Saturday, February 12, 2011

Chennai calling but no one coming!-PART I

This rambling is not for you but for me, to assure and advocate my feelings and thoughts on certain issues. I don’t want to convince anyone on this and don’t expect people to sympathize or acknowledge the facts I am going to put across. Then why am I writing this? I ask you the same, why not?

I am a south Indian, so, a part of “conservative” already exists and has been enriched more by another fact that I live in Tamil Nadu. Most people literally fear coming to any place in Tamil Nadu which includes Chennai and if you beg to differ, we can fight it out on off- record. The reasons are innumerable; food, people, climate and even the crappiest reason one can think of.

Don’t blame us for the “language barrier” that exists with us. We are the ones who could learn anything except what does not exist. Hindi, to us is like any other foreign language and to learn that, it is a necessity that we come out of our state. And that is kind of impossible looking at the opportunities that exists here.

We, the “madrasi” love our own food which includes the idli,sambhar and the curd rice. Maybe it is weird to the rest of the country as how people can survive on these foods on all four meals a day. We ask you the same, ‘aloo’ all the time?

No, we didn't ask the sun to come along this way and make it blazing hot. We hate the sun as much as anyone. Thanks to geographic location that extra pigment of melanin has been imbibed in our skins. We have to fight the quota system and hence, can’t fight the sun. If you ask any child what 69% means to him (except the pervert spoilt brats), he would say a huge margin. That is the quota system in our state. Even we are confused as in how so many castes entered our state. The so-called-forward-caste is nowhere forward in any aspect but no one would believe here.

Brahmins can be hated here. Maybe this is the strongest argument I have ever put across but I believe there are some prejudices that need to be cleared. ‘They will not move around with anyone and talk to none other than their own clan’. Sigh! I thought that it was a norm in our country. ‘They are proud and arrogant of their caste’. Bull! Just give me a reason to be proud about. I am someone who can’t read a tamil sentence straight, let alone read the Vedas and other chants. The only reason I am a Brahmin is that two elderly people chose two from their own clans to come together and get married. I have made no contribution to the “upper caste” .

I have not been to many places but I am aware of the myths and preconceived notions that surround our place. We are learning from our past and mending ways where we bound to be wrong. The food is not bad as you think, people are not conservative old types as everyone says and lungi is not our official dress!


P.S.; More parts yet to come.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

certain revelations for u

Lungi and its cousin Veshti ARE our official dresses.
And Brahmins are detested because they are considered fwd caste. and brahmins know they gotta work double hard for getting what the other caste guys get handed to them on a platter. so it aint their fault if they mix with their own gang

and the sun is much more pleasant in chennai if u consider Delhi.. of course they get their share of winters too but we dont need to adapt too much like they do.

and THEY created the language barrier. Arseholes cant speak proper english half the time and they ask us to learn their mamatongue.. what a way to hide their faults and blame us for their misgivings..
69% lol :D :D :D
and u being a brahmin and not knowing tamil is a shame :( :( puppy shame po.. :P :P

Priyanka said...

Subs - Nice one! Esp the last line - "Lungi is not our official dress" :):) Rofl
Outsiders seem to have certain misconceptions about Tamilnadu, and Madras in particular. I personally came across a situation where during my training @ Trivandrum, hardly 20 ppl opted for Madras as their work location out of the 400 odd .They considered it to be a "punishment posting" and they fought very hard to be posted elsewhere.The reasons that they came up with were much similar to the ones discussed here...
Nice writing....Eagerly looking forward to Part II...:)

shveta kakkar said...

Too gud Subs.. very well written, as i always used to say "Shakespeare in the making" i have always loved the people from Chennai.. i proudly say u were the best thing that happened to me at IBS.. friends forever.. invite me to Chennai soon, very soon in fact :) for the reasons u knw so very well!!

V said...

I agree with the north-south divide thingy, and I am surprised to find it in s'pore of all places.

About the Brahmin thingy, comments are made about every "section" of society, and i haven't see any particular bias against Brahmins.

Karthik Narayan said...

am not for breafast with biriyani but this whole post made me sit up and think.... is Buhari open at 5am?

That perhaps should sum up the whole issue - I feel. The only thing that looks good on these blasted tamilian fools is they are parasites. They want the best of all worlds but are not willing to admit one small thing - THEY ARE STUPID!

If we learn Hindi, that would be the only thing that stands between us and World domination. Instead, we prefer hitting each other, caste rules, 69% is as good as 99% and the whole world laughs at us.

But I think there are bigger things to worry about - like why lungi is our official dress.

AV said...

The article is good, but what is your point of view is not evident. Are you supportive or against?Without having any bias towards any side, if its possible to put forward your choice that can put forward to light what an actual Chennai person might perceive the things around them.

There is one historical aspect i have read which has helped India grow further.The choice of not opting for hindi language to be learnt/forced as the lone national language has been attributed to the Tamilians.

After the independence, it was decided that to make easier transactions and communications within the country and to remove any barrier which might come in between the citizens can be removed by having a single national language which will benefit all. Hindi was selected because it was the widely spoken language. But tamilians were against it and this prevented the government from taking this decision.

