tailor made

During the weekend, a friend of mine took me to a tailoring shop. Since I am used to wearing clothes off the rack, my friend had to literally drag me to the tailor. This shop was run by a lady(The Lady). Since the shop was located in an area which had a very high percentage of Malayalee families settled in, I assumed that The Lady was also one. To support my assumption, The Lady spoke Malayalam fluently.

There were 5 people waiting to get their measurements done before me. And, The Lady was taking 20mins per customer. While waiting for my turn, I was awakened from my reverie (aka day dreaming) with the word 'Ceppandi'. I recognized this to be the Telugu for 'tell me'. Now, The Lady had my complete attention.

In the next 30mins, I observed that The Lady was conversing in six different languages - Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and English. What amazed me was the ease with which she switched from one language to another AND she was completely at ease with herself while talking in any of these languages. I was simply awestruck and was filled with instant admiration to The Lady. Most of these languages wouldn't even be her native language yet she speaks with such finesse.

When it was my turn to take the measurements, I did the obvious. I asked her, "Which of these is your native language?"
She smiles & says : Marathi

I was floored with this answer. A South Indian, who has command over 1 South Indian language, speaking any other South Indian language can be understood. A Maharashtrian learning the South Indian language????? Its much much more difficult.

Seeing my wide open eyes, she continued, "Most of my customers were Malayalees. So, I learned the language from them. They were kind enough to correct me. Thats how I learned all the languages".

The Lady .... Tussi Great Ho!!

Epilogue :
Adding Marathi to the list, I know that she knows at least 7 languages. Wonder if she knows any more language ... :)

Picture Courtesy : beelegant.com