It had not been long that I had started
working in that cafe. Back in Nepal, I had never worked like that.
So obviously everything was new to me in a new place, amid the new
people. My English isn't as fluent as theirs' after all it is my
second language. Therefore, I speak with a different accent
(sometimes with a great difficulty). Being an only Asian to work
in such place is indeed a hectic.
That morning some more customers flooded in.
One of them, whom I was serving, was a rude man. I did understand
what he was asking for but unfortunately he didn't understand what
I was saying. Again, I'd say it's my second language. Suddenly, he
got frustrated and made an annoyed face, scratching his hair and
sighing at me. I was petrified, delirious and the next thing I
remember is someone else was serving him. The customer standing
next to him was observing the situation.
He was an old man with squinted blue eyes
who added more misery and horror. No wonder he was an awful
person. My kuire co-workers were giggling at me. It is one of the
most embarrassing moment of my life. I hated everyone and
everything. When I got my first break I rushed out of that cafe,
in search of some peace, in search of my friends but alas I was
standing in the town centre among the goras again. Then my eyes
caught the sight of the nearby church. I headed towards it (even
though I'm not a Christian). It was an old church and there wasn't
anyone inside.
I sat on one of the chair and closed my
eyes. Then the first person that came to my mind was my best
friend Manisha. I was drifted along with the thoughts, towards the
past. It made me nostalgic and reminded of something really
appealing. When I was at school in Nepal there was a friend of
mine called Sonam. Her nepali was heavily blended with her
sherpali accent. One day I saw her nepali notebook and to my
surprise all her answers were written on her own dialect like " Mo
ghaar janchha "
When I finished reading I could not stop
laughing but to be honest, I didn't laugh in front of her. During
the home time, I met Manisha and Sheetal(one of my other mate). As
soon as I saw them I started to narrate her answers to them,
trying to make it as original and as funny as possible. Sheetal
bursted into laughter and I was laughing like a mad girl. Unlike,
Manisha who stood there and stared at us especially at me. There
was a clear mark of anger on her face.
"Stop. Stop laughing you two. What is so
funny about that?" she cried. I thought she would share the joke
(well it was a kind of joke for me) but her response confused me.
Sheetal, on the other hand hardly managed to suppress her
laughter.
With my half sneer I asked her " what?
It's not my fault to have her accent like that"
"It's not her fault either," Manisha
snapped back. Yet I did not apologize. Why should I? After all it
was not my fault. but it was not her(
S
