By Gaurav Rastogi
Summer's almost here, and it's time to think of new ways to pass the time. Earlier this year, I read an excellent book called An Exaltation of Larks (Bay Area readers can get it from the Alameda County Library), which is essentially a collection of nouns of multitude. Basically, a collection of objects can be given a unique name, as in "a bevy of beauties", or "a pack of cards". Some of the more unusual ones from the book are
– an intrigue of politicians
– an addition of mathematicians
– an unkindness of ravens
– a shrivel of critics
– a score of bachelors
Now that India has arrived on the world map, it's time that all things desi acquire their right pride of place in the english language. Let's start naming typically desi things, just like that! Here are some to start us all off:
– A Hangal of filmy fathers
As in "I was at the bollywood dance party yesterday, and this Hangal of unclejis was crowded around the front of the hall!"
– An Asthana of laughing yoga practitioners
no laughing matter, this. As in…"when I reached the laughter yoga class, the Asthana was already bellowing with bellyfull laughs".
– A tashan of dalhi (yep, that's how we pronounce it) teens
As in…"Oy yaar…the other day I had gone to SouthEx with my tashan from college"
A pampering of desi mothers
As in…"Boss, I went to my Mausi's house, and the place was crowded with a pampering of desi moms".
Ouch…An accent of desh-returning-NRIs (even a "crow luncheon", perhaps?)
As in…"My flight from Frankfurt into Mumbai was booked full with the crow-luncheon of NRIs returning back to India for good"
A clockwork of desi weddings (this one's in irony, in case you're wondering).
As in…On Nov 23, 2003, Delhi hosted a clockwork of weddings – in fact, 14,000 weddings in all in a singleday.
A bevy of biwis
As in…"I was out to lunch at M52 in Greater Kailash, and the place was chock-a-block with a bevy of biwis at their "kitty party"'
On the same notes, what would you call a collection of…
– masala movies
– pooris
– dosas
– desi TV serials (saas-bahu variety, of course)
– Indian sportsmen
– Air India air-hostesses (I'd recommend "an aunt-hill")
Let's see what you've got, readers!
Water, No Ice 
Here goes. A “howl” or is it a “bawl” of Tamil TV serials.
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Ok, the next one. A “dibba” of masala movies.
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a “paunch” of Indian sportsmen?
a “sobbing” of saas-bahu serials?
a “Jhumpa” of Indian writers?
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An apology of Indian sportsmen?
A greed of dosas? (Could also apply to pooris)
A daayan-nasty of saas-bahu serials? (Say it aloud although I have tried my best to make it comprehensible through spelling…)
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Haha- I love the daayan-nasty one! Not to mention a “jhumpa”!
…
– an item-number of masala movies
– an absence of Indian sportsmen
– a Kklose-up of saas-bahu serials
– a nosegay of Himesh Reshammiya songs
– a ham-string of SRK movies
– a prickle of hot summer days
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Daayan-nasty is inspired! Gonna steal that one and use it Shefaly.
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Gaurav: Thanks.
VPDot: By all means, do use it – with attribution of course. 🙂
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Here are some more I found –
A ream of proctologists,
a nuisance of cats,
a peep of chickens,
a congregation of crocodiles,
a memory of elephants,
an implausibility of gnus,
and,
A radiance of cardinals.
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Odd this publish is totaly unrelated to what I was looking google for, but it was listed on the 1st page. I guess your performing some thing appropriate if Google likes you sufficient to put you around the first web page of a non associated search.
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