Chumma Chumma De De...

This was narrated by a friend of mine, a North-Indian, who has recently spent quite some time in Chennai. He was walking with a couple of colleagues, both of whom happened to be girls (lucky rascal :P). Of course, he was enduring the torture that any two girls are capable of giving any guy who suddenly finds himself alone in the company of two women. I mean, first you bear those irritating giggles, then suddenly they will start whispering in ultra low voices, and the very next moment they will be shouting on the top of their voices and jumping up and down. And then they will turn to you, asking if you are getting bored. What a question! Anyways, so this friend of mine was ignoring whatever was spoken, when suddenly the following statement hit his ears:

"So I gave him chumma just like that!"

Unable to believe his ears, he asked the lady to repeat her statement.

The girl in question was chewing a bubble gum. She burst a bubble, took in the gum, then took out her tongue, wagging it to and fro over her lips. After this, she again shrugged her shoulders and repeated: "I gave him chumma(extra wriggle of shoulders) just like that!".

My friend was flabbergasted. From what he knew, chumma is a fairly commonly used Hindi word that means a "kiss"! This girl was wetting her lips with her tongue, and telling him that she gave a kiss just like that. Was she hinting that he could also be the next beneficiary?

Controlling the urge to give it a try, he asked her what her statement means (this was one of the best decisions of his life)? He was immediately disappointed when he came to know that....

CHUMMA is a Tamil(or South Indian?) word that means "just like that"!!!!

I had myself come across this word, during my stay in Mysore. I heard it for the first time, from the mouth of my project manager! The statement was something like "we will do it chumma just like that". I was shocked! I looked at my manager again, to confirm that he has not lost his mind. But there was no embarassment, no guilt on his face, as he continued speaking. How could a manager casually mention such a word, inserted inside a professional statement? It was later that I was to know the meaning of this word.

I can't find a one-word substitute for this word in Hindi or English. It is one of those 'untranslatable' words. :) Damn useful.