Dev, Harry and I

thanks nb. You *will* see more of me, like it or not!

Burpinder- and that can`t be a real name!-this felt really sad, but so real. I honestly hadn`t expected it to be so good. I hope we see more of you.

nice :)
reminded me of places along the delhi-gurgaon route.

``KF kicks their a$$es anyday, warm or cold!
``

Kingfisher is my favourite as well, after Hayward 2000 and this other border beer we used to drink..can`t recall the name.

Anyways, so the correct line should...

``Your beer has gone flat, let me get you another one`` ..since someone`s beer being cold is actually a welcome sign.

From one beer drinker to another...

burpinder:

For the record, I hate Guiness-. . . .

my esteem for you has gone down notches dude. jus` kiddin`! :)

#32 sucheta
What to say? I need a good editor! Everything you have pointed out became clear to me around the fourth re-read, but sorry to have inflicted the mistakes on you people.

#30 mannyd
``Is Burpinder your real name and what does it mean if anything?``
I am very real- isn`t that all that matters :)- to answer your question, it doesn`t mean anything, just a private joke.

#31 ana
stuka`s response is magically visible today, but thanks for the recap. For the record, I hate Guiness- or Fosters for that matter. KF kicks their a$$es anyday, warm or cold!

Nice! loved it.....

Regards,

Faruk

As a friend to many talli dosts this was very real :-)
Keep on writing.

Dear Burpinder,

Good writing, very authentic and nice descriptions - one can almost smell the petrol fumes and feel the dhaba atmosphere.

Couple of small pointers if you don`t mind - try to avoid some silly mistakes like Harry choked on his Old Monk (and a better Rum wasn`t made even in Jamaica), so how come Dev berates him for nursing his beer for too long? Also isn`t a beer supposed to be cold??

Try and see the scene in your own mind - that makes it easier to get the details right.

The dialogues are a tad too long.

But overall, it was really a very honest - no nonsense read, like the dhaba khaana! Good and hope to see much more of you.

Thanks and best of luck

Sucheta

burpinder:

stuka`s response had something to do with your writing being good and appealing to a certain group but his one beef being this:

That beer`s cold anyway, let`s order you another one.

``ye beear hai ke chai?`` he said. unless they were like some of those brits who drink warm beer with did he say chips? oh well. . . which was what my comment on guinness was a response to. but stuuks`s post will reappear by today or tomorrow hopefully, so this will be redundant.

i liked this. in a way it reminds me of heated conversations between my inebriated friends in neighborhood pubs after a long day of manual labor and/or frustration with the world.

keep writing!

Excellent work Burpinder. Far better than the professional crowd`s rants on Chowk. One question. Is Burpinder your real name and what does it mean if anything?

Re #28: hamidm
``very nice ......... brings back some fond memories even though in pakistan we don`t have roadside dhabas where you can get a drink or byob ......... any more``
...which is a tragedy... someday hamidbhai we shall share a bottle and philiosophize...inshallah...thanks for raising the bar at this thread by interacting here...


#24 delhiwala
``Gaali Galonch and reference to some cheap words.
That would give some attention these days, actually anything that different from the norm sells.``
Sells? You gotta be kidding me...chowk doesn`t pay its contributors :)...and yet we throng here desperate to see our names in print!!!

#20 stuka
``

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This user has been banned from posting on Chowk for 2 days for not following Chowk Guidelines. These comments will not be posted during this period.

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``
Serves you right for posting disgusting pics on UP... oh well, will just have to wait a couple days more to see what you thought of this. Or else mail me at burpinder@gmail.com

#18 dm
``Very interesting, burpinder, and provides a peep into a slice of India`s gen-x life. For me, the pathos of Dev`s tragedy does not come across forcefully, but maybe that was intended.``
If the guilt at bemoaning one`s ``trivial`` problems in the light of the ``bigger picture`` a GenX-er is confronted with every day came across, I would consider my work done! Thanks for your comment.

#19 & others rahul_capri
``talli`` conversations are the best, aren`t they?!!! In Dilli or elsewhere, doesn`t matter.

