Thursday, October 16, 2008

Ana ishti "hub hub" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Well my dear folks... those who have been regular followers.... do you remember the Rat's tale???

Well remember the corner store guy who was known as "Shopkeeper or some such? Who could make an EEk sound just like mine and put me to shame? Well this one is about him too. And me. And mom. This incident happened before the Rat incident.

Hab hab or Hub hub that is the question...

So it unfolded thus:

I love watermelon.... so does mumsy dearest. The thing with living in a foreign country, where you don't speak the language very well is that at times you run into glitches... everyday glitches...that is, where the daily chores such as groceries and sundries can evolve into complicated (read humiliating and hilarious anecdotes)situations.

So where was I? Oh yeah... WATERMELONS.

Anyway, we had heard what watermelon is called in Arabic. Now somewhere between the hearing of the word, the registering of the word, the recalling of the word, and the reproducing of the word.... neural pathways betrayed us.... ( I call it the executive neural center making sport with the lowly motor one).

My mom walked into the store and in a very determined manner declared,
"Ana ishti hub hub"
The store keeper blushed to high heaven.... looked particularly uncomfortable, gave us a long look, chuckled to himself and embarrassed, asked
"aish?"
Mom repeated her request, this time with a winning smile...
"Ana ishti hub hub!!!"
"Shopkeeper now turned bright red, muttered in Arabic and waved over a few more people.... (when out of options this man's solution was "the more the merrier!!")
So now we were speaking to quite an audience and my mom proceeded to make her request again,
"Ana ishti hub hub..."
Folks giggled and gossiped and looked VERY interested now. Perplexed Ami and I commiserated together and we had no clue what was up so we laughed and giggled along... tsk tsk....

Well folks, let me tell you what it is we were actually saying (unbeknownst to us of course...)

Ana ishti hub hub!
(translated from Arabic to English is...)
"I WANT LOVE LOVE!!!!!

(LOL)

Now my mother is a particularly attractive female... and while no beauty, I am no dog either. So picture if you will... two, not unattractive, females... in a corner store asking for love love!!!

Yeah.... tsk..tsk...

Completely fed up, my mom proceeded to walk very regally past the gossiping and giggling crowd of Yemeni men and women to the fruit and veggie bins behind the counter and pick out a choice watermelon and with a deliberate "thud" plop it on the counter and state, almost royally

"ANA ISHTI HUB HUB!!"

And point to the infamous and by now quite vulgar (in it's size and the attention it had generated) fruit.

The crowds hushed up. There was an uncomfortable silent tension and then a wave of mirth as the crowd guffawed with laughter and the long suffering Shopkeeper, rolled his eyes and burst into a tirade of Arabic, which included much gesturing and pointing and head shaking...

"Walahi majnun..."
"Min hada mafish hub hub..."
"Min hada HABB HABB"
!!!!
translation:
You crazy females.. this isn't called love love, the fruit is called hab hab... was all we gathered (fortunately for us that was all we gathered)

We paid for the offensive fruit and went our way amid a cacophony of mirth and much head shaking....

It was not until the next day, at dinner over at the El Sayyed's that the true awareness of our interaction emerged!!! And caused much embarrassment, laughter and mirth... for us....

Sigh....
Just one in many days of

"Life a la Shahnaz..."

Stay tuned folks!
Until next time...
Ma' As Sallama!!

29 comments:

hasan said...

Hi Shahnaz,

Here is a tribute to you from yours truly..:)

O’ my lady of the sweet glamours
Your riddles, show of wit and banters
Challenging the intellect of all guessers

Striving, toiling and searching for answers
We learn, mature and grow the feathers
To fly above the conservative measures

Life a La … what a trove of treasures
Of wisdom … kindness….humor and pleasures
Drawing youngsters, oldies, bachelors and hackers

You inspire, incite and rekindle the fires
Of love… lost hopes and abandoned desires
O’Diva… your song of life…outshines all choirs

Anonymous said...

Now u r mesmerized by Arabic Language. BTW i understand a little... I love eating HUB HUB in summers...

تفاحة is something one should eat daily.

هل يحصل عليها?

It means Apple.


the other dessert of summer is مانجو. I like its shake.

هذا هو ما يكفي لهذا اليوم

(This is enough for today)

سوف نراكم في وقت لاحق

(Will see you later)

اتخاذ أفضل من الرعاية الصحية لخاصة بك
(Take care best care of your health)

لا رد أرسل رسائل البريد الإلكتروني الأول

(do reply emails i sent)

لمقابلة واحدة

(Specially the one for interview)

Bushra Azeem said...

