Harimohan Pillai

Boi Babu and Other Stories Harimohan Pillai

As a migrant from Kerala in Hindi heartland I grew up with Malayalam at home and Hindi beyond the door of the house. And as a child I discovered to my amazement that most of my friends spoke different languages at home, though Hindi is what connected us. I also discovered that my mother and other mothers as well, used mother tongue even in public whenever need arose of saying something personal or private, most often to scold... The tonal quality of every such language that I heard was different, except one, which to my ears sounded extremely pleasing, sweet, so to say... even when it was used for scolding! I discovered that Bangla or Bengali was 'mishti' to ears... and wondered as a child if that was because Bengalis made the most awesome 'mishtis' in the world... My times in Bengal during graduation in the 70s have been...