ChinmayC Blog

Stingy, mingy, parsimonious, frugal, prudent, thrifty—there are so many words for ‘miser’! We must be prudent in using a suitable word for our lovely grandmother who just had the habit. We decided upon ‘mingy’, but definitely ruling out the possible interpretation of ‘mean’. Hard core misers are hardly enjoyable! Those who are rather habitual ones with lots of confusion and contradiction are really amusing. In a particular neighborhood there had been a grandmother who got the reputation of being a little miserly, but most of the times she was not taken seriously and was only laughed at. Further, she was never mingy to family and close relatives. Only when ‘others’ were concerned she behaved differently. For all the ceremonial functions including a few weddings held in her household our grandmother always insisted on visiting the neighbors to invite. She used to meet the head of the family saying, ‘Please do come!’ and then adding in a low tone, ‘Only you…alone…okay?’ Afterwards when s...

***My grandmother had a thorough way of getting fully posted on any topic the answers to which she might have known already. She used to make sure she had all the details and the necessary action taken. For that she asked the same question at least three times though in varied forms of longer to shorter and to short.  Here is an example of what she used to ask me almost everyday. ‘Dearest, have you eaten your lunch?’ ‘Yes, grandma.’ ‘You have eaten?’ ‘Yes, grandma.’  ‘Eaten, no?’ ‘Yes, grandma!’ I took it as an expression of her tremendous love for me which was the case indeed. ***Greatly angered by inaction of one of his subordinates the boss one day stormed into the subordinate’s room and shouted, ‘Look Mr… My last warning to you! I want results! Don’t continue sitting on the files!’ And he stormed out. The dazed subordinate lifted the cushions of his seat moment the boss left and muttered, ‘What the hell…!’ Not a joke, mind you! ***Once in a project we were trying out young...