Saturday, December 22, 2012

Silly Saturdays: Yet another self-goal !


I speak three different languages – Hindi, English and Malayalam. It’s no secret that Malayalam is not my forte and Hindi is not my hubby’s favourite either! The trouble is, each time my mum (who is good at both, Hindi and Malayalam) is in town, there is a three-way verbal duel at home. Everything is jumbled up and some random sentences are formed with no logic.

I have one such instance for this week’s Silly Saturdays!

On a recent weekend, as we were driving back after picking mum, we instantly broke in to our monthly updates and catching up. Suddenly, the discussion took a different tangent, when I referred to the Hindi proverb “Ek anar sau bimar” when translated literately to English it reads “One pomegranate and 100 sick”. For the life of me, I can not remember the context now – anyway, to the best my knowledge; it meant one spoilt pomegranate seed and spoils the entire fruit.


Mum thought it meant one pomegranate is so priceless that it can cure 100 sick people. I was absolutely sure mum definitely wrong on this count.

However my Hubby, in his usual cerebral style, takes the discussion to a different level all together, telling us how the name originated. He further explained pomegranate derived its name from grenade. Just like when grenade blasts it breaks into small pieces, similar to the fruit once opened has many granules inside.

So I got really curious and asked Google what he thought of it. The proverb really meant “one woman and 100 suitors”.  I am however still not very happy with the explanation but I can live with it.

But what really overjoyed me is the fact the name pomegranate derives it’s origin from a Latin word 'pomum granatus' and not grenade as my husband thought! In really it is exactly the opposite. The grenade is indebted for it’s name to the fruit, because of its close resemblance to pomegranate.

Sporting a big grin on my face I went to declare victory and how he had missed the mark by a long mile. He calmly reminded the right version of events and the correct conversation syntax. It immediately hit me that I had recollected the events the wrong way around and to rub it in he asked if I needed my mum to testify as his witness.

In the hope of seeing that priceless defeated look his face, I successfully managed to fall flat on my face.

This is the edited version of the story, the original plot was to end in my favour. Just before this was to be published, as part of my victory march, I unfortunately showed the post to my hubby. He noticed the slight deviation from the actual storyline and suggested that I put the record straight. With Christmas gift at stake I didn’t want to be in his bad books! 

32 comments:

  1. lol! can u believe it, i just read the enture post to Raghu...the best one for a century :)
    wishing u many many more to come!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Prachee !! I am sure you would know what this proverb really means .. What is your take on it ?

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  2. Haha that's so much drama about one proverb!

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  3. Damn the pomegranate, look what it can do to you. I always tell my mother pomegranates are not to be trusted, but of course she doesn't believe me.

    Lovely Lovely post :)

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    1. Pomegranate is a very healthy fruit. Know the importance of it

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  4. Nice post :) I always thought "Ek anar sau beemar" means "100 beemars want one anar" :) :) so, demand is 100 times more than supply

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    1. Jahid - Haha I am sure you would have done really well in your Economics class :D

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  5. LOL... Doubtful that you'll ever be in your husband's bad books :)

    Merry Christmas in advance...

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  6. Congratulations on reaching a century of posts! Keep going...cheers

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  7. Hi Sangeeta,

    HAHAHA, for gifts, anybody will do anything, change the plot, make amends. :) :)
    This was a hilarious read, you made my weekend :)

    Regards

    Jay
    My Blog | My FB Page

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    Replies
    1. I am really glad you've enjoyed reading this one !!

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  8. thanks for that translation :)
    I would have ended up deciphering in a different way and made my Saturday silly :p

    Hilarious btw.

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  9. Hilarious post.
    Well I still think it means "1 ANAR CAN CURE 100 BEEMAR".

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    1. Even I still think it means - one spoilt pomegranate seed can spoil the entire fruit.

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  10. What my parents said was 1 Pomegranate can cure 100 diseases. And each seed of pomegranate is like one blood drop. Whatever it might be, it is one of my favorite fruits

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    Replies
    1. Sriram - This sounds like a much better explanation to the proverb than Mr. Google's version.

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  11. Ha ha.. that bit on the grenade was definitely enlightening.. Loved all your takes on that proverb though. Google set you right.. it does mean short supply big demand.

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    1. really ?? what about what Sriram thinks in the comment above ??

      Well anyway I have already accepted defeat.. I am sure a nice Christmas gift will help me overcome my defeat.

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  12. LOL. That must have been such a funny conversation! :D Right up to the point where you published the edited version of the post :D Haha! Still laughing!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Deepa .. your comment has really perked me up :D

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  13. It brought smile on my face :)
    Thanks for voting my blog on indiblogger

    Noopur
    http://apparitionofmine.blogspot.in/

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  14. LOL :D Such a big discussion on a proverb!! WOW! :D
    I think it means one fruit that cures 100 diseases. Woman and suitors part... never heard of it!!

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  15. A small sacrifice, and a great read. Congratulations on your milestone, Sangeeta, and wishing you and your loved ones a great festive time.

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  16. “Aik anaar aur sau beemar” is an Urdu proverb. One pomegranate contains lots of pomegranate seeds and only one seed carries the cure for a given disease that's how this proverb formed. It is recommended that one person should eat the entire pomegranate (all of its seeds) to get the benefit of cure. Therefore, the proverb is used when there is only one thing that lots of people want. For example, hundreds or thousands of candidates apply for one job opening in a given organization. I hope this would be helpful. Sadiq

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  17. It has different sense. How can i explain well one thing or one piece of anything is available and so many buyers.
    Other way there is shortage of anything else in the market and against it so many want to have

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  18. One post and lots of candidates۔
    One girl and lots of want to marry

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