Wednesday, July 22, 2009

You Know You Are a Kashmiri When...

You know your Kashmiri when...
Chai must be had at least 4 times a day, in the morning, for lunch, at 4, and when you come back from work.
Weddings last for at least a fortnight !
All the women at your parties try to see who can talk the loudest.
You can hear their laughter and even the voh-vohs from the basement.
You meet a whole new line of families at Kashmiri gatherings.
You are going to be a daakhtar [doctor].
You drink nun-chai and eat kulchas.
You can pronounce tchzamun/ tchzarvan
Big noses/ Hooked noses run in your DNA, and if somehow you end up with a different one- people refuse to acknowledge you as a Kashmiri.

You know the correct pronunciations to the song, Rind Posh Maal...
You know many kashmiri phrases such as
- KholAKhar
- Trath Payin
- Kya Gowm
- Balai Lagey
- Shikas Lad

"You know many kashmiri phrases such as
KholAKhar
Trath Payin
Kya Gowm
Balai Lagey
Shikas Lad "
You are the most politically aware kid in your school.
Your brother owns some kind of expensive video game player.
You think you can sing, but you really cant.
When any food you eat is subjected to the wazwaan test, which it inevitably fails. :)
When the first thing you wait for in the morning is to get the tchzot, bakerkhaani, kulcha etc. from the kaandhur's shop.
When double-tchzot is given to the spoilt brats, cuz they wont eat the traditional breads.

If you happen to pass all the uncles, you always hear them debating about Kashmiri politics.
Your knees have ached after hours of sitting around a thasanaari eating food.
You've spied on the wazaa's at your wedding before.
Everyone is your aunty and everyone is you uncle.

You have atleast once rode a crazy horse in Pahelgam or Gulmarg or have heard someone's tales about it.
You have been to Oberoi Palace for dinner.
You have been to Broadway for lunch.
Your cousin is getting married this summer, so you have to spend all year planning your outfit.

Wanna be Kashmiri's are not cool.
You hear bomb blasts outside, and you panic. Your aunty reassures that they wont blast here and goes along with her daily chores. For some reason now, you are more scared.
You are always in search of the "vyaes"- the bone marrow :P
No meal is a meal without rice.
No meal is a meal without meat.
You never felt the need for having deserts after an enormous wazwaan.
You think you are the only person competent enough to call yourself an Aryan.

Kashmiri is the perfect code language in public places becuase NOBODY knows it.
You've grown up being extremely proud of you culture.
You are stylish.
When you are somehow related to that other Kashmiri.
You wear a sweater over your salwaar kameez.
When kashmir fights consist of going "ey ey ey"
Any news piece on Kashmir catches your eyes within 5 miliseconds of your flipping through the newspaper.

You dont know / cant find the Hindi/ English word for Monj-Haakh.
When your house is filled with Samovars.
You wonder what a samovar is doing at your Iranian/Russian friends house.
People are puzzled when you speak kashmiri.
You wonder why.

You prefer Shah Rukh Khan to Amitab Bachan because he looks- oh so kashmiri Plus he is so called muslim!!! similarly you support Pakistan in cricket because they are a muslim nation no matter how bad they play!

When all the Kashmiri woman talk, no one can hear what anyone else is saying.
Your mom walked to Presentation Convent together with [insert friends name here]'s mom when they were kids.
You find it hilarious when your watch Kashmiri soap operas and they are trying to act romantic.

"Sweety sweety drai duty is your favorite theme song."

"Sweety sweety drai duty is your favorite theme song."
Punctuality is for Caucasians
Your dad told you that you were the prince/princess of Kashmir when you were a kid.
You grew up believing him.
You know all about the India-Pakistan separation.
You are close friends with Kashmiri Political Figures.
Your mom doesn't let your dad go into politics.
People respond with "where's that?" when you tell them where your from.

You made a Kashmir stall at your school's cultural fests.
Your house is filled with Kashmiri rugs and furniture.
You are sure to bring in the kashmiri connection to anything and everything.
You are irritated when your french manicure is stained yellow from the wazwaan food.
When you don't own any naked baby photos, but have many photos of you in a traditional kashmiri dress taken in Nishat Bagh.

You eat softies at Zero Bridge.
Your dad ate softies at Zero Bridge in college.
Your whole family knows the guy who owns the Softy shop at zero bridge.
When you have rode a shikara on dal lake, and then your driver got into a fight with the guys cuz he was asking for 5 more rupees.

When you wake up on saturday mornings because your mom is calling kashmir and even the neighbors can hear what she's talking about.
You go to sleep while the dogs howl to the moon.

You are always glued to the TV for every single cricket match and then complain that the captain did no good job.

You click 'add to dictionary' when spell check cant recognize your name.
You do this to every computer you lay your hands on.

Inputs : Shakeeb Ashai ,

Further Additions: courtesy Aditya dhar (Facebook)

- You know u r a kashmiri when u enter ur house and ur Mom says- Aakha Tchu.
- You go to a Khandar and some strange old lady with a bushy hairy mole (just below her nose) will Kiss you right left and center and say- Mai ma zaanakh, bu che chain maas.
- In those same Khandar's U will see Kumbh Ka Mela next to Roghan Josh and Kaliya stalls. Then everyone will make a heap of it on their plates as well as in Dust-Bins.(As an experiment we should invite Menka Gandhi to a kashmiri wedding- Apne Hathyaar chod Bhaag khadi hogi)
- This is the way Our Uncles will always pronounce the following words
Six- SIKIS
Construction- Canastruction.
Help- Helap
- Our relatives Love using Kashmiri words while talking to someone non kashmiri - Raste mai mera toh myada he kharaab ho gaya, Taichi taichi lag gai.
- Literal Translation of Kashmiri Abuse:-
Che pai Ghuss Trath- May a Bolt of Crap fall on U.(Pure Genius)

Forgive me if you cant understand some kashmiri words .
you can email me at : shakeeb.ashai@gmail.com
VEARAN BONIE HUND HAEREN KAV....

6 comments:

  1. great job man! its really too good but at the same time its too humorous

    ReplyDelete
  2. its hilarious ...its true but ..its the reality can u please explain the meaning of the phrase astonished crow of a desolate chinar..if possible

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bhaiya I tried to understand but some words I couldn't get but I knew one thing that you are proud to be an kashmirian and we too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi,

    Most of the stuff here is great and even the Kashmiris who don't reside in Kashmir can relate to it :)

    But I don't agree to the fact that all of us like to support Pakistan Cricket Team just because they are Muslims. I for one am a diehard supporter of the Indian Cricket Team.
    I don't think that we Kashmiris like people based on merely their religion but we seek soul connection... Be it Hindu or Muslim. We have always lived together.

    Keep up the great work. All the best!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I consider something really interesting about your blog so I saved to favorites .
    rice and arsenic

    ReplyDelete

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