Joy of Rolling in Fishmarket Filth

Venkatesh Mahale is a famous connoisseur of my village -- the kind Goruru Ramaswamy Iyengar or R.K. Narayan would immortalize in their books. The fish-market is possibly the dirtiest part of our town, because there is no sewage and they clean the fish right there. Anyway, Mahale's daughter got married and went to USA to live with the husband. During the birth of her child, Venkatesh Mahale and his wife traveled to America to help the new couple. But there was no Bangade fish, no Iswan fish, no beedi, no paan and no Madevi (Mahale's mistress) in New Jersey and Mr. Mahale was miserable. Upon his return, he resumed his ritual of buying fresh fish every morning at the Bunder (harbor). A mischief-monger who was aware of Mahale's boredom in America teased him -- "Did you enjoy America Venkateshmam?" Mahale pointed to the filth beneath his Walmart Crocs. "I say that there is more joy in rolling in this fish waste than in America!" he declared. Since then "rolling in fishmarket waste" has become a slang and a unit of measurement of happiness in the neighboring villages.