Finchu Mama

Finchu Mama had a wonderful sense of humour. I shall narrate here a few such examples. The first one is like this : One day Finch mama asked me whether I know how a sikh greets another person or how a sikh is usually greeted by any other person. I did not know. I told him so. Then Finchu mama told me that it is the practice to greet a sikh with the words "Sasuragal Mundia". He also told me "Minu, whenever you see a sikh, greet him with those words. He will be very happy." I was not sure and at that time I did not know any sikh gentleman. After a few years when I visited a tea garden for some work and was in the midst of a discussion with the manager, a sikh gentleman came and met the Manager of the tea garden. The Manager was a marathi. He greeted the sikh gentleman with the words "Sat Sri Akal". The sikh gentleman returned the greetings with the same words "Sat Sri Akal" but his pronunciation appeared to me somewhat like "Satsrigal". In my leisure I pondered over it and then it struck me why Finchu Mama told me to greet a sikh with the words "Sasuragal.....". Most probably he also heard a sikh pronounce the word "Sat Sri Akal" in the same diction as I heard that day and twisted it a bit for me. But even then the word "Mundia" eluded me. It so happened that the same sikh gentleman came to the garden again next day and started a general conversation with me. In no time I became at ease in his company. Then casually I asked him about "Sat Sri Akal". He explained me the meaning of it and admitted that his own pronunciation "Satsrigal" is not very correct, but that is the common practice with many north indians. Then in between conversation I casually asked him about the word "Mundia". He told me that it means "cleaned shaved" and I came to know that a sikh who maintains the five rituals of Kada, Kesh, etc. feel offended if anybody call him "Mundia". When I came together face to face with Finchu Mama, we had a great laughter over it.