A rose by any other name...

I didn't mean to blog today (I'm so exhausted!!) but something terribly funny happened five minutes ago. Unfortunately for those who cannot understand hindi or food terms, this isn't going to make much sense. But before I continue, let's dedicate this blog to my Mommy, for teaching me the difference between tuur and moong daals and, you know, ...well, you get the picture.

So I walk out into the kitchen to find my room-mates busily looking for something.

'We want to make buttermilk and we're looking for aamchur to add into it.'

'Fine, let's see....' I looked as far as sight could reach, reached out on the shelves as wide as my hands allowed, but nope, no aamchur packet around. Then I remembered that I had finished the aamchur a few months ago.

Me: Nope, not there, won't be there, I finished it.

P: No, it has to be there, we saw it only a few days ago.

K: Yepp, we eat it all the time.

Me: Alone? Without anything? (Oh, and I thought I was the only one eating raw aamchur as a snack!)

P and K: Yes.

Me: Well, I can't lay my hands on any packets with powder in them on the top shelf, so I'm pretty sure it isn't in there.

P: No, we don't want the powder, we're looking for the small, round sour thing. (simultaneously making incomprehensible motions with hands, but I know what shape she's talking of so presumably she is drawing circles in the air. Which, by the way, from the feel of this conversation, she did metaphorically too.)

Me: Small, round thing?? Aamchur is a powder.

P: No, no, the solid thing shaped like this. (more motions, this time using palm as canvas and finger as beheaded pencil)

Me: Aamchur is AAM KA CHUR... mango powder... it's impossible to have it any other way!! (for a minute I considered explaining that if it was 'solid' they'd call it AAM, but they were already having too much trouble for me to bail them out completely. So I settled for simply understanding their problem and meeting them on their own terms.)

Both: Well, it should be there, we saw it.

Me: (Long sigh) Ok, how did it look? What color was it?

P: Brown, small pieces.

Me: (Suppressing smile, comprehension dawning... should've dawned minutes ago, but I'll forgive myself this once) Do you mean kokum??

P: No, aamchur!!!!!!

Me: (actions speak louder than words, going over to the shelf which was supposed to have the aamchur and retrieving kokum) Is this what you're looking for?

Both: Yay!! Yes.

Me: Well, this is kokum.

K: (asks P) Kya cheeze?

P: (Crowning Glory Moment) Arre, she calls it kokum, it's aamchur only!

Me: PPFFFFFFTT!! (Mental Aaaarrrggghhhh!!!! added as well.)