Lollzz!!! Imagine that! :D
HAHAHahahhahahah!!!! What eventful fruit shopping for mother and daughter! I cracked up laughing and almost fell off my chair! LOL

Unknown said...

haha... awww... i do not know arabic that much but even i figured that one out ... but ohman... dat would hav been awsom :D !!!

ana ishti hub hub from you u shahnaz ;) !!! hehe

Eena said...

lolz!
wat a genuine anecdote. btw i love watermelons and yeah the next time i go shoppin for them in ne of the walayti shops i wud ask for hub hub as well.. hehe
wat do u say shahnaz ;)

gooni said...

once again .... :)
enjoyed it lotsssss.

and waiting for the next one.

Fahad said...

HAHAHAHAHA !

WALLAHI! Ana ma' arif inti arif kallim arabi ;-D ( meaning= i didn't know that you could speak arabic too :-D )

well .. the moment i read HUB HUB i was just simply bursting out with laugher...
rest was all curiosity for me ...
Thank GOd it was the yemenis not the egyptians(very loud mouth and all the time seekin for a reason to fight n all) ...

well..Arabic isn't that easy u know ... ive lived 8 yeras back in Saudia n even then cant speak proper arabic cos of the hoax of similar words with TOTALLY FREAKIN DIFFERENT MEANINGS !!!

anyways .. GLAD to see that you guys got away with it and they got the IDEA of what u guys were talking about :) !!!

p.s- Ma'Assalama is sumthin that i write aswell :) !!!

tee cee...njoy !!!!

Anwar said...

"neural pathways betrayed us"
The way you put things is fantastic. Makes reading your blog all the more fun. Jhumpa Lahiri of Pak origin in the making ;)

Sheikh said...

Shahnaaz How come you don't reply on Orkut anymore. I have been trying to get in touch with you. This is Sheikh from New Jersey.

Wasslam,

Sheikh

Shahnaz said...

hasan

my my what an honor... i am speechless. the poem is witty, charming, poignant and touching. i am in the presence of talent everywhere....

thanks so much!

Shahnaz said...

Faisal

Tuffaha- Apple... I remeber tuffaha, and labn, and my favotite shawarma!

Shahnaz said...

bushra

yeah some days when i pen the anecdotes or read from my old diaries.... even i am amazed at how crazy hilarious my life is and has been...

i don't make this stuff up... it can't be made up... and that is what really amazes me too!

i have a crazy life!!!

Shahnaz said...

sam

eye roll and chuckles.....

Shahnaz said...

eena

i agree watermelons are FUN... especially the seedless ones! i get the tiny individual sized one's .... that is what is pictured here..

Shahnaz said...

YA fahad!

ana arif bitikalim arabi shoya shoya.... mafish katheer.... shoya bas...

lol

Shahnaz said...

anwar

thanks...

yeah the word combinations make me smile too....

Sheikh said...

Gotta take a little time
A little time to think things over

I better read between the lines
In case I need it when I'm older

This mountain I must climb
Feels like a world upon my shoulders

Through the clouds I see Love shine
It keeps me warm as life grows colder

In my life there's been heartache and pain
I don't know if I can face it again

Can't stop now, I've traveled too far
To change this lonely life

hasan said...

Last time I wrote a poem was in 1998 and I dont even have that poem with me..just the memory of the inpiration..(it was a female class fellow and the poem was of a more romantic nature :)

Thanks for the appreciation and for providing the inspiration to write...

TehBoogieMonsterMan said...

Ay mashAllah ya habibty =D
Ana a3eshu fid Dubai..wa ana ittisal lil 3arabiya, wlekn shuwaiyye =)

This was hilarious. Ana ishti hubb hubb =D

shattered said...

you are full of life shahnaz...
i love your cheerfulness
i hope that you always remain the same

Bushra Azeem said...

I can't imagine anybody's fruit shopping as interesting as yours have been! =)

Long live the watermelons!
Long live love (?) =)

Agepe said...

Hi... greetings from Indonesia

Deja Vu said...

new blog awaited

Mannan said...

Thats almost the same incident that happened in Jerome's 'Three men on the bummle'.
But it was a 'kiss' there,not love ! :P

But its really amazing that it happened in your life;things that we only read in books! LOL
Can't wait to see what's more in store ;)!

ilahi Amanat


ilahi Amanat

Eena said...

hey shahnaz,
now this is somethin apart from hub hubs...
i always wanted to know that who that cutie pie was in ABC to whom you were playin mother .... i mean the kid was adorable.. sahi khocha bacha... haha!
he must hav grown up so much by now.

Calm Cool said...

dats SO crazy :D

Unknown said...

hmm :)

Maham said...

Hi Shahnaz
I just joined your blog. I am sure you have hundreds of fans so it might not sound too big but I am a huge fan of yours!! I'll make sure that my baby girl sees ABC when she grows up :) Take care

Life is hard but keep going anyways said...

lol, really funny