An Asian woman newly arrived into this great nation stepped into her local grocers and peered at the array of products before her.

She shuffled from one section to the next. The shopkeeper looked at this strange woman wearing a long beige coat and her head covered with a pink scarf.

He had heard of this ‘new’ people arriving but this was the first time he had seen one in his shop.

The woman picked up a few things but couldn’t spot what she was looking for.

She had heard of the word to describe what she wanted but was unsure exactly what the word was. Hesitating, she made her way to the counter and uttered those legendary words for the first time.

“Andah egg?’ And so our love affair with saying the same thing twice began.

It became second nature for most of us. ‘Make sure you get some Doodh Milk!’ What the hell are you on about? ‘Doodh milk?’ You have to kidding me!

Even the most educated and Urdu speaking posh folk, with the raised eyebrows and ‘waskits’ are guilty of using the term ‘Do you have any Panee water?’ Oh, the sheer delight of hearing such eloquent terms for the first time in a crowded room.

‘The handee lamb could do with some spicy mirch’ she exclaimed. Well, yes…but it needs the butter ghee first.

I never figured why we said things twice but in the beginning it was all about necessity.

Sooner or later we simply started linking words with whatever we could. I think it was a way of playing it safe.

If the person didn’t speak one language he or she more than likely spoke the other one.

‘What’s for breakfast dear?’…. ‘Andha Bread’. I loved that term andah bread it was nearly as good as another firm favourite…meethay rice (sweet rice).

But then it happened. We did something only we could do. We created a term that will in a hundred years be known for its genius. Hopefully, they will put it in the dictionary.

Someone, somewhere ordered a ‘garam kutha’.