When my husband is amused by something Indian, and actually calls me to look at it, I know it must be funny.
I was watching a movie tonight when my husband came inside laughing. “Go and check out the notice stuck to the lift”, he told me. Why? “Just have a look at it!”. Is it worth taking my camera? “Definitely”.
So here we have it. A notice about a “peace of Bread” and “splitting in Corner of Staircase”. Now, if only the author of the notice wrote like an educated person, it might be more convincing!
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{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Is he concerned or was it that some1 threw garbage in his corridor which prompted him to post this notice.
Anyways I would still appreciate this guy for raising his voice against the most pathetic habit of Indians: keep your home clean and treat your surroundings as a dust-bin. Throwing garbage outside should be a punishable offense in India, but then where would you throw it, there is no garbage disposal system in place.
Love it. Hindlish is a great skill to master and this ones got it perfect!
love the selective capitals!! and the fact that he typed and printed it out!!!
I REALLY REALLY hope that the notice has some impact. No one did anything out of the usual. (Maybe it was the new neighbours that wrote the note). People are just generally filthy. They do spit everywhere and our balcony is constantly covered by rubbish thrown out from apartment windows on the top floors. People have been told so many times to stop it, but they never do. It’s like fighting a losing battle.
Many of my friends had the same problem, now they have installed “religious tiles” of Hindu, Muslim and Christian symbols in each corner of the common apt. areas, so people do not spit in the corners and stain it yucky red.
You could just buy and paste/tape those religious posters in the corners of your apt. building.
That’s a good idea (it’s like what they do around the city to stop men from urinating). Something needs to be done. The lobby of our apartment building is covered in disgusting paan spit stains. They look like they’ve been there for a long time, and nobody has bothered to clean them up. This is supposed to be a middle class apartment building, yet people do behave like pigs.
Loved Swati’s idea…….. its fabulous……… seriously something needs to be done about this filthy habit of people spitting and throwing rubbish and whats the best part, when these same people visit abroad, they behave like civilized people and dare spit or throw garbage !!!
But the notice written is rather cute and concerning too, its more about the sentiments of the person rather than the spellings !!! Appreciate the effort..dnt u think so ?
I just hope that the notice is understood by everyone. Many of the older people in the apartment building don’t even speak English. Sometimes I think that they’d be better off writing their notices in Hindi, although it wouldn’t be so entertaining.
Actions of people make huge impact on the collective identity of the nation. Hope someday things will change. We all who want to make Mumbai/India our home for somewhile would then feel welcomed.
/seriousness hat off
Hopefully the building people heed his request.
Sharell: You Bombayites… well ok … Mumbaikars…can’t speak English properly….can barely muster up some Marathi…. about Hindi less said the better ….
/seriousness hat on
The person who put up that notice has my deepest respects.
ooppppsssss, then they better write it in the language that the others would well understand and specially the people who throw the stuff !!
How about someone messing their flats, when they are being so inconsiderate, why not someone else mess their part of the area too ? What Say ?
As per the entertaining factor I completely agree with you
… something this kinda stuff is loads of fun !!!
I was once dating someone whose first language was different from mine. Once I was making fun of her accent when speaking ‘my’ language. She patiently pointed out to me that – accent or not – she spoke ‘my’ language a hundred times better than I spoke ‘hers’.
How many here would try writing *one* grammatical sentence in Hindi/Marathi/Gujrati ?
I thought so.
Mujhe Gujurati aur Marathi nahin aati. Lekin, mein Hindi me hamesha koshish kar rahi hoon! Zaruur, yeh mushkil hai. Lekin bolni sabse mushkil hai!
Now someone please tell me how many grammatical errors are in that! I’m sure it’s not perfect.
But the point is, there’s no need for someone to write a notice in English when the majority of the people in the apartment building only speak Gujurati and Hindi. Why not communicate in a language that everyone knows? And one that you can write in properly. Or is it a case of that Indian tendency of: when a point is to be made, make it in English to try and establish a position of superiority.
I have to admit though, that I’ve come across Indians whose English is so good that they use impressive words that I’ve never heard of. I do stop and think, wow!
