Yes, you who revel in South Indian stereotypes. You who believe that we ‘Madrasis’ actually say ‘Yenna Rascalla’ out loud.
Read, and learn.
1. Geography: ‘South’ is a direction; Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are states. Hubli is in Karnataka, Hooghly in Paschimbanga. Tirupati, Tirunelveli and Thiruvananthapuram are not baaju baaju mein. And Sri Lanka is more than a paddle-boat ride away.
2. Languages: ‘Andu-Gundu-Naaru-Gundu’ may have profound meaning in modern Haryanvi, but is gibberish in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil and Tulu. ‘South Indian’ is not a language – Tamilians will comprehend Telugu the day Mamtadidi spouts Gujarati. It kills me when you blurt out ‘Illay Illay Po’, and howl, as though what translates to ‘No No Go’ is somehow tremendously funny.
3. Pronunciations: Do not attempt to sing the Malayalam lines from ‘Jiya Jale’. Notice how even Lata Mangeshkar didn’t? Touch the tip of your tongue to your epiglottis, and maybe you can pronounce Kozhikode correctly. Dossa is a dreaded don, Saambhar, a species of deer – neither is meant to be eaten.
4. Names: We have house-names (Pilavullakandi), street-names (Thekkeparambil) and first names (Usha), to make us easily traceable (I suppose). The suffixes ‘-an’, ‘-swamy’ and ‘kutty’ are not meant for indiscriminate attachment. Some of us do have names that do not run into the next line. Yes, we have the Balamuralikrishnas. But we also have the Raos.
5. People: who speak Kannada are called Kannadigas, not Kanadians. Yes, we’re pretty good at English. No, we aren’t all nerds. We’re conservative. We’re liberal too. Figure it out.
6. Appearance: Living closer to the Equator doesn’t scorch our skin; we too can boast of Vanity Fair. Chidambaram is an oddity – many of us have been known to venture out in pants. Our women have better things to do than ravage flower buds and oil bottles first thing every morning. Lola Kutty, I hate you.
7. Professions: All Shettys do not run Udupi joints. Every Shiny, Molly and Mary does not a nurse make. Despite the exodus to the Gulf, there are still Malayalis left in Kerala. We’re nuts about engineering, just like the bhadralok are ga-ga over journalism. Vijay Mallya makes beer. A certain Raja makes money.
8. Religion: ex-President Kalam was born in Rameswaram. Cochin Jews date back to 70 AD. Shravanabelagola is a Jain pilgrimage destination. Thomas the Apostle introduced Christianity to the Malabar Coast. And I do not wander with a zebra-crossing pasted across my forehead.
9. Food: Idlis are strictly breakfast items. Forgive the Bongs for their mustard oil and us for coconut (oil and other products). Dining off banana leaves is quaintly enjoyable. We may be messy eaters, but that’s because we love our rasam-rice. Don’t you?
10. Arts: Rajni:Tollywood::Salman:Bollywood – entertaining, not enlightening cinema. Heard of Adoor Gopalakrishnan? Don’t beat Carnatic music till you’ve tried it – play MS Subbulakshmi at dawn. And if you describe Kathakali as that ‘mask-wallah dance’ one more time, I will Chammak Challo your arse to oblivion, okay?
Mind it.
* * *
Mrigank Warrier's Blog 
RWL, LOA etc. 🙂
“Chammak Challo your arse to oblivion”….hehehe too gud …well said 🙂
Well i thought this article was written with a sense of Humour. After seeing the comments it appears that we are deeply divided with lot of hatred within.. IT is such a shame to see fellow bloggers have such narrow mindsets,going by there reaction. No doubt were were ruled for 800 years by the moguls & British.This is because we never trusted each other. When the Mumbai carnage tookplace & the black cat commandos stormed into the hotel to rescue the hostages. what was there ethnicity?.where they punjabis, tamilians, bengalis, kannadigas ? was it written on there head. NO. They were indians. Request all to treat this great nation as one . One religion & one mother & one god. That is India. Love india. That’s the bottom line. I have seen people from same community butchering there own people. where was the religion then & where did the bond disappear?. I guess there are no answers. SO fuck all these stereotypes & make this nation strong. Take a pledge, next time if anybody talks of about regionalism , tell him to fuck off.
well said……….
