Being a Bengali, often subjects you to misconceptions .... like ....
1. The allegation that you eat fish all the time (We are not eternal Piscevores ...Spare us please !!! )
2. After the movie "Kahaani" was released ...I have been pestered with cat-calls of "Bidaaa Madam" ... (Not all of us have Roshogollas in our mouths while speaking :-( )
and lastly....
3. The gaff that insinuates that we Bengalis "EAT" everything...including water... (DO NOT punish me for my ancestor's lingual errors)
If you are wondering how the above mentioned laments are related to Mobile Internet / Vodafone and are already making me out to be a crazy loony toon ... then let me stop you right there and tell you about a "BAA-N-GALI" parody that underscored the fact that Mobile Internet was Fun-Tastic to say the least...
It all began on a lazy evening in the Satellite city of Navi Mumbai, when I was regretting my decision of shaving off my goatee, when my Phone blared out....
My grandfather (whom I address as Dadu and who addresses me as "nanaji" ) let out a large snort akin to the one he reserves for Mamata's Banerjee's goof-ups and Sourav Ganguly's fielding bloopers ("He jaa-aast caaaant field, tha-aat one !! ") and hollered out ,"I weeel throw your phone out of the window...Even the prime minister of India d-aaa-s not get as many calls as you do "...
To this I flashed a smile that would floor any woman (at-least that is what I felt) and sat down next to my mother and my grand-father on the bed along with my iPhone and my iPad...
I placed the iPad in front of my Mother and introduced it with a flourish ... "This is the iPad...."
"Ehhh ??? ", she said , "Is this a three dimensional mouse-pad? "
I mentally bashed my head on Chris Gayle's biceps five times over and then turned to my mom with another charming smile on my face...
"This is a tablet Mamoni !!! Its a very smart device and it lets you have fun ", I said...
"You mean that it helps you waste time ..." , she retorted...
"Wait...", I quickly downloaded Angry Birds from the Vodafone Vstore onto my iPad and observed my Grandfather's and Mother's faces as the iPad merrily chirped away the trademark opening tune...
"Hehehehehehehe....", along came my younger brother and plonked his tiny Angry Bird stuffed toy on my iPad... I captured the moment with my iPhone and uploaded it instantly on Facebook ,not realising that my friends would declare it to be one of the most iconic pictorial mobile uploads in their lifetime...
I launched the application and was faced with a familiar situation ten minutes later..
My grandfather was sitting on his haunches as usual and hurling the choicest abuses at Ganguly...
"He let this ball go through...bhhetw-eeeen his leeee-ggs...Stupeee-eed fool", my grandfather ranted..
He then looked up from the mobile screen and smiled at me "Theees eees fun :-) "
I desperately pushed the recurring images of me, with my head on Deepika's lap along with my fantasy prize (The Macbook), out of my head, and smiled back at him.." Of Course it is :-) "
"Let me show you something else folks...", I announced.
I rushed over to the kitchen...handed the iPad over to my bewildered Grandmother, launched Skype, instructed her to keep staring at it and then rushed back...gathered my mom and grandfather before the iPhone and launched Skype...I screamed at my younger brother to help my grandmother accept the call...
"Hello Tulu !!!!! (my grandmother's nick-name) " , my grandfather squealed...gawking at delight on seeing my grandmother, who almost dropped the i-Pad out of fright, "Are you cooooking feee-eeesh? "
We all had a hearty laugh while my younger brother explained stuff to my nervous grandmother (so that she would'nt start believing that the India TV's Baba's words were true...)
" I now have a gift for you Dadu !! " I intoned...
"Whae eee-ees it ?" he asked..
I moved quickly...as quick as a cheetah...and downloaded a song from the Vodafone Gallery (can you believe it...?? Just for Re 1 ??????) and played it over my phone's speakers...
The notes of the song "Ekla Cholo Re" floated across the room in Amitabh's baritone....
"Aaaaaah " said my grandfather with his eyes closed ... "Oooomi-taaa-bh er ki gola !!!!" (which when translated into English means "What a good voice Amitabh has !! " )
While he was lost in the song, I downloaded the Adobe Ideas app on my iPad and taught my mom how to draw using her fingers...It was as if she had rediscovered her childhood again :-)
This is what she drew :-)
My Grandfather on the other hand smartly took the iPad from her hand and dedicated the following masterpiece to me :-)\
(What he meant what that I had forgotten to pay him my Society's monthly fee which was charged for my Bike Parking privileges)
"Talking of money...", I said ,"Here is how I am going to make you rich today", I told my grandfather...
He gawked as I transferred his monthly grocery expenses via net-banking and whispered ,"eee-ees it safe ?" into my ear...
"Bhel", he said , after we were getting up to have dinner, "Nanaji, theee-ees was fun...we should do it more often :-) ...Here...have a Roshogolla !! " , he said, with a twinkle in his eye, "Your Bhoda-fone connection seems to be good".
"Its "V"odafone Dadu !!", I said, "Not "Bho"dafone :-)"
"But that is what I said ...Bhodafone", replied my Grandfather quizzically.
"Never mind", I smiled and said as we left for dinner..
BTW..This is what I drew on my turn :-) ["Is this a jooojoo?", my grandfather asked. " No its a "ZooZoo"..", I remarked ]
Now, if your Bengali grandfather says "eeet eees fun "...I can assuredly say that "Mobile internet on Bhodafone ees fun :-) "
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If you doubt a Bengali blogger (and his family's) sanity..please "bhi"sit www.vodafone.in/fun
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Images - Internet is fun on Vodafone : Courtesy - Vodafone
This post has been submitted as a part of the "Internet is fun" on Vodafone contest , powered by Vodafone and Indiblogger.