YLH & besharm,
It`s an incredible thrill for a part-time writer to see his words being quoted back to him. Thanks!

#14 hindvi
``...college cafetaria humour...``
You mean well...but OUCH!!!! :)

#26 shobig_sifar
``...think you could have concocted details relevant to the theme a bit more intelligibly, instead of thriving on those random dialogues...``
Overelucidation could have well killed a ``nothing`` theme like this...but you`re point is well-taken...perhaps next time...

#2 faisaluno
``this is pretty funny...unlike most losers who ``write`` for this website, you do have ishtyle as they would say in karachi.``
I like Karachi already :)
& Beej`s reply:
``Obviously, you got stuck on the jokes that the characters threw at each other - I think the underlying theme was rather serious!``
Was it really? Isn`t that what our lives have become- tragedy viewed as comedy and vice versa? I`m glad both points came across.

Everyone else, thanks for all the nice words. Will pen more when I get the chance.

very nice ......... brings back some fond memories even though in pakistan we don`t have roadside dhabas where you can get a drink or byob ......... any more

............... but many years ago, before the rebirth of islam, we used to have a drink at the ``fire jumper`s `` khoka which stood at the end of the bridge over the railway tracks near uet in lahore ............ muhammad ali, the proprieter, was a real fire jumper - he used to set himself on fire and jump into a tub of water from a thirty feet platform at the local melas ............ the man was an artiste, made a mean omlette and was always willing to share his meager cache of ice - sometimes we gave him a peg or two ....... vat-1 was about fifteen rupees a puwa and you could also use it to poison the rats in the hostel !

#26:

bhai woh kya kehtay haiN? aisee baat (ya dua) nahiN daitay jo puri ho ja`aye...;)

theek hay aap pohanch ker ittilaa daiN hum haazir ho jaiN gay.... phir dono daikh laiN gay.

(waisay aapas ki baat hay....braader hamidm say bhi pooch lo.....ger humara koi dost itni lambi lambi falsafiyana baataiN keray....is qis`m kay ma`hOL maiN...tou oos ka hosh foran thikanay la daitay hain hum)

rgds

t

A very good read Burpinder. I think you could have concocted details relevant to the theme a bit more intelligibly, instead of thriving on those random dialogues. Quite engrossing nevetheless. Look forward to see more from you.

#6 Unkil T, it`s about time you paid another visit to one of those roadside dhabas in Lahore or Karachi, and you`ll regret having called these dialogues `long` or `awkward` ;)

Gaali Galonch and reference to some cheap words.
That would give some attention these days, actually anything that different from the norm sells.

very well written. keep it up yaar.

Burpinder Singh Ji,
Kya Baat hai a very nice piece in-deed. I am a long time reader first time interactor. remind me of my uncounted trips to punjab from delhi by any means of transportation(train,bus,car,bike,hitch-hiking)dhaba maahol is in my blood. even though you can afford to sit in comfy ac hotel. but OH GALL NAHI BANDI. Any way good read keep up.

actually guinness at room temperature is not bad at all. . . .but then a cold guinness isn`t bad either. . . .well guinness isn`t bad full istaap.

apologies! back to the dhaaba.

Burpinder: Very enjoyable read. U appeal to a certain demographic and those people will identify with the story.

My one beef...

``That beer`s cold anyway, let`s order you another one.``

Yaar, beear hai kee chai? Beer is supposed to be cold, unless you are a middle aged Bit sitting in a pub drinking warm and flat beer.

Re: # 18 dost, It is BYOB, but sometimes chhotu brings the bottle from the nearby shop if you tip him.And no, it aint allowed.
temporal, ``talli`` is a Delhi slang.

Very interesting, burpinder, and provides a peep into a slice of India`s gen-x life. For me, the pathos of Dev`s tragedy does not come across forcefully, but maybe that was intended.

BTW do roadside dhabas now serve alcoholic beverages (BYOBs were always common)? If they do, do they need a license for it?