Well said Kumud. This is how once must think & act. We are a country of great freedom fighters, who chased the moguls & British out of our motherland to ensure that there future generation lived with dignity & respect.. People from all parts of india jointly fought in the freedom struggle. After reading the comments of the fellow bloggers i think we were better off under British rule. Our fore father if were present to this day, might have felt very distressed. This country belong to us. So love it in total or form your own god damn states & don’t call your self indian & defame this great nation.
Rather than going to the extent of calling it a hate-blog, why don’t you see it as a humorous observation’ of the North Indian ignorance which includes states like J&K, HP, PUNJAB, HARYANA, UP, DELHI, etc. You were really smart to flip to context from ignorance to patriotism. All of us are patriots. This blog wasn’t about divide and rule. This blog was about stereotyping a community which the Film Industry and the north indians do with impunity. Hope you understand the difference between humorous observation and hate-blogs.
Its not just North Indians who Stereotype… Its the whole world that loves to stereotype. But we INDIANS (North, South. East West) are expert at it.
Its hypocrisy to say that rest of India stereotypes South Indians and the Southies never do that…. especially when commenting on a blog post by a southy stereotyping rest ‘with humourous intent’
Mr MM What do you mean by all of us are patriotic ?. You sound to me more “regionalistic” . Anyway my point is Misconception exist every where & shall bound to exist. This humour is good, but should not turn to dirt sledging . Take it easy. Everybody knows this blog is abt humour, but the opinion should be limited to humour & not to personal attacks against each community. Remember a patrioit is a nationalist & can’t be ascertained his by his ethnicity.
Do you see a personal attack in this blog? If you do, then you are a sensitive and a selective patriot. All I saw was a humorous comparison. But isn’t it a fact that all south indians are called Madrasi’s in the north? Even my friends from Punjab, Bihar, UP and Uttarakhand accept it. They use this term because it is an accepted term for anyone coming from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The blog just mocks this ignorance in a humorous way. And all you see is hatred in the blog. Wow!!
I can’t disagree with MMB. They even bracket all south Indians as “kaala Madraasi”.
It takes a broad and clear perspective to understand and accept the serious contents that the blog is trying to portray in a casual manner. You will either appreciate it heartily/sportingly, or consider yourself a passive saboteur to your country’s unity.
well said
Truly the truth
Here! I knew one of the biased hypocrite wise asses here would mention the word ‘North Indians’ the supposedly ignorant group of indians named so by the ‘south indians’ (whoever made these terms exist should die of shame) who equally by the way don’t know a fuck about northern states, geography of cities and towns here and the culture, language and behaviour of many many ‘Northies’ here who do not stand for any stupid ignorant notions about kannadigas, malayalis, tamillians or whoever else who is ever offended just sadly unneccessarily.
Yes Meera! And using the derogatory term “Madrasi” gives a clear indication of the geographical and cultural accuracy of the people you are trying to defend. I would like to elaborate that the word “Madrasi” is not derogatory, only when used in context as a reference to all human beings from South India it sounds derogatory. Meera, let me also say the door swings both ways and even i can resort to profanity. But only the weak resort to profanity in an intelligent debate. If you feel you lack the requisite skills to continue this debate, I suggest you find another topic or blog to showcase your limited talent.
see how the J&K, Punjab, Haryana, UP, Delhi etc were all stereotyped by you. I can tell you that three of these states have different languages altogether, with different scripts and words. Its a stereotypical you as well. Nothing to make a lot of fuss about.
Agreed and I echo the same ..
@Kumud
Am i Indian first ? NO I am not
I am and Indian,South Indian, Kannadiga, Konkani,HIndu at the Same time and that is the truth . I relate to each one of them in different contexts.
For people to forget their regional identities and accept the “Indian” identity, it is essential there should be something common .
Are we Hindi ? Are we Hindu? etc etc See it is difficult to tell people who look different, speak different languages, follow different religions that you are Same. It is there for everybody to see that we are not. so i feel it is futile to coax people to forget these differences. prejudice /curiosity/ Superiority complex. As long we dont start killing each other we should be fine.
