Shopping for laughs

Buying groceries is generally a pretty mundane activity. But, not if you go with my Mum.

Innocent hawkers and store owners become stand-up comedians in my mother's eyes. Case in point - The agenda of the evening was to buy vegetables. We were walking by the marketplace..surveying the heaps of produce to try and spot at least one that looked like it was only two days old. My sister and I were walking ahead, and my mum behind. I asked my mother what veggies she needed to buy, and there was silence.

Bangalore traffic can outshout a rocket being launched..so I repeated myself. Again, silence. I turned around to see if we had walked too far ahead of her, or worse, if she had been struck down by the deadly recklessauto infestation. What do I see? My esteemed mother, about ten feet behind us, teetering towards the street - the cause being not an auto, but laughter. Completely perplexed, and also a little embarassed because she could be heard over the din of traffic..we walked up to her. It took 10 minutes before she could give us an explanation.

Since she had laughed herself to the point of physical pain, all she could do was helplessly point at this chap who was hawking some underwear. At first, my sister and I couldn't make out what he was saying..as we walked closer..we heard 'Ondondybandy..Ondondybandy..Ondondybandy...Ondondybandy' without even a pause for breath. I looked at my mother to confirm what we were hearing to see her fervently chanting after him. I don't think I've ever laughed that hard. We could barely get in an auto and make it back home. In case you're wondering..he was saying 120 panty, and yes, we forgot the vegetables.

All that week, everytime we asked my mum anything...her first response would be 'Ondondybandy..Ondondybandy..Ondondybandy...Ondondybandy'.