The Gujjus : Part 2-Stinginess.
Continuing with my exploration of the gujju psyche, its time to discuss one of the most important components of the typical gujju makeup... namely their stinginess.It has played a very crucial role in the success enjoyed by the gujju "entrepreneurs".
Its a traditional custom in India that when a child is born, holy words are whispered to him by the family elders.Well this custom holds true for gujjus also except that instead of holy words... the existing interest rate, sensex and the ruppee-dollar exchange rate are whispered to him/her. No wonder when two gujjus meet the most repeated question is: "Sensex kem che?"
Many gujjus do try to overcome this special ability of theirs..alas to no avail.The stinginess gene starts to exert itself during the teen years and by the time adulthood arrives, it has usually established itself firmly.
If you have a gujju friend then the following instances may seem vaguely familiar:
I have a hundred ruppee note only..or better yet I have no money-and the remarkable thing is their wallet will indeed turn out to be empty.
You are hungry and have ordered a king sized meal.Your gujju friend isnt hungry...you offer him/her some out of decency..he/she denies demurely..but by the time the meal is over you realize that you have eaten only two morsels.
Years of gujju wisdom transformed into one simple sentence:" Agar zeher bhi muft main milta hai to chodneka nai...bheja ma thariliyo".The really scary thing is that most of them will turn out to be multimillionaires.
To end this..some more gujju jokes...
Ek bar Ahemdabad mein, ek nai bus service shuru hui. Is bus ka kiraya (fare) Ghante Gar (clock tower) se Mandi tak ek rupaiya tha.Itna saste kiriya hone par bhi, koi bhi is bus ko use nahin karta tha. Mr Mehtaji bhi har roj bus ke route per chal kar apne daftar (office) jathe the. Bus wale tang aa gaye- koi bus use hi nahin karta tha- toh unone kiriya adha, yani ki 50 paise kar diya. Next day Mehtaji gusse mein bus station per ja kar complain karne lage-' mein loot jaun ga , apne kiraya kum kar diya!' Bus wale confuse hogeye- to Mehtajiji bole, ' Mein har roj ane aur jane ke two ruppee save karta tha ab mera ek rupaiya hi save hoga.'
Jan 1, 2007
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1 comments:
While it's amusing to read your posts about Gujju's, you might like this quote:
"I have champed up all that chaff about the ego and the non-ego, noumena and phenomena, and all the rest of it, too often not to know that in attempting even to think of these questions, the human intellect flounders at once out of its depth."
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