One morning at supermarket. I was selecting vegetables after a careful look at prices. Bottle gourd is usually priced at ₹20 per piece at Dharwad vegetable market however here most rates written on the labels are per 250 grams and a few are per kg. Bottle gourd rate written on the label was ₹18 but the quantity wasn't clearly visible to me. So I asked a lady staff member if the rate was per kg or per quarter kg. The lady response was a big smile and a hearty laugh. I asked what happened... was she laughing at my question or something else. She said "yenri sir quarter antidiri," still laughing. For a second I was blank, then it flashed....
"Ayyo Shivane, yellig hodri madam nivu, quarter andre 250 grams."
The lady still laughing said "quarter antar yenri sir, paav kilo anbekri."
That left me stunned for a second.
"Aatri madam, labelnag bardirod paav kilo rate yenri?"
"Han sir."
This is a mindset caused by cultural dilution... the original meaning of the word is buried, out of sight. I'm sure there are thousands of people here to whom quarter is either a taboo word or liquor. Similarly there are be other words which could be interpreted differently in different minds. It is better to confirm if our thoughts are same, in a subtle manner.
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