Money!

It was sometime in 1994. Our office was in Parry's Corner, Chennai. My friend and colleague, KK, a Maharashtrian, had come from our Mumbai branch for the annual meet that runs for 2-3 days. 

On one of the days, he got ready for the meeting from his hotel. We arrived at the Parry's Corner by auto at around 9:00 AM. We walked though one of those narrow streets (very common in this locality - 2nd line beach, Angappan street, Lingi street, etc.) towards our office in a corner. The roads were slowly getting busy with many pedestrians, cyclists, auto-rickshaws, (Pallavan) city buses, etc. in brisk pace. 

There were these rows and rows of tiny shops who sell all imported stuffs. KK wanted to buy a Uni-ball pen for himself. We got into a shop and I helped him check the type, rate etc. with the shopkeeper in Tamil. Once the price negotiation was over, KK took a step back and stood outside the shop. I was inside the shop talking to the shopkeeper to get back some small change, when KK suddenly stretched his hand inside the shop and poked my shoulder frantically. I turned and asked him what was wrong. He pointed at the man on the road standing beside him and said that he was asking him Money! I was taken aback and thought something has gone amiss. I stepped out of the shop and asked that man what was it about. He appeared to be a middle aged worker somewhere in the neighborhood. To my surprise, there was no anger or agitation in his face or body manners. So I tended to relax, but was eager to know why he was asking KK for Money. Instantly and casually he now repeated the question that he had asked KK, to me: 'Mani sir?'. I burst out in laughter and told him the time, and he again casually walked off with tinge of a smile at the corners of his lips. 

KK, learning that the man actually asked for the time, was also amused along with me about this incident. The real-time comedy happened due to the fact that the word Mani in Tamil is phonetically identical to Money in English, while Mani (மணி) in Tamil actually means time!

I think about this incident once in a while, and it brings a smile on my face.