My native place is Ranchi which is now the capital of Jharkhand. I spent my childhood and college days there. The language spoken by the ordinary 'Ranchiite' has a flovour of its own. It is a combination of Hindi and Adivasi languages. Ranchi is part of the tribal region of Jharkhand and is inhabited by a large number of Adivasis. They were instrumental in the creation of the state of Jharkhand in 2000.
The iconic 'Firayalal Chowk' , Ranchi
In my childhood and college days, I had the opportunity to come across some real tapori (to use a Bambaiyya slang) characters in Ranchi.
The public transport buses would have a 'Khalaasi' (also called 'cleaner') who would be hanging at the door and would assist the driver by shouting things like 'Chal Barha Ke' (Move On) and 'Rok Ke' (Stop). His role was very important on the crowded roads and the unruly traffic of Indian roads. He would bang the door or shout when someone had to get down. Normally these Khalaasi's would be young boys and would show all kinds of Hero-panti while discharging their duties. Their whole body would be hanging out of the bus and they would be displaying all kinds acrobatics...............and they had their own unique styles of shouting and calling out.
There was this Khalaasi in the mini-bus I used to travel in, who would shout whenever a lady passenger had to get down 'Aahistaa.......Ladiss' आहिस्ता.... लेडिस (slow down......lady getting down....). He would do this only when a lady passenger had to get down. When a gentleman had to get down the bus would not stop, it will only slow down. The guy was supposed to jump and run for some distance till he was able to stop without falling over. Hence the 'Aahistaa Ladiss' call was a great example of chivalry shown by the 'Khalaasi' towards the fairer sex !!
On another occasion I was travelling in a Tempo (auto-rickshaw) on Main Road, Ranchi. These Auto-wallahs were notorious for piling on 7 passengers (apart from himself) on a vehicle which was meant to carry at most 5 people including the driver!! The passengers would be mercilessly squeezed together.........the auto-wallah himself would be perched on the very edge of the seat and his body would be contorted while driving......it was a scene from a circus !!
On that day there were 3 people already on the backseat. There was no space left but this auto-wallah was desperately looking for another passenger to 'adjust' in the back seat. I was sitting next to him on the front seat. He would give a look of disgust to any 'fat' passenger. While driving and looking around he turned to me and said with a lot of passion -
'Boss, ek patla ladiss mil jaata na........'
To this day I am left wondering why he specifically wanted a 'patla ladiss' (slim lady) and not a 'patla gent'..........afterall, all he needed was a passenger and not a life partner !!
We had many adivasi friends and classmates. The adivasi girls had a peculiar talking style in which they would use very chaste Hindi words...............sample.....
In a bus 2 girls were sitting on a seat meant for 2......the bus is jam packed. A third girls standing next to these 2 requests them -
'Thora jagah de na re' थोरा जगह दे ना रे .......
To this one of the girls sitting on the seat replies -
'Main kaise jagah du re.....main to swayam hi sanchep main baithi hu' !!
मैं कैसे जगह दूँ रे , मैं तो स्वयं ही संक्षेप में बैठी हूँ
Exact translation of this in English would be 'How can I give you place, my dear, I am myself sitting in 'brief''.........-:)
'Sanchep' is a powerful Hindi word but is a wholly inappropriate choice for this situation !!
Some Adivasi boys while doing dadagiri would also say things like 'Betta humko chinhta hai ki nahin......saala mastisk मष्तिस्क main goli maraenge to aar paar ho jayega'............
While playing cricket we had players with very little knowledge of the game who would appeal - 'Out Dail' आउट दाइल ...............and say things like -
Humko thora borolene (bowling!!) de na re -:)
They would also use english words is a unique style -
Hamra aaj bothereson (botheration) ho giloo, baba (this means - I got into a fight today!)
Those were the days !!
In my childhood and college days, I had the opportunity to come across some real tapori (to use a Bambaiyya slang) characters in Ranchi.
The public transport buses would have a 'Khalaasi' (also called 'cleaner') who would be hanging at the door and would assist the driver by shouting things like 'Chal Barha Ke' (Move On) and 'Rok Ke' (Stop). His role was very important on the crowded roads and the unruly traffic of Indian roads. He would bang the door or shout when someone had to get down. Normally these Khalaasi's would be young boys and would show all kinds of Hero-panti while discharging their duties. Their whole body would be hanging out of the bus and they would be displaying all kinds acrobatics...............and they had their own unique styles of shouting and calling out.
There was this Khalaasi in the mini-bus I used to travel in, who would shout whenever a lady passenger had to get down 'Aahistaa.......Ladiss' आहिस्ता.... लेडिस (slow down......lady getting down....). He would do this only when a lady passenger had to get down. When a gentleman had to get down the bus would not stop, it will only slow down. The guy was supposed to jump and run for some distance till he was able to stop without falling over. Hence the 'Aahistaa Ladiss' call was a great example of chivalry shown by the 'Khalaasi' towards the fairer sex !!
On another occasion I was travelling in a Tempo (auto-rickshaw) on Main Road, Ranchi. These Auto-wallahs were notorious for piling on 7 passengers (apart from himself) on a vehicle which was meant to carry at most 5 people including the driver!! The passengers would be mercilessly squeezed together.........the auto-wallah himself would be perched on the very edge of the seat and his body would be contorted while driving......it was a scene from a circus !!
On that day there were 3 people already on the backseat. There was no space left but this auto-wallah was desperately looking for another passenger to 'adjust' in the back seat. I was sitting next to him on the front seat. He would give a look of disgust to any 'fat' passenger. While driving and looking around he turned to me and said with a lot of passion -
'Boss, ek patla ladiss mil jaata na........'
To this day I am left wondering why he specifically wanted a 'patla ladiss' (slim lady) and not a 'patla gent'..........afterall, all he needed was a passenger and not a life partner !!
We had many adivasi friends and classmates. The adivasi girls had a peculiar talking style in which they would use very chaste Hindi words...............sample.....
In a bus 2 girls were sitting on a seat meant for 2......the bus is jam packed. A third girls standing next to these 2 requests them -
'Thora jagah de na re' थोरा जगह दे ना रे .......
To this one of the girls sitting on the seat replies -
'Main kaise jagah du re.....main to swayam hi sanchep main baithi hu' !!
मैं कैसे जगह दूँ रे , मैं तो स्वयं ही संक्षेप में बैठी हूँ
Exact translation of this in English would be 'How can I give you place, my dear, I am myself sitting in 'brief''.........-:)
'Sanchep' is a powerful Hindi word but is a wholly inappropriate choice for this situation !!
Some Adivasi boys while doing dadagiri would also say things like 'Betta humko chinhta hai ki nahin......saala mastisk मष्तिस्क main goli maraenge to aar paar ho jayega'............
While playing cricket we had players with very little knowledge of the game who would appeal - 'Out Dail' आउट दाइल ...............and say things like -
Humko thora borolene (bowling!!) de na re -:)
They would also use english words is a unique style -
Hamra aaj bothereson (botheration) ho giloo, baba (this means - I got into a fight today!)
Those were the days !!
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