This is one of the best definition of “Unity in Diversity”
Sandeep, man, you bring fresh wind to the conversation. I guess, ultimately we are individual entities. That’s the only common thing among us all. Even religion isn’t the ultimate glue (it robs sanity of the weak, so it is not an universal solution). I may sound vague, but to wrap it up, every issue has infinite solutions, but choosing one and showing excuses why others should be cancelled is the beginning of all problems in our society. When the wonderful world opens up in front of us; we, soaked with its knowledge, grow humble and harbor respect even to an ant. Then this stupid “Northie, Southie” discrimination vanishes in a puff! Om shanti Om, suckers!
I presume you are a north indian.. I have experienced your part of hatred in all walks of life in my 10 years of professional life, and in other govt jobs were my relatives were scapegoats. We have family here down south. And when they ask for leave they don’t get it. Other North Indians get it because they are of neighbouring states and can commute easier. They are given long leave when appraisal is due. Meanwhile you people get away with promotion. Lots more I can share. We were and are even now refered to as “sala madrasi”. Meanwhile its all so good and nice to here “make the nation strong treat this nation as one” and all. I too want to see my India as one such nation. I belong to southern tip of India. Apart from Annual Independence day and republic day national anthem, what have you done to make us feel we are one. Most help you could do is to ignore us and let us atleast share and vent our suppressed feelings in some forums.
Well said Kumud… We all don’t have a sense of bonding and we just complain about the history of Britishers & Mughals who ruled us and looted us.
The way radicals Muslims are fighting in some or the other part of Hindustan, if the Government does not take action then we will find another independence fight with more division of the so called India…
You know, nationalism is utter nonsense. We are Indians only when we travel abroad.
We are not and will not be for a long time, a country with a common identity. We are a political country. We are a country cobbled together by part coersion (if we were taught the right history) and continue to be one for political and economic reasons. Consider regional parties, for example. Their rise is proudly assosicated to our vibrant democracy. It is nothing but regionalism.
Consider our “countrymen” from the North East and from Kashmir. The former are treated as foreigners (chinky is the shameful term employed) and many of the latter think they are treated or would like to be treated as being from another country.
The government of Tamil Nadu cares more for the warring Tamils in Sri Lanka than the starving Tamils in Tamil Nadu, India. Their concern is not for India’s foreign policy of not interfering in another country’s internal matters but with the silly notion of Tamils across the world.
Depending on the season, politicians In Mumbai will ask for Tamils or Biharis or other outsiders to leave their “country”.
Our whole persona and psyche is built around language and religion. But for that, you have to be a “Madrasi” because we are the smartest 🙂
Our states are divided by language. Do you think a more rational method of state creation would have been by population or area?
Well, we have a long way to go.
Till then, the best place to be an Indian is outside India.
we worked for Manjushree plantations. a birla company based in nilgiris, ooty. even in the interview, shamelessly we were told that they were up against “south indians” and had very few “south indians” in the upper wrung. but from staff to labour all were “south indians” for the first time i was a witness to the hatred the “north indians” have for the “south indians” there after i have noticed this filthy truth. shameful, but true.
Something that always split our society is the regionalism n religion as mentioned by you. Our society has always been self centered which never had any national feeling. But all this feelings are aroused by the politicians who use the term “Divide n Rule” effectively and they have done their job so well that it is in the veins of the society which need a blood transfusion.
Like your thought in the first few lines..But how do you explain the recent Delhi mishap involving a student from HP or attacks against people from northeastern part of India. I have lot of northeast friends and I don’t find any difficulty, but why for the people(not everyone) in Delhi.
Also conscious effort is needed to get rid of stereo type images.
I’m happy u made this comment. Tolerance is a commodity which is in short supply now & humour even less. I hope we find enough reason to respect and celebrate our differences.
Well Said…Salute!!
WELL SAID.
Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka Jayahe Bharata Bhgya Vidhata. Punjab Sindh Gujarat Maratha Dravida Utkal Banga…. This is the national anthem!!
