Nagpur has some interesting characters to offer. Just buying vegetables could be better than putting yourself through the torture of watching a Raju Srivastav episode of the so called 'laughter challenge'. All i suggest you do is go to the frail old woman at the vegetable cart and ask the prices of the daily vegetables. Well if you do plan on making a purchase be ready to shell out 'Chaaapaan Rupiyaa'. It'll make you think that probably two lousy lemons and a few carrots might actually cost 'Chaaapaan Rupiyaa'.Then again the world is heading towards an economic slowdown, things are bound to cost more than they normally would in the good old days. You want to believe it but you just cannot. you search that old Bihari woman's face at holding out your groceries and you wonder could the lady aged and wise have faltered.So you ask her again..."Auntyji kitna hua? gin ke bataiye...".Then is a sweet sounding Bihari tone with pauses that are meant to haunt you for the rest of the day, she speaks in syllables extended to resemble the slow motion clips of monkies dancing in Kubric's space oddessy.."beta e dekho, nimbu hue teen rupiyaa,aur gajar hu dus rupiyaa...".(Please note to show how painfully slow she speaks i typed really slowly).Totally foxed she then looks at you as if to say i may have made a small calculation error. But you are too dammed shocked, partially mesmerized by her Bihari accent in slow motion. You finally see that although she got your total wrong, she smiles back at you with those ever innocent eyes. You correct her without any kind of malice in your heart. You in all your wisdom pay her 13 rupees that you owe her. On your way back you even mock her in your head. It makes you feel guilty after a while. Innocence cannot be mocked. It’s too pure, it’s almost divine…but who cares the carrots are tasting really nice.
