Old Saudi Comedy: I Want Buttermilk!

Tash ma Tash has been one of the most popular Saudi comedy’s.  One of the primary actor’s in Tash ma Tash will also have occasional roles in other Saudi comedies as well.  My husband was telling me that in the early days of Tash ma Tash there was another popular show aired featuring the Saudi actor.  However in this particular show, the actor played the same character over and over of an old man who lived with his son and daughter-in-law.  The old man had a habit of whenever he awakened (even in the middle of the night) he would say in a shaky old man’s voice  which carried “I want buttermilk.”  (Buttermilk and dates are a very popular snack for those living in and around the desert)

 

Custom ring tones on mobiles on popular and typical here in the Kingdom.  It’s also not unusual for one to have a ring tone of a popular song or television show.  I actually have a Tash ma Tash ring tone on my own mobile which shouts out “D’noud D’noud.”  One night this past Ramadan my husband was in the mosque for the late night prayer.  The time was near two o’clock in the morning.  During the stillness of the prayer, someones mobile rang with the tone of the old man’s voice carrying through the mosque “I want buttermilk.”

 This particular comedy has been off-air now for quite a few years.  So you can imagine the surprise to those in the mosque on hearing this ring tone as well as the funny memories it likely evoked from those who had followed the popular comedy.  According to my spouse, several of the older men in the mosque could not hold their chuckles inside and that even the iman’s shoulders were shaking with laughter on hearing the ring tone.