Our grocery is usually at a store called "Noor" on St. Catherine street, owing to the proximity of this store from our apartment. Owned by a Muslim couple, a Pakistani lady and a Surti uncle, they speak the most refined version of Hindi I've ever heard in my life.
The other option with us though is to take the metro to an area called Jean Talon, primarily inhabited by people of Indian or Pakistani origin. A grocery store by the name of Dhillon brothers, owned by Kanwaljeet Singh Dhillon. A man 6'4" in stature, as broad and hefty as Triple H (of WWE fame), a typical punjabi accent, with the signature bhandcho in each of his statement. His visiting card reads that he is the Vice President of the store. Our first visit to that store left us wondering on what would his designation on the visiting card mean.
It was only until yesterday, that the mystery revealed... yesterday night my fren's craving to linger his taste buds with south Indian cuisine, saw us at jean talon.. after a stomach bursting round of South Indian platter, we paid a visit to Dhillon brothers grocery store, to stock grocery for the week. This was our second visit to the store and i just had wondered to strike a conversation with our Kanwaljeet Singh Dhillon, when the man started with a greeting in his Punjabi accent. I am trying to replicate my conversation with our man to make it sound the way it went: (am typing the Hindi version and particularly the accent in which he spoke)
Me- Aapke pas forzen chappatiyan hai?
Our man- Nai.. abbi to nai raakte hain ji.. thodde din baad rakhange ji. woh rendovation kaarke space bandaenge.
Me- Kya hai na ki rotiyan baanane me taklif hoti hai.
Our man- Oye seekh jayoge ji.. aapde aap aa jayega.. hum bhi aaye the jaab kuch nahi aanda tha... sab sikh jjate hai..
Me- aap kab aaye the idhar
Our Man- aaaare hum to ship mein aaye the punjaab se.. bhandcho, koi paper waper nahi tha.. nevyoork aaye the.. thodda kaam kaarke paisa kaamayaa phir idhar ko aa gaye.. aaj tak ek bhi daafa scool nahi dekhi.. jindagi mein kaabhi bhi nahi gaaye......
then it followed by a blabber of how other ppl here landed and how it was practically impossible for a punjabi to get a visa... the number of punjabis around who are millionaires and still don't have legal documents for their stay in Canada/US ... how the youth of Punjab is in the trap of smack.. and how biharis are settling in Punjab etc etc... in our talks he seemed to get pretty impressed with us.
Me- aacha ji aapke pas roti maker hoga
Our man- hai nda ... aap to aise hi lde jao ji ...
Me- aare nahi.. jitna ho bata dijiye..
Our Man- Bidlkul nahi ji.. aap se kya roti khande waste pisa loonga.. aab to bilkul hi nahi lunga..
..and he packed the roti maker labeled to be worth 60 Canadian Dollars (approx 2500 INR) for us.. and he gave it to us as a gratitude.. HUH.. believe that!!!!
As I stumbled out of the store.. had just one question in my mind.. WHY DID HE GAVE IT TO ME FOR FREE???
didn't figure out an answer for that yet..
but ya.. I got the answer to his designation!!!!
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to follow- snaps of our trip to Mont Tremblant..
6 comments:
I have to leave a comment, probably the first but I just moved from Toronto and happen to move to the Jean Talon area. Actually, it was a relief to find plenty of South Asian (I'll keep the options open) stores and was really interesting to have read the conversation you had at the Dhillon Brothers Grocery. Good store, I can most definitely say coming from a female perspective. I'm moving downtown next week, so I will look out for Noor. Such an interesting story to read about the.. "hum boat se aaye the"..Actually, there were many such documented cases and also others who were sent back to India. I'm glad that they stayed. At least, gives me a place close by to get all I need for my day-to-day happenings, but the complementary roti-maker, that was a kind gesture on their part!
This was the first google item that showed up in the search for Dhillon Brothers, hence I had to read what it had to say. Merci!!
Thanks for your comment..
Apparently I am no longer in Montreal and have moved back to Mumbai. However, I have find memorioes of Montreal. Noor, is the best store in Downtown to get South Asian grocery .. However, a visit to Dhillon brothers on Tuesday is a must... reason being he gets all the fresh vegetables from India which you generally wont get in Montreal easily. I used to stay in Downtown living on St Marc. and was a frequent visitor at Noor.. Do let me know if you require any guidance on good eating joints in Montreal.. I still have a couple of frens living in Montreal who can be of some help...
Cheers,
Nishith
Very Nice.
I stayed for 2 years in Montreal and was a regular customer at Dhillon Grocery for first few months.
They are 2 brothers and both are nice. But I don't like a lady there, may be she is wife of owner (WWF style tall, healthy same as Kanwaljit Dhillon). She was so rude and abusive like low caste(Pardon my strong words). My god, I saw once she throw a customer on floor for no reason and then I stopped buying there.
As most of other stores was not carrying that much stuff as Dhillon on Jeantalon those days so I started going Lasalle.
Merci
I like this store very much and the counter persons are very nice. Store is very busy and clean.
Interesting.
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