Author: SK

The lingo at any college is very likely to be affected by the local language of the surrounding areas. Like there are so many Tam words that have crept into the IITM lingo, and so many hindi words which are part of the lingo at Northern IITs. Given this background, it?s quite surprising that there isn?t much Kannada in the IIMB lingo.
Perhaps the only Kannada word or phrase to have crept in is ?crack maaDi?. Rather, this phrase is only half-Kannada, the other half being in English. maaDi means ?do?, in plural. maaDu is ?do? (for example, preethi maaDabaaradu, maaDidare hinde nODabAradu, which means one should never do love, but if you do, you shouldn?t look back), and when the u is replaced by I, it becomes a little more respectful.

Given this background, it?s interesting how this half-kannada phrase has been used or misused by most people. For one, I can never get myself to use it. Can?t think of addressing any of my classmates or whatever respectfully (in plural) so best case I say ?crack maaDu?. Coming back to the others, sometimes people want to ask you ?have you cracked?? and they say ?crack maaDi??!! repeated attempts to explain to them that they should say ?crack maaDidya? have been futile and I?ve resigned myself to ignoring such gross misuse! And have stopped getting annoyed when people misuse it.

A while ago, I tried to remember my tryst with Indian classical music. The song that first came to my head was this one by purandara dasa:
Kereya neeranu kerege chelli, varava paDedavaranthe kaaNiro

Roughly translates to ?pour the water from the lake back into the lake and try to look as if you?ve gotten a boon or something!? Strong stuff. captures a lot of what a lot of people keep doing. Like my cousin who used to borrow money from her parents and buy gifts for them!

Don?t know if I?ve written about this earlier, and too lazy to check the archives also, but want to mention that I didn?t find much of Bangalore in IIMB. The campus is so damn cosmopolitan, and the people in the shops there speak every language but Kannada, it is easy to forget which city you are in.

For example, during our super-stressful first week, when I had just moved from IITM, and when I never stepped out of campus, I repeatedly forgot that I was in Bangalore and parents were only a local call away! A number of times, I had to pinch myself to convince myself that I was in Bangalore.

Then, in my second week, I had to go to Jayanagar to meet a friend. So I walk out of campus, see a bus across the road, run across the road and behind the bus and finally get into it after it had started! And it was quite crowded, I must say. However, this particular incident left a homecoming kind of feeling in me.

I go to Jayanagar, meet friend, go for a really long walk with him, get back onto a crowded bus, make small talk with my co-passengers, bitch about Deve Gowda, and then get off at Bilekahalli. And then I walk in to campus and instantly find myself in a totally different world, perhaps in a totally different city!

Earlier today I happened to meet an old friend, who was my benchmate in school for 9 years. Apart from the usual senti talk and looking back at our wonderful times in school, she talked about her impending wedding. Having failed to find someone for herself, she?s taken the plunge into the ?arranged marriage market?.

She was telling me about the several prospective grooms she?s been meeting. ?Some are so pathetic I start wondering how anyone gave them a job?, she says. She goes on to mention a couple of things a few of those prospectors had mailed her. Really funny stuff.

When it was time to leave, she tells me ?say hi to your mom. I?m sure I?ll meet her sometime soon when I come to deliver the wedding invite?.

Me: What? You?re sure you?ll find someone soon enough?
She: yeah yeah, as far as I know my mom has already found someone for me. Just that she?s not telling me.
Me: So you don?t know who it is but are giving consent?
She: Given my conservative family background, for a long time I?ve resigned myself to this kind of a wedding, so it?s not tough at all. And I know my mom well, and that she?ll find someone proper for me.
Me: All the best, take care, bye, etc.

Wondering if, a few years down the line, I?ll have to face a similar story?

Good cricket brings along with it the opportunity to be exposed to a variety of advertisements. In fact, some people like watch cricket matches solely for the ads!

Anyways, for a change, there seem to be quite a few good ads nowadays during the cricket matches. I particularly liked Airtel’s latest campaign. The thing about “one raised finger breaks a nation’s heart… ” and stuff. most of the visuals and stuff are also very aptly chosen. and though first timers would have it tough in identifying the product, the music at the end gives it away! simply beautiful, i must say.

Then, another ad is the one for SBI cards. The one where the guy runs with a bucket of hot water and calls it “running hot water”. An ad that can have my dad in splits must definitely be good! And it’s a strong plank SBI has pitched on – that they are much more reliable than the MNC banks.

Apart from these, there are another couple of good ads which I can’t recall right now. However, the splendor ads (with the blind dad) don’t quite strike a chord; neither does reliance’s “hello” campaign. Probably they believe that a really bad ad will also draw attention, thus accomplishing the A of AIDA.

The worst thing, however, is that the ads start as soon as the last ball of any over is bowled. Pathetic. Henceforth, BCCI should award telecast rights only to dedicated sports channels and not to unscrupulous money-making machines such as Sahara one. there should be a more stringent process at the “request for qualifications” phase.

After I came home late one evening last week, my parents are saying that the only way i can become more responsible is if were to get married. My dad said that ideally he would’ve liked me to get married before i start my job, but since that’s not feasible, I have two years’ time. This has got me starting to think about the thing.

I seriously hope I’m able to find someone for myself within the next couple of years, and not enter the arranged marriage market. I can’t bear the thought of having make perhaps the most important decision of my life after one short interview!

Apart from this, in the arranged marriage market, I reckon that my resume would overshadow me. There is a greater chance of ending up with someone who’ll want to marry me for the fancy degrees I have got; for the fancy job i’ll be doing; for the fancy compensation I’ll be getting; because marrying me would look good on HER resume; and so on. No one would bother about what kind of guy I am, whether I’m nice or not, and all such.

Good chance the thing might lead to suboptimal results.

Try asking an NRI where he or she is working, the answer you usually get is “I’m working in New York City” or “I’m working in Burkina Faso”. Upon a lot of persuasion, you get to hear something like “I work for a hardware firm” or “I am a commodities trader”.

It is only on very rare occasions that anyone will tell you the name of the firm he/she is working for. Is it that the firm is so obscure that the NRI believes it’s a level down for him/her to mention the name of the firm? Or worse, does he/she think that I’m too stupid and won’t know the name of the firm? Or is it that most people actually don’t want to know/don’t care about the name of this person’s firm, and I am counted among those typical people??

Reminds me of a MTech from IITM who went to the placement interviews and was asked “what is your area of work?” and promptly replied “Andhra Pradesh”!!

After three years of mobile phones, SMS and T9, I have observed that most girls don’t use T9. And thus end up sending horribly-spelt messages with all sorts of weird acronyms.

Must mention here that my spellings have actually improved after I started using T9

Isn’t it ironical that the two of the largest agglomerations of Muslims in Bangalore are called Shivajinagar and Tilaknagar?