Inspired by a piece on phonetics by Scribbler just a while back .. Thought would share a similar experience ... Happened about a couple of hours back ...
Was on a conference call with the client team from Bangalore. Client happens to be the biggest player in the Australian finance domain, with an India delivery wing in Bangalore. My job entails designing solutioning for the integration between the client's core business in South East Asia and some identified businesses that the client has picked up from the same area to increase market presence. In my capacity I need to have conference calls with the client's presence in AU as well as the Bangalore team.
So our man from the Bangalore office (a full blooded Bong at that) goes so on the phone ... full pelt and full volume ... "Dephekt Naaambaaar Thaaarty Phaaaiv" .. Oh God ! And I was in splits ! Reminded me of Mamata Banerjee and her diction. You guys should have seen the incredulous looks on the Aussie chaps in the room. They were shell shocked.
Have you ever noticed how most Indians shout on conference calls ? I think it more has to do with the Indian mindset that the further you are geographically, the more you need to shout so if it’s a Bangalore --> Bangalore call, it will be soft, if its Bangalore --> Columbo then it will be louder, Bangalore --> SG, it has to be even louder . I shudder to think how it would be Bangalore --> Washington.
And our man goes on "Obh oll the Finakoool phailes that are being passed thruuh the Daaaata Eeentiiigrataar ...". One of the Aussie guys put the phone on mute and asked me "Maaite .. what the hell is he saying ??"
With a straight face, I reply "He means of all the Finacle files that are being passed through the Data Integrator". They roll up their eyes heavenwards and tell me "Good that we have you maaaite. You are the only one who understands the way he speaks English. You are adding value to the project big time." And then add "Jeeeesus ... Did ya hear him speak English !"
Now it's my turn to smirk. Pot calling the kettle black. Or better a Bengali proverb which goes like this (nothing like the native tongue) "Chuuch koi Chaaalni ke tawr pod e kottto boro phuuta".
Huh !! What has the world come to ! The outbacks will teach us English ? (Why do I feel PG is choking on her afternoon tea on reading this)
Was on a conference call with the client team from Bangalore. Client happens to be the biggest player in the Australian finance domain, with an India delivery wing in Bangalore. My job entails designing solutioning for the integration between the client's core business in South East Asia and some identified businesses that the client has picked up from the same area to increase market presence. In my capacity I need to have conference calls with the client's presence in AU as well as the Bangalore team.
So our man from the Bangalore office (a full blooded Bong at that) goes so on the phone ... full pelt and full volume ... "Dephekt Naaambaaar Thaaarty Phaaaiv" .. Oh God ! And I was in splits ! Reminded me of Mamata Banerjee and her diction. You guys should have seen the incredulous looks on the Aussie chaps in the room. They were shell shocked.
Have you ever noticed how most Indians shout on conference calls ? I think it more has to do with the Indian mindset that the further you are geographically, the more you need to shout so if it’s a Bangalore --> Bangalore call, it will be soft, if its Bangalore --> Columbo then it will be louder, Bangalore --> SG, it has to be even louder . I shudder to think how it would be Bangalore --> Washington.
And our man goes on "Obh oll the Finakoool phailes that are being passed thruuh the Daaaata Eeentiiigrataar ...". One of the Aussie guys put the phone on mute and asked me "Maaite .. what the hell is he saying ??"
With a straight face, I reply "He means of all the Finacle files that are being passed through the Data Integrator". They roll up their eyes heavenwards and tell me "Good that we have you maaaite. You are the only one who understands the way he speaks English. You are adding value to the project big time." And then add "Jeeeesus ... Did ya hear him speak English !"
Now it's my turn to smirk. Pot calling the kettle black. Or better a Bengali proverb which goes like this (nothing like the native tongue) "Chuuch koi Chaaalni ke tawr pod e kottto boro phuuta".
Huh !! What has the world come to ! The outbacks will teach us English ? (Why do I feel PG is choking on her afternoon tea on reading this)
Hahahahahahaha you crack me up dude! And you so so rightly observe the relation between distance and decible levels! Maite, you ged a straiiight A+ for this piece :). Long time, btw.
ReplyDeleteHehehe, coudn't have caputured the phenomenon that is inter-continent conference calls, any better!
ReplyDeleteBhery bhery wail wreeten :)
@ KG - Hoyelkhaame Byaak. Tumi toh MIA hoye gechile. Been missing your pieces. Go on girl, write !
ReplyDelete@ Scribbler - Danke. Coming from you, it's high praise indeed.
@ Dipu (who mailed me on this) - Yup, I agree with you. Americans can't see anything beyond American shores. But a tiny correction(could not resist this) ..You should not write "today morning" and "itself" .. It should be THIS morning and don't use the word "ITSELF" - It cannot do anything by itself :-)
Hey, interesting! Your "@Dipu" made me comment. Does anybody else feel the same existential threat encountering another person with the same name?
ReplyDeleteOn the post, I am completely regionalist when it comes to using Bangla in English. I have used "na na, that's not what I mean" and "toh how do we proceed?" with clients, who understood me perfectly, I guess, primarily because the sentences made sense without the Bangla bits. Or, possibly, they were busy muting the phones and consulting some Bengali accent expert in their pay.
It is a personal wish to be able to use Bangla phrases to season regular English conversations with the same ease with which we spout a bon mot sans any raison detre. Imagine asking clients to document their habijabi expectations to avoid any further kelo in the schedule! I think that would be a fatafati process improvement, tai na?