Ever since civilization of the human races took place such stereotyping and profiling has been the norm. This is not peculiar to India alone but also evident elsewhere globally. Even in the US the Southerners are always the butt of jokes. So, we have to take it all in the stride of such calling of names as part and parcel of our daily lives. We will not be any lesser by such ignorance of others. Please don’t forget that this is not that a serious national unity issue so as to warrant the Government of the day to introduce legislations with the view to prevent such name-callings. For India Today magazine to single out and publicise this blog itself shows that southern-northern profiling is still in existence in this age of IT, albeit in a lighter vein.
excellent. and also the scripts for tamil and malayalam and telugu are not jalebis my dear northies. jalebis are what you eat for breakfast the first thing in the morning
True…!!
If Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu are jalebis, then hindi is a shirt put on a hanger 😛 😛 and Gujrati and Punjabi (Gurmukhi) is shirt without the hanger. Northies……in your face 😛 😛 😛 :@
you said it man 😀
BWAHAHAHAHA
nailed it man..!! haha..!! 🙂
lol!!!
super….
THIS is so my sentiment!! 🙂
none of these are my language, but I feel sorry for the losers who make the same mistakes for which they blame others while acting cool. Only shows brittle moral education on your part, man…
you are spoiling the intent of the article by calling people from Northern part of India as “northies”
Dude u need a doc… i was talkin of sick ppl lyk u …. ur bad.. @fcukYou 😛
seriously! I feel the person who has written this piece of article has done so out of sheer frustration. Accept that there are generalized region and community based comments made and shared online/offline but this is not acceptable, you are no better when you direct similar sentiments to people from north just because you must have been boowed by some of your friends in the past. if you like people to know more about your state or culture write a blog, share interesting facts don’t defame others to prove your point
We all hail from different parts of the country and have our own nuances, we do poke fun at each other but that should be done and received in the right spirit.
Hope you get the message!
Yups, agree with Soumali .. the stereotypes are not unidirectional. So the condescending tone of the article applies to all ‘Southies’ who think all Punjabis were turbans, drink Lassi all day, drive trucks and say “Balle Balle” at everything 🙂 So ya – take the jabs in the right spirit and move on. Your note actually sounds defensive 😀
I think the article was as educative as entertaining …I’m sure it was informative to many North Indians …and no way do south Indians think that all Punjabis are truck drivers wearing turbans etc…where did u hear that ?? …and yes your gyaan of taking the jabs in the right spirit applies more to you …so chill …its fine to be enlightened and informed once in a while 🙂
Thanks a lot for the information!! I never knew this or any of my south Indian Friends are!! Next time i got something for my Punjabi friends to talk about when they “joke” about Rajnikanth/Sambar/Chennai heat!!
Never heard about ‘Lassi’ And Sardar driving trucks till I was in South….But have surely heard that there are no Beggars IN Punjab…..May be its you by yourself imagining Punjabi’s drives truck in south…and all southies thinking and talking about that…….then I am sorry….we have enough truck drivers out here…..I heard of all these stereotypes and partitions in Mumbai and Delhi .
By “no Beggars in Punjab” we mean the Punjabi’s are hard working and they don’t relay on others to live, I have seen elders advising kids by this. Atleast that’s what my understanding was, Consider it as you wish Bro.
i second you. see … we are all indians. bring up ideas and thoughts that integrate us. not the ones which divide us. we know have diff languages diff regional cultures but once we decided to be together, we need to stick to it and bring forward what ever things that we share in common and what all ideas which can further strengthen our unity as a nation.. thoughts like these northies southies or madrasis or any other tags should be sidelined for ever. this is in the interest of all indians who feel the pride of being an indan.
When you poke its fun, when we poke its not in the right spirit….ahem….
i agree.. well said….
Absolutely agree with Soumali…Every state,religion and language is ridiculed and mocked at some point or the other but in a humorous way(at least by most of them).so long as its done within the limits..its all for a good laugh..i am a Gujarati…and i know it best,PERHAPS.
