Thotzzzz

Woke up to the voice of the railway gal 'Yatrigan kripya dhyan de…' and found the train gliding slowly through the din and smell of the Chennai Central. With anxious commuters thronging the platforms I managed to find my way and come out in one piece! Chennai … I prefer Madras; in spite of the mad-rush has its own identity.

Stepping out I found a place in one of those 'thaazhthala sogusu peirundhu'. Impressed with the bus being clean,I settled down to hear the driver and the condrructorr (some sort of tractor I guess ) converse… ’inna namakitiya filim kaatriya’ … Does modernization ever affect the common guy on the road… in terms of language! But thatz the best about Madras nothing can take away its self-proclaimed identity. The vibrant urge to survive and excel can be seen in every other guy…by hook or crook that’s a different story. Smart work culture everywhere from the streets to the Secretariat ;)

But later into the day I realized Madras is slowly catching up on the so-called Metro culture leaving behind its admirable identity… headphones on shaky heads, gals donning crazy accessories and funny Tees, many youngsters walking hand in hand!, beach sundal replaced with popcorns and pizzas, ‘lifestyle’ determining most of the styles, coffee pubs ever full …so ..so… In fact a very good turn…. Hmm but why is every Munniyandi, Mayilswamy and Kamatchi talking in English!!!!!! even when the person on the receiving end is Thamizh personified. Had a very interesting take on this at the Regional passport office… (wasted 3 whole hours in the government office amidst long queues, scores of people, some stray animals, honking cars and ofcourse an array of policemen/women). I have this thing whenever I’m in a queue; people usually cut the queue exactly at the spot where I stand. So I’m pretty used to those looks, pushes and ’ konja thalu ma’ (sigh).But this time it was quite an experience… first came a lady round and scary she looked straight into my eyes and said ‘Esgoose me’ .. I strained hard to figure out wht she said… !! wht goose was she talking abt?! But then considering her figure I stepped away a bit…. A little later heard a man in between his loud breaths, ‘yes-curse madam indhuva andha queue’.. How dare u curse me fella!… Then came a daintily looking gal saying ‘yech-use panreengala andhanda poyikuraen’ … naan ella alphabets-um use pannuvaen neenga epdi! Two college-going guys right in front of me found all this ‘periya kaamedy da ivanunga.. !! After the long wait the moment did come by I was finally at the counter… with a new leash of energy I stood there… when a gendle gendleman rushed in before me… and this time no trace of tht magic word… An intruder! so here was my turn to say a gentle ‘Excuse please, there is a queue already’.. he gave me one hard look and said inna ichuse inna please …. Ah haaaaa ….. Thanks to the official who gave him a stern look

It is fascinating how people express somehow what they want and care very little of how they do it.. When in comes to language, English - take it or leave it - is a binding force atleast in Tamilnadu but what is this new tongue so prevelant these days!! With a heavy dose of it, to be frank I did look up freedictionary.com for the right pronunciation.. Just to make sure I was right :)