dad were super fun - driving from Chembur to Nerul to visit my cousins, while stopping on the way to visit Mom’s library, and then going near Uran highway so I could practise driving once I got my license. At my cousins’ place, we’d order sandwich, without the spicy green chutney for me, chaat - sev puri, dahi batata puri and bhel, while tea and coffee would be made at home, due to everyone’s different specifications for beverage!

Nakko and Hau (Hyderabad)
'Na' and 'haan' in Gujarati, 'Naahi' and 'Ho' in Marathi, 'Nahi' and 'Haan' in Hindi, and 'No' and 'Yes' in English - these were what 'Nakko' and 'Hau' were in Hyderabadi Hindi. Here is a clip if you’d like to get a taste of more such words. The complete phrase to say yes to someone is not just Hau, but 'Hau miyaan'. Miyaan loosely translates to fellow. If Hyderabadi Hindi is an amalgamation of Hindi, Telugu, and Urdu, shouldn’t they choose a word that’s easy to say? Nakko seems like putting in more effort than simply saying 'Na' or 'Nahi'. Nakko is also the Marathi word for 'don’t want', but it’s more like ’Nako', without the emphasis on 'K'. Hyderabadis also add 'aan' to make an object plural: chappal - chappalan; baat - baataan; So a brief conversation might go something like this:
Pattha (friend): Mera chappalan kidhar miyaan? (Where are my slippers?)
Kiraak (Kewl Dude): Humko kya maalum? (What do I know?)
Pattha: Dekho Chiccha, Baigan ke baataan nakko karo. (Look here dude, don’t speak nonsense)
Kiraak: Hau miyaan, yeh lo chappalaan. (Ok man, here are your slippers)

Naduvula konjam pakkatha kaanom
This movie was my very first introduction to Vijay Sethupathi. The movie is based on a true story, with the director’s friend, the cinematographer of the movie, suffering from retrograde amnesia a few days before his wedding. The movie features an ensemble cast, so to speak, and its genre can be classified as funny, maybe hilarious in some places. I watched this movie when I was new to Chennai and to Chennai Tamil, so when I was searching for subtitles for this movie, several sites kept showing me: "Eng Subs (a few pages are missing in between)". I was wondering why so many different websites had faulty subtitles, with incomplete text. Little did I know, that’s what the title of the movie translated to! Thanks to the subtitles, at least after the movie, I didn’t ask like the hero kept asking: "Enna Aachu?" (What happened?)

Never say never
I’m not referring to the song by Justin Bieber featuring Jaden Smith, no. The news of my parents having to shift to Bangalore came suddenly, and we were in a state of shock for some time. Never did we think we’d have to move out of Bombay for any reason, never did we imagine we’d have to adjust to different living conditions and standards, never did we foresee we’d have to eat long, dark green cucumbers instead of the short, light green ones… But on the other hand, never did we imagine a closer-than-ever bond with my aunt, uncle, cousin and my grandparents. Never did we imagine we’d have to make frequent trips between Bangalore and Chennai and that they would be so easily achievable, and economical. As my Dad would say: "Ellaam nanmaike" (Whatever happens, happens for the best). So I guess, never say never.

Image courtesy: Google ©