Before I arrived in India, I wondered how people would “read” me here. My Bengali is pretty good, but I definitely sound foreign, and my accent and much of my vocabulary are much more Dhaka Bengali then Kolkata. But beyond that, how would people perceive the way I walk and carry myself, the clothes I wear, my haircut? Would they think that I’m a Bengali who grew up abroad? Or would they think that I’m Bangladeshi? Or something else all together? I constantly want to ask people where they think I’m from, though perhaps a more apt question would be “what do you think my deal is?” Though I don’t go around asking this question to every random person that I interact with, there have been a few occasions when people have brought it up. Here are some situational examples, all within a few days of each other:
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Scenario #1: At Metropolitan Supermarket
Me: Where can I find the gram flour?
Salesman: (leads me to aisle) Over here.
Me: Do you have smaller bags?
Salesman: (points it out, then takes a good look at me) Do you live abroad?
Me: (incredulous) Yes.
What I’m thinking after this interaction: Crap, what gave it away? I barely even said anything. I need to work on my accent. And stop wearing bright fuchsia t-shirts. And comb my hair. But who am I kidding, I’m not going to do those last two. I’ll just work on my accent.
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Scenario #2: On Rashbehari Avenue
Me: Excuse me.
Bengali Vegetable Vendor: (looks to face me)
Me: Which way to Triangular Park?
Bengali Vegetable Vendor: (in Hindi) You go straight, and then turn right.
Me: (continuing in Bengali) The next right, or the one after?
Bengali Vegetable Vendor: (still in Hindi) The one after.
What I’m thinking after this interaction: Why would a Bengali guy respond to me in Hindi when I’m speaking to him in clear, albeit accented, Bengali? Is it that he can hear that my Bengali isn’t perfect, so he assumes I’m not a native Bengali-speaker, but perhaps a Hindi-speaker trying to speak Bengali? So is he just trying to be polite by speaking to me in Hindi? Crap, maybe I should learn Hindi, too.
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Scenario #3: At the metro ticket counter
Me: Give me five four-rupee tickets please.
Ticket guy: All on one ticket?
Me: No, separate ones.
Ticket guy: (giving me the tickets) Have you come from Bangladesh?
Me: (less incredulous that in Scenario #1) Yes.
What I’m thinking after this interaction: Dammit, this guy can tell just from how I pronounce my numbers that I speak Bangladeshi Bengali. I really need to work on my West Bengali accent. But at least he didn’t think I’m from abroad. Huzzah!
2 comments:
regarding that last scenario... i remember it was one of my proudest moments early on living in china when an old beijing grandpa assumed i was just a slow chinese person with a learning disability from the manchurian border regions. looking back, i think it was an insult in his point of view, but i just compounded his confusion/derision by repeatedly thanking him.
it sounds like you're having a great experience in india. i love that you started blogging again! i still owe you a long email but till then, take care! xx
haha that's funny. somehow people can never tell where i'm from by my bangla accent, i go into a total kolkata bengali mode when speaking with west bengalis. i speak with a tangail bangla accent at home, but in a more refined shuddho bangla (minus the kolkata "taan") when talking to other bangladeshis. my friends always find it amazing how i switch accents depending on who i'm talking to :P
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