Excellent read ...

: Ask her why she doesn`t send him to school. You know why? Cuz there is no school. Got washed away in the rains and nobody`s bothered building it back. She sent her son on the first day after the rains, and you know what the teachers made him do?`` He`s furious now, ``They made the kids clean the place! They`re fucking six years old man, they gave them jhaddos and pochas and made the older ones carry out the ruined benches and desks. They`re still waiting for replacements, and meanwhile she brings her kids along when she goes swabbing people`s floors.``

one of the best pieces I have read recently on Chowk, keep writing Burpinder.

Very well written indeed!
Welcome change to read some refreshing literary piece on FP.
We need more of this kind on chowk.
Congratulations to Burpinder.

Very well crafted

You captured the day to day reality of life in India succinctly, and you did it with college cafeteria humor, that is quite an achievement. The dillema of mitti versus tatti is also one that is very difficult to resolve, and sadly for the present south asian generation is endemic. The best part though was your descrption of road and traffic, it sums up delhi and UP beautifully.

hey.. I liked this... neat stuff

keep writing

Re: #11

t, ``talli`` means inebriated. That is how people who have a little too much to drink speak. But your point is noted. Dev`s tirade comes across as rather forced if one visualises it actually being said. I suppose the screenwriters will have to find a way around that for the movie version ;)))))

Everyone else, thanks for reading and commenting. Will be back later for more comments, am just stopping by!

rahul:

`talli people?`

am lost

burpy...
smooth read like black label... ignore self-appointed critics who think they matter...;)

Re: # 6 my one beef? some of the dialogues were too long and awkward to be spoken in that dhaba and verged on the contrived
temporal, we are talkin abt talli people here :-)

Burp paji, nice read.Mention of Old Monk early in the account ensured that you are a person of taste who does not equate money woth class. Reminded me of some dhaaba gettogethers in Nehru Place. Keep burping.

this was a human piece, with feeling. so much better than most of the psuedo-intellectual drivel proffered on this site. keep writing bupinder and don`t take these self-styled critics comments to heart. if they were any good themselves, they`d be fleeing autograph-seekers at book signings rather than logging in to post on chowk.

Burpinder``

the humour and non sequitur was disarming but the serious sober and staid yarn was mostly sedate

my one beef? some of the dialogues were too long and awkward to be spoken in that dhaba and verged on the contrived

keep contributing

rgds

t

Nice one especially the statement starting with
``Yeah, right, count my blessings,``snarls Dev...

#2 faisaluno

[this is pretty funny...]
Obviously, you got stuck on the jokes that the characters threw at each other - I think the underlying theme was rather serious!

It reads okay – a little less arrogant-sounding – so it must be considered an improvement! Having said that, the apparent theme – that the grass looks greener on the other side – is quite old and perhaps somewhat overused! Also, assuming it is based on real life, it is clear that these two individuals are poles apart and YOU are among the few things they have in common. The expletives do not add much value to your story line – in fact they distract!

Why not the title “Dev, Harry, and I”?

[Carried away by misplaced patriotism and a rather low opinion of our own ability to deal with homesickness, we`d made our career choices and stayed back home, while flightloads of eager friends made the pilgrimage and never returned. Now we have our parents close by and the smell of our own soil, so on the whole we`re happy with our choice.]
It is interesting that YOU consider your patriotism misplaced and say that you have a LOW opinion of your ability to deal with homesickness (in the west, the latter is sometimes referred rather contemptuously as “mama’s boy”). As far as the smell of soil is concerned – soil smells like – soil.

[Once these two start one of their stupid fights, guess who`s stuck with the job of making peace.]
I must confess it is difficult to visualize you in that role.

[He`d never aimed his acerbic wit at me before. It was a new experience, and frankly, a little disconcerting.]
What goes around – and the rest!

this is pretty funny...unlike most losers who ``write`` for this website, you do have ishtyle as they would say in karachi.

keep up the good work.

nice piece, a refreshing break from all the usual political stuff... kept me interested till the end.