Now after 60 years of independence we are finding that the agitation has been beneficial. It has resulted in India becoming english ready nation of cheaper labour.India is growing fasst because of the outsourcing wave.

But we had to wait for 50 years to obtain this output,but who knows, what would have happened if there was easier and barrier proof communication within the whole nation.

V said...

^^

Antakrish, I don't get your point. Are you saying that Hindi being branded a national language of the country would help India grow even more?

Have we stagnated other-wise?

FYI Tamil is one of the official languages of Singapore, which has 4 official languages. I do not see anyone correlating the fact that they have FOUR official languages and the fact that they have had an amazing rate of economic growth.

Do you expect speakers of a classical language that is over 2000 years old to NOT have pride in their language?

If one were to talk to students in Tamil Nadu, if Hindi is not taught in their school, these students go for Hindi classes outside of school. Such is the respect for Hindi down south. The problem arises when a few people want to brand a national language, not for communication, but to garner a few votes.

Another reference for readers:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Theres-no-national-language-in-India-Gujarat-High-Court/articleshow/5496231.cms

Subs said...

@Hantan
(1) Do we wear lungi to office? I thought that mean "official" wear.
(2)There are many FC's other than Brahmins
(3)Agreed with the "english" part :D
(4) Brahmins should know tamil. Prejudice I say

@Priyanka
Yup!!The same thing which I saw. Here it was just 3 months of internship!!

@Shveta
Thanks a lot :) Chennai definitely will be calling :)

Subs said...

@V
There has been hatred. It is not like "against" or anything but the hatred does exist.

@Antariksh
I often wonder if we need an official language to speak. Btw, Hindi is not our NATIONAL LANGUAGE. FOLKS!! LISTENING?? If the other parts of our country can speak Hindi, I believe our govt can do the same to promote the language. A language is supposed to bring people together and not apart. I am not for/against for my city. I am just putting across prejudices that our seen here.

@KN
Well said :)

Kally said...

onnum soldrathukku ille..neeye elaathayum outtu puttu vechitte...nice post....and the content is just undeniably true!!!! v ourselves hv to break such things..and show them wat v r capable of!!!

ellaarum "ek gaavn mein ek kisaan ragu thatha" ngra range la irunthaangannahow wil they learn Hindi!! :P

V said...

@Subs: Of course hatred exists :) It exists against any part of society that is seen to get an unfair advantage. If one meets someone from one's family/town/university/previous employer, you'll end up giving that person a chance. But its much more easier to spot & rumorize religious bias than those I mentioned earlier.

Subs said...

@Kally

Thanks :)

@V

:) "Unfair advantage". I have never been given an unfair advantage for others to "hate" me!

Anonymous said...

Apply for a job in TVS or Accenture.

Subs said...

@Anonymous

Huh? Why should I?

The Rudy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
AV said...

@V - no i wasn't saying that hindi should be the national language.My point is that if there had been a common language for communication when india got independence, there might had been faster exchange of ideas and probably faster development too.

I had cited the historical proceding, to thank the protest which had been taken up for the development now, and that was with utmost respect to all the languages been spoken in india and its citizens.

Unknown said...

Nice article!! but apart from this, we lack that spirit of taking initiatives which should be worked upon!!

Obviously there are cultural differences, even i had little trouble in getting used to chennai when i came here, but its all about how flexible one is!!! period.

Subs said...

@Bharat

Thanks. True, that "josh" is missing.

Oh!I thought South Indians didn't have problem settling here!

Anonymous said...

How glad am I to be born in South India..! :D
Great piece of blog subha..Was laughing my ass of at some parts.. Waiting for the other parts!! Sayema

Subs said...

@Sayema..

Gee! Thanks for 2 things.For "being born In S.I." and your comment. Thanks a lot :)

Sandy said...

Well written Subhashree... looking forward to reading more :) I still hope that some tamilians learn to accept Hindi as our national language coz i have come across some who are extremely stubborn and who don't respect other languages.I hope to see a change in the attitude of such people :)

Renga said...

Saw u in sylvian's list .. just like any other guy would do ..viewed your profile and then your blog. Just wanted to say that liked all your thoughts, point of view and your style of writing .. No no .. this is not an attempt to flirt. you need not even reply to this comment.

Subs said...

@Sandy

It will definitely change. I am the living example :)

@Renga
That was the best intro ever :) Thanks a lot

Renga said...

after 1 month comes the reply... I thought you took my last line very seriously :)

Renga said...

@Sandy - Indian law doesnt specify anything as the national language. Hindi is the just the official language..Of course things have changed and ppl have started learning Hindi

Subs said...

@Renga

Lolz. I didnt see the comment. And I am past the flirting age :D

Thanks a lot for replying to Sandy :)

Renga said...

aah .. well past the flirting age?? Paati..pls dont deceive ppl with your adoloscent pics :)

Anonymous said...

Subhashree is well past the flirting age. i will note this point for future reference :D :D
@partha, you too note this da.. :P

and read this one again.
to be frank whatever our accomplishments be, it will be nothing in the revered eyes of our "upper caste" members. they ll just dust it off as just normal.. reminds me of the tambrahmrage comic, somewhere where that mami is "always on the dot" :P

guess we can start a chennairage meme :D what say

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