One of the worst hit Mumbai blasts site yesterday was Opera House. I suddenly felt very scared, as I have spent quite some time in that vicinity. Anyway, that is the subject of political blogs, I will stick to pronunciation. I am reminded of the first time I went to that area (some ten years ago). Well the story is quite long, so I will give you the truncated version.
The word Opera is pronounced as op-ruh (like the talk show hostess), sometimes there is a schwa (a very short unaccented syllable) between the 'p' and the 'r'. So the alternative pronunciation is op-uh-ruh.
So I told a taxi driver to take me to the cinema theatre near op-ruh house. I could not remember the name of the street it was on (Lamington road), so I gave him the name of a landmark, feelling sure that would be enough. But he said there is no such place. I was shocked. It was like being told the Taj was no longer available in Agra. I said I am sure it was there and there was a famous theatre nearby. I also told him that the Anil Kapoor starrer Pukaar was showing there. He said, he was not much of a film buff. Now this op-ruh house discussion went on for some 2-3 minutes. Mumbai taxi drivers are very time conscious. They do not believe in wasting time in discussion. So this exasperated taxi driver said,
'saab kidhar jaane kaa hai vo bataao. nahee.n to doosraa gaaDi dekho'
{sir, please make up your mind where you want to go. Or else take some other cab}
I was furious. And probably the increased activity in my heart helped the brain and in a flash I remembered the road was called Lamington Road. Immediately he said - did you mean Minerva Theatre. I said 'bingo' and off we went to Minerva.
On the way, he paused and said,
"saab woh jagah kaa naam opayraah house bolte hai.n. aap apra apra kar rahe the to mere ko chamkaa nahee.n. kisee se bhee bolnay kaa ho, to opayraah house bolo, pahunchaa degaa naa."
{sir, that place is called oh-pay-rah house. you were saying it as 'up-ruh', so I didn't get it. In future, if you have to say that name, please say oh-pay-rah house, anyone will take you there.}
I have never felt more stupid in life. So the summary of this story is, different pronunciations have to be used in India at different places. So if you are in the company of educated and refined people, then you should say op-ruh house ( ऑपरअ), and if you are talking to a Mumbai taxi driver, make sure you say oh-pay-rah (ओपेरा) house.
The funny thing is if you use the wrong pronunciation at the right place (or vice versa), people will ridicule you. By the way, if you were wondering what was the brouhaha about Minerva and why didn't I ask him to take me to the nearest theatre. Well, I am quite a cheese paring man and the only tax-free movie playing in Mumbai at that time, was Pukaar. And a tax-free film meant a 40% saving. Life is complicated :).
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