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A Yen for dosas and idlis
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A group of Japanese youngsters in the city are getting to know the Malayali ethos
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Photo: Priyadershini S.
New world From left Kira Masaaki, Satomi Sakamoto, Masumi Furusato and Satoshi Nakagawa enjoying their stay
The Japanese are here, quite literally. Four young men and women from Japan are working at Indocosmo Systems Pvt. Ltd., a company that provides software solutions to Japanese companies.
The four are learning Malayalam and teaching Japanese to the local staff of the company who are interested to work in Japan.
This reciprocal arrangement is working out fine allowing for some hilarious bloopers and cultural gaffes. “No, my name is not Santosh,” says 24-year-old Satoshi Nakagawa, who’s is often ‘Indianised’ thus by his friends. He is the most articulate of the lot and has lived in Canada before working here. But his colleague and room mate Kira Masaaki, 22, an Information System executive is not so comfortable with English yet. So he speaks slowly and little. “The first step is that I want to improve my English,” he says and wants to head for U.S. for higher studies. The two ladies in the group seem to be better off in getting used to the life here. Masumi Furusato and Satomi Sakamoto by now have gelled to the chaos on roads and in the markets.
This is one aspect of the country that they find very difficult to come to terms with. “There’s no system. Everybody breaks the queue and they are very casual about time,” the four agree in unison. The billing counters at the supermarkets have been one harrowing experience for the ladies as they are looked upon strangely and then sidelined in the hurry-burry of shopping. But the women have learnt fast and now go about their shopping. What amazes them is the price of fruits and vegetables which is dirt cheap in comparison to Japan.
But it is Valsa, their help at home, who has been a boon to them. She buys their groceries and cooks for them. Having had ‘sadya’ at a colleague’s wedding they ate off the banana leaf by fork and spoon and also learnt the word, “korche, korche.” (little, little). “Here they serve so much food”, says Masumi, her eyes rounding in surprise.
But then as they say, necessity is the mother of invention. The youngsters have learnt the words that matter. ‘Mulagu venda’, ‘madhi’ and ‘mutta curry’. Dosa, idlis, chapatti and puris are what they enjoy eating.
Work and weekends
Work for them begins at 9 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m. So after six Satoshi has organised guitar classes for himself and takes a bus to the venue near St. Albert’s College. The others stay at their pad and relax. Weekends are for visiting in and around Kochi. They have been for a wedding to Kottayam and have visited touristy Fort Kochi. They like all other newcomers to Kochi are fascinated by the auto rickshaws but it’s the bus that’s inexpensive. Satoshi prefers the bus, “for rickshaws take too much money from me,” he says.
Masumi and Satomi teach Japanese and feel that there are lingual similarities in the way of learning Japanese and Malayalam. “The students here are able to quickly pick up spoken Japanese but writing the characters are difficult.”
The heat and humidity too is something that troubled them initially but they are now fine with it just as with mosquitoes. “They love me,” says Satoshi with an impish grin. “The doctor told me they love new blood…” he adds sending the others into guffaws.
Their homeowners have been kind and considerate to them. “I am learning to wear a sari from my landlady. I am preparing for Onam,” says Satomi who is part of Indocosmo but works with Evergreen Travels, an agency that brings in Japanese tourists. She has tutored herself to the ways and culture of Kerala quickly to tell the travellers from her land about the goodness of Ayurveda and the cuisine of Kerala.
Before we close our chat the four quickly give their parting images. “I am waiting for the monsoon to be active, having heard so much about it….I have asked my colleague to buy me a mundu….”
And sensing that all their interpretations may be understood out of context, Kira carefully words himself in true Japanese correctness and says, “There’s nothing negative that we feel here.” Thank you Kira, we understood you all along!
PRIYADERSHINI S.
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
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