Sharell, if *everyone* speaks both Gujrati and Hindi, I would take back what I said. But this is unlikely – do *you* for instance, read one or both ?
) as any other.
Most neighbourhoods in Bombay have a mix of people speaking several different languages – and English is as likely to be a good choice (bad accent/grammar and all.
Laughing at someone’s English in India is like laughing at someone’s stutter. It is mean minded and ignores the basic purpose of communication.
hi Sharell
“when a point is to be made, make it in English to try and establish a position of superiority.”
You are wrong sister.
In a highly multi-lingual country like India English is often used TO BRIDGE THE GAP.
Look at me, i am a Bengali living in kolkata . I only know two languages that i can WRITE AND READ AND SPEAK- Bengali and English.i can SPEAK HINDI FLUENTLY but cannot read it. Of course i can read hindi only when hindi words are written in english like u do.
So for someone like me, English often comes to my rescue when i travel in India. It helps me read the signboards and all.
So u must understand why English is used when making a public statement.
IP – I’m glad you said that. It does make me feel better about the use of English. It’s just that there have been times when I’ve heard a couple of Indians arguing — strangers — they start out in Hindi, then one will ultimately switch to English to try and get the upper hand!
Mowgli – I can read Hindi but I unfortunately I don’t yet know the meaning of all the words I read! The building is a middle class Gujurati building. I know so many families in the building who don’t speak good English, and certainly the older generation who live here don’t. I have to speak to many of my neighbours in Hindi because they don’t understand English. It’s great that someone has had a go at writing the note in English. Good on them. All I’m saying is that I guarantee that if I showed it to a number of my neighbours, they wouldn’t understand it. Someone would have to translate it for them. On another note, I showed the notice to my Gujurati landlord and he was the one who laughed most of all!
The thing is, who is most likely to be making the mess and spitting paan? I don’t want to generalise and I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong, but I see less of the younger English speaking generation doing it. Like Shalini said, the notice needs to be directed in an understandable manner to its target audience!
BTW, I NEVER laugh at people who try to speak to ME in English. I always appreciate their efforts, and fully encourage them and help them.
I did ask my husband if people would laugh if I wrote a notice in Hindi that contained amusing grammatical mistakes and other errors, and he said absolutely they would. Life in India is tough. Anything that brings a smile to someone’s face has to be appreciated for it’s amusement value!
People have laughed in my face over my Hindi and its amusing mistakes. I tend to do literal translations from English to Hindi and it can produce funny results. I remember I once said to a friend in Hindi, as I would in English, “goodnight, I’m going to bed now” (Abhi mein palang ko ja rahi hoon). People thought it was hilarious. Apparently you can’t speak like that in Hindi because it’s “suggestive”. No one says “I’m going to bed”. You either must say I’m going to lie down or I’m going to sleep.
Hey people lets just smile a little now. The notice was indeed cute & amusing! I’ll be sure to lookout for them in the future and try & take pictures for all of you.
That’s the attitude, Ramit!
If you do have any funny photos, please send them to me and I’ll publish them for you!
Hi Sharell,
I am an Indian working in USA after completing my master’s, and had not been to India for 3 years. I happened to see your blog accidentally. I read all the topics and comments and I felt very impressed.
I have never come across a blog so complete as this. It reminds of the typical mix of feelings of my country – often proud, shameful, laughing, thoughtful, unique, and nostalgic.
Keep posting new topics in the same simple, honest, and balanced manner.
Hi Raghu, welcome and thanks for your kind feedback. The blog is a labour of love!
There’s just so much about India to write on, I feel like I have to share it. Plus it stops me from driving my husband crazy with “why like this?” questions and observations about India every day!! 
Sharrell, I think I may have given you this idea before. Since you are living in an all-vegetarian apartment complex and since many people who live in such buildings are observant Hindus or Jains, if you make a shrine on your veranda with an icon like Ganesh, Shiva or Durga, and put a sign up saying “Durga Mandir Here”… people will NOT throw trash down on your veranda ever more. You can even put out a little donation box and they will probably throw in a ruppee or two when passing by. (be sure the donation box is chained and locked to something).