The Simpsons: Apu NahasapeemapetilonBy Wikipedia
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon (sometimes spelled Nahasapeemapetilan)
is a fictional character featured in The Simpsons television series. He is
the proprietor of the Kwik-E-Mart (a subsidiary of Nordyne Defense
Dynamics), the local convenience store. He is an immigrant from India, and
like most Simpsons characters is a caricature of a common
stereotype—that of the South Asian convenience store owner. His most
defining characteristics are his exaggerated Indian English, his devotion
to the Hindu god Ganesh and his indefatigable immigrant work-ethic. His
catchphrase is "thank you, come again," cheerfully and dutifully
repeated to customers after a transaction. His name is an homage to the
main character in the "Apu Trilogy" directed by Satyajit Ray.
Apu has more episodes revolving around him than any other minor
Simpsons character.
Apu's family and background
Apu is married to his wife Manjula, who bore octuplet children: Anoop,
Uma, Nabendu, Poonam, Pria, Sandeep, Sashi,
and (Mama's clear favorite) Gheet. (For more on Apu's family, see Characters
from The Simpsons.)
Apu and Manjula were wed through an arranged marriage. Despite trying
to wriggle out of the arrangement at first, Apu was won over soon after
meeting Manjula and the two actually did fall in love. Later, Manjula gave
birth to the amazing number of eight children after receiving a
larger-than-recommended dose of fertility drugs. Apu and Manjula have a
mostly happy marriage, despite understandable marital problems caused by
Apu's workaholic nature (he seems to be at his post around the clock), the
strain of caring for eight children, and two instances of infidelity by
Apu.
Apu is a naturalized U.S. citizen, and holds a Ph.D. in computer
science. He graduated first in his class of seven million at
'Caltech'—the Calcutta Technical Institute—going on to earn his
doctorate at the Springfield Heights Institute of Technology. His doctoral
dissertation was the world's first computer program to play perfect
tic-tac-toe (Bart Simpson ruined it years later by
plucking a random punch card out of the box along with several others
while commenting, "Hey, what's this one do?" Apu promptly
pitched it into the trash). Apu began working at the Kwik-E-Mart during
his college years to help pay off his student loan, but never left. He
remained an illegal immigrant until Mayor
Quimby proposed a municipal law to expel all illegals, at which point
Apu, with help from Lisa Simpson,
successfully passed his citizenship test.
During the early 1980s Apu was a member of the barbershop quartet The
Be Sharps, which also consisted of Homer
Simpson, Barney Gumble
and Seymour
Skinner. Upon the advice of Nigel, the band manager, Apu took the
stage name, Apu duBeaumarchais (a pun: "du beau marché" means
"of the beautiful market" in French). He and his family are
devotees of the Hindu gods Shiva, Ganesha, and Vishnu. During Apu's
wedding, Homer, in a misguided attempt to play on the bride and groom's
families' fear of the gods, arrived dressed as the Hindu god Ganesh. The
impersonation was seen through by one of Apu's relatives and failed
miserably.
Before his marriage, Apu became known as the leading ladies' man in
Springfield, due to the fact that he holds a PhD and runs his own
business. He also admitted, "I'm not much of a talker, but I love to
listen. I also like to design and build furniture and then to have a
discussion about where it could be placed in a room," which made the
single women of Springfield go crazy for him.
Sanjay is Apu's brother who helps him run the Kwik-E-Mart.
Sanjay's daughter (and Apu's niece) is Pahusacheta. Sanjay's son is
Jamshed. They all share the Nahasapeemapetilon surname. Apu also
has another younger brother, who is only mentioned in the episode of his
marriage. When Apu's and Manjula's parents were first arranging their
marriage, Apu was shown as the oldest of 3 on a chart.
When Springfield
became over-patriotic and took the name "Liberty-Ville", Apu
quickly caught on. He renamed his kids Lincoln, Freedom, Condoleezza,
Coke, Pepsi, Manifest Destiny, Apple Pie, and Superman.
A few real-life retailers have attempted to capitalize on the
Kwik-E-Mart name. For instance, there is a chain of
"Kuik-E-Mart" stores in Minnesota.
The Kwik-E-Mart chain was started somewhere in the Himalaya, where the
world's first convenience store still stands on a mountain peak (even if
that's not very convenient). Visiting pilgrims are allowed to ask three
questions of the resident guru (of course, Apu's visit was rather spoiled
by Homer's three questions, "Are you really the founder of
Kwik-E-Mart?", "Really?" and "You?").
Apu is known as a legend in the realm of Kwik-E-Mart employment for
working for over 96 hours in one shift. During the shift he experienced a
hallucination in which he thought he was a hummingbird and tried to drink
nectar out of Sanjay's head.
Apu was fired from his job after Homer was poisoned by tainted meat he
bought at the Kwik-E-Mart. He was replaced by James Woods, who was
studying to be a convenience store clerk for a role in an upcoming movie.
Apu was re-hired a short time later after he foiled a robbery attempt at
the Kwik-E-Mart and saved James Woods' life. Apu was shot during the
attempted robbery.
Apu has been shot numerous times. He may have been shot eight times in
1993,(After which, he claimed he could survive any type of caliber shot up
to 9 mm long) and as a result, he almost missed work. In fact, Apu has
been shot so many times the punishment is now just a $100 fine.
It has been hinted that Apu is a nudist.
Apu is vegan, and the hot dogs sold in the Kwik-E-Mart are actually
tofu dogs.
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