Here Fishy Fishy…..

I have found a great and wonderful wonderful link to help me when I go fish shopping.

http://upajiivikaa.webnode.com/fish-names-tamil-english-/

Buying fish in Chennai Fish markets is an art. First you have to get over the smell. This is usually not a problem, as I love the smell of fish, unless there has been more than usual rotting going on.

Lesson 1 about fish:  fresh fish does not smell bad. It just smells of the ocean. It’s bad fish that smells bad.

After the smell it’s the noise. You will experience the origin of the phrase – noisy as a fish market. As every fisherwoman screams for your attention or diverts your attention from the bad fish she is trying to sell. Then finally after much peering – you can’t touch unless you are a seasoned buyer.If you touch the fish and don’t buy, then prepare for a barrel full of bad words, which again the english language has turned into a phrase. I know most great housewives are immune to this and the fisher women can almost smell it. If you know about fish they leave you alone.

Then comes the storm of haggling, crying and ranting. She will lay her sad family history before you until you feel like Ashoka after the battle (or was it Siddhartha?) And if you say anything back about it being almost the price of your car and the questionable freshness, then she will change tacks and rail at you, your father, his mother, their uncles and many many more before them. Until the money is in her hands, her tongue will lash. Then there is a calm. But it is deceptive. You will be dazedly trying to move away when the next scape goat will appear – she will turn it on full blast again. By now most of us will decide to buy the drained, wax like frozen fish from the stinky shop next to our safe quite houses.