Sulphur on 15/3/2014 at 07:00
Here in India, that's an extremely common thing. If I step out the door now and into the street, there's likely to be an old man pushing a cart along heaped with fruits or vegetables, yelling 'Tamataaaaarrrr!' with this long, pitch-bendy ululation that sounds like he's in great distress. That's how they stand out in your hearing from the rest of the hubbub. If it's fish, in south India, you're likely to hear them go, 'Meeeeen! Meeeeno! Machlli meeen!' which sounds like they're breaking out into opera at someone bullying them. Their stuff's usually fresher and cheaper than what you'd get at stores, too.
I'm sure good old Clarke would have heard that often enough in his Sri Lankan home in his day, so there's your Sir Arthur C. Clarke fix, folks.
SubJeff on 15/3/2014 at 08:05
Ha ha. That's it. It's a performance, it's a show tune. I came to know others but the tomato man was my favorite.
gkkiller on 15/3/2014 at 16:25
Quote Posted by Sulphur
Here in India, that's an extremely common thing. If I step out the door now and into the street, there's likely to be an old man pushing a cart along heaped with fruits or vegetables, yelling 'Tamataaaaarrrr!' with this long, pitch-bendy ululation that sounds like he's in great distress. That's how they stand out in your hearing from the rest of the hubbub. If it's fish, in south India, you're likely to hear them go, 'Meeeeen! Meeeeno! Machlli meeen!' which sounds like they're breaking out into opera at someone bullying them. Their stuff's usually fresher and cheaper than what you'd get at stores, too.
I'm sure good old Clarke would have heard that often enough in his Sri Lankan home in his day, so there's your Sir Arthur C. Clarke fix, folks.
That's what I thought of too lol. #justindianthings
Are you from India too, SubjEff? :P
With me it's 'apple' and 'paper'. And these guys can't pronounce the 'a' bit in 'apple' or the 'ur' sound in 'paper' right. So they go, "Eh-paaal!" and "Pay-paaar!" It's really pretty cool.
SubJeff on 15/3/2014 at 20:36
Nah, that was Africa. I've heard a lot of stories from people who lived in India. It sounds somewhat similar in many ways to Africa - weather, lifestyle, type of houses if you're affluent enough, servants and so on. And heat. And better food produce than we have here.
demagogue on 15/3/2014 at 22:25
I've seen this kind of guy in Japan too, in the rural areas anyway, not Tokyo... The kind of places where salesmen still think the foyer of a house is public space so they can open your front door and call out asking if you're home.
I heard a bell and shouting in the distance, very stylized & rythmic shouts, and asked a Japanese friend to translate, and it was something like, "Potatos! Buy my potatos! They're so warm and tasty!" I found my friend's deadpan delivery really funny, and I could perfectly hear it in the guy's voice.
Even though Japan has a reputation for being hightech & postmodern, they still have a lot of these throwbacks, and parts of it like that guy or those salesmen I felt like have still not made their peace with modernity, and want to live out the old ways & still take them for granted.
Yakoob on 15/3/2014 at 23:11
Quote Posted by demagogue
Even though Japan has a reputation for being hightech & postmodern, they still have a lot of these throwbacks
In the middle of osaka's Electric "Den Den" Town, right between the anime and tech store, was this little stall where an old guy would make fresh (
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Taiyaki_baking_by_ope_in_Tokyo.jpg) taiyaki right then and there, for mere 100 yen.
Me and my friend would routinely take the 20min train to den den town just to get them. The fresh, hot redbean and dough were the best thing on a chilly and rainy day.
nickie on 8/4/2014 at 08:04
Beautifully done, Vasquez - I can see it and feel it and smell it.
