Neeru! Neeru beku!

The other day, yesterday to be exact, I sat, lay, stood on a train for 15 hours from Udupi to Mumbai. And then, because I enjoyed it so much, I sat, lay, stood on another train for 4 hours to get to Pune. Well, sat to be exact because in second class (ladies) without reservation the only place you can lie is on the baggage holder above the seats. Needless to say, they were all already occupied.
Being the object of much discussion for the 16 other ladies squashed into the 6 seats with me, I figured I would show them that I was not simply another clueless backpacker on my way from big city to big city. No no, I was intergrated, one of them, I was the shit. My time to shine, incidentally came in the form of the drinks-wallah. Parched from the dry air coming through the open window I called him over at the station and, after a self-congratulatory look to my companions, said in a loud, self-confident voice: "Neeru! Neeru beku!"
It was only after the other ladies started giggling and the man started moving away from my window looking bored that I realised that I was in Maharashtra and my Kannada wouldn't get me anywhere here. Dammit!