There are two things you need to be a completely happy blog reader in this country:
1. You should have worked in an IT company at any point of time
2. You should be a Tam Bram/Mallu or just someone who is well-acquainted with the lot
Now I am what Tony describes introduced to me as “an Amit” (originally a brain child of Krish Ashok, the greatest Tam Bram blogger), a typical North Indian who doesn’t understand the South’s quirkiness and their hot cross puns. Though their writing style is supremely engaging (read funny, witty, with illustrations and solid storylines, with cultural and environmental factors sprinkled in), with one Tam/Mallu wordplay I am thrown off an entire post. Then I find myself wondering why there aren’t enough blogs by people from other communities even though jokes are aplenty. Do we not have “snakes in the hole” Gujjus, ostentatious Madus, so-pompous-it-makes-me-puke Punjus, conniving UPites, “bhalo bhashi” Bongs, and well Kashmiris, fit only to have pretty photo blogs?
As a future marketer, I understand that there is a huge need gap for the same (I cooked that one up) So I probed into the matter (Ok, I cooked that one up as well. After all MICAn blood runs in my veins.) And while I was awake all night with a running nose, with one eurekan sniff I (think I) got my answer – we are HORRIBLE with the written word! (or life in the South sucks donkeyballs providing them with tons of writing fodder but for political correctness we shall stick to educational system bashing) No wonder 2 States is such a big hit. Even I liked it! I could finally relate to something, the Delhi-ness, the Punju-ness. And if Chetan Bhagat was a normal blogger like us, he probably would’ve been decently respected in the circle. (Warning: For greater good of mankind please do not attempt to go to his twitter page)
Now at this turn of my post if you’re looking for something substantial, here it is.
Something substantial.
Ok that was predictable.
But I will go ahead and have the balls to dedicate this post to the 11 pages mysteriously missing from my copy of 2 States. Just when I was wondering how Krish magically ended up from being at his graduation to a struggling employee at Citibank Chennai with a flick of the finger…
Ok bye now, go take a leak or something.
16 comments:
It WAS substantial :).
Yes, North India lags in that respect. Never read a novel in school, none of my friends did :). But I got my act together in time; haven't read "Two States" and have read HGTG in one go :P .
Maybe the norther you go, the bleaker the situation gets . But it does get more than compensated by looks and voice :).
Haha. Yes, we try to distract them with our charms. And when asked something we say "Oh yes I just started to read/hear...So far so good"
"Hot cross puns" was a pun in itself, no? :-D
Aw come come. We love you.
Hehe on the bright side you stand out among the Amits :D Like Chuck said, we love you. We shall give you honorary southie title.
Also, The Amit was not my invention, he exists on twitter and was discovered by <a href="http://krishashok.wordpress.com/>Krish Ashok</a>
oye, amit! don't encourage chetan, dude.
yeah all we have from northies is a lame chetan bhagat who makes an ******* of himself everytime he opens his mouth. had he stuck to books it wud be good ... at least we cud avoid links to his blog ...
@ Mentalie - Haha. I knew I was in for some criticism here :)
@ No Mist - Ugh the twitter page is a disaster. (I mean, who writes "Good morning beautiful people!"???) I agree with you on the "sticking to his books" thing.
@ Chuck, Tony - Aww gee thanks :D All you Mallu/Tam people have opened my eyes to the beautiful blogvironment :)
Also Chuck, thanks for the tweet!
Arrey yaar.. ye madrasi log kuch samajhte hi nahi! tu bhi unka saat de raha hai...
Apart from trying to comment like the_amit, I'm chuckling away to glory! Great read!
Thanks MsNarain. That was a great impression ;)
And again , I can stop Laughing ...
what a post :) very engrossing it was atrisa :D
Hey,
Great post!
My tribe has gone on for far too long about being the brainy, witty (I even call myself Awittytwit), and intellectual. It is largely true, but at some level, loads of Tam Brahms have an intellectual superiority syndrome.
Consider this: If wordplay, wit, and articulation were the necessary and sufficient conditions for success:
1. Shashi Tharoor would have become PM by now
2. Rahul Gandhi would never be an M.P, leave alone future PM
3. Rakhi Sawant would have been packed off to Jupiter by now
4. People who don’t know the difference between ”Red signal” & “Red light areas” would never captain Ranchi XI, let alone captain team India
5. The entire IPL commentary team would have been jobless
For the record, the prime minister of the country is a Surd, and no Tam Brahm ever went that far! And the richest in the country is always some gujju or the other…
So dear god, give me all the money power that the Madus, Gujjus enjoy, give me the physique of a Punju, give me a fan club in Kolkatta that ensures I am a hero even if I perform like a zero , and take away all my south Indian brains...its on overkill in this stupid world :)
Cheers!
Vasu
http://vasusworld.wordpress.com/
@Anon, Ani - Thanks :D
@Vasu - This comment might be longer than my post. Heehee.
Cool insights there! Well, all luck (and modesty) to the Tams!
If a Twitter page is about spontaneity, better reflecting who you are based off what you come up with in 140 chars then is it any surprise there're folks out there who actually wonder if he wrote those books himself, or rather how much of it he did and the rest the editors helped him with.
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