You better practice what you preach, “don’t defame others to prove your point”
Poking fun should not be at the cost of others sentiments. You once be on receiving end and do watch to how you react
I DISAGREE with you. How can you dictate terms to someone on how to write and what to write on his blog??? It is his observations based on a common experience by people from the south. And he never said anything ridiculing you or northerners. It was to send the message that DO NOT generalize south Indians. Also, an average south Indian knows about at least north Indian states, whereas an average north Indian do not! Why? The education system. People get what they deserve.
(The above comment was in reply to Soumali Chakraborty’s comments)
I share same frustration as that of author as well as all my south Indian friends…….I am from kerala and living in Mumbai for many years now………First of all let me accept we people from south Indian states also makes jokes at each other….we do accept it in the right spirit ,and can accept your jokes too in right spirit…..
But!!!!!
when the jokes tear apart our identities thing becomes different!!…….first victim for this are surely people from north east whom are called “Chinkis”(We south Indians surerly dont since it is a Hindi word).Next are the people from southern part of India…..for example a north Indian will always forcefully say I am a Madrasi and my language as Endugundu .I have corrected that types of guys earlier…”No buddy Iam from Kerala,my language is Malayalam”…..then reply comes…”hann wohi chennai se naa!!! I can educate him 2-3 times but after that????what?? . “Arre bhai mere state ka capital Thiruvanthapuram hain…chennai is as far as Mumbai from my place”…still the reply will be haan wohi madras se!!!!
This is not an isolated experience every south Indian who has lived in North would surely have gone through this more than once……
The other exaples are
2- everyone in north expects a south Indian to be black…
3-His films to be fully faltoo action movie(Ask me if you wish to watch south Indian movies to me or else check out the national award winning list on wiki)…
4-expect everyone having surnames as lengthy as you heard before.
5-Expect most of them to be idliwalas and narilwalas
6-Expect us to eat only idli ,dosa,saambar rice(We have “”n””number of breakfast dishes,,,,come to kerala will give you Fish and nonveg that you have never tasted
7-Calling all people Annas.(sorry we Malayalis call big brother as Chettan…dont force us to be Annas)
……………..
My list will become more lengthier than authors so Im quitting writing this…..
One thing last
Educate yoursef….talk sence..respect others (I know you people dont even respect ech other…) then well talk about Deshbakthi
Cheers Mrigank…you said it as simple as possible…lets hope they will understand and give respect to out feelings.
Beautiful. is the one word i have for what you said..
Well said my friend.
It is not a racial statement! The writers intension is to shred light to the “so popular misunderstandings” about South Indians (That is what I think 🙂 )
So I hope no one will take this to trashing each others.. 🙂 Enjoy the article…
Came across this article, yesterday, a friend of mine from Bangalore shared it. It is disturbing. The stereotyped are stereotyping. And some of the comments are just plain stupid. They seem so eager to get into an argument and the aggression is surprising, because the South Indians that I know are some of the more sincere people I have met. Everyone in India faces some sort of stereotyping. North Indians in Mumbai and South India, North-East Indians- Everywhere, Sikh (Sardaars)- Everywhere, Gujarati’s – Everywhere. But we know it isn’t serious except when it leads to violence (like in Mumbai against North Indians). Rest of us don’t behave like children and go on a rant. It is fun to read, like it was fun to read about Indian women the other day. But the comments are extremely disturbing. I bet the author of that article is extremely happy about the attention it is getting but isn’t bothered by the divide it is creating. This is extremely disturbing.
the use of stereotypes in this article was intentional -_-
my friend, I guess its same as people of North India call all south India call anyone from the southern part as Madrasis? You miss the meaning, my friend, sorry to say
Discrimination will never stop.. bcoz no one feels that he/she is not perfect. I don’t understand why the point of ethnicity comes into many blogs. I have friends and infacts good friends from many states and I don’t have any problems whatsoever. Language barrier is never actually a barrier in creating friends. We are Indians .. Is it so difficult to accept this. I see unity among Indians in some torrent blogs when someone from Pak starts some abusive conversation. Why so much hatred between nations and even within… Nd after all this we complain of violence in the country, Look into yourself.. Deep within we are no different… There is a saying from a movie “Scratch any hero and you will find a devil lurking within”.. Change your mindset instead of complaining…
#currentPost: nicely blog…!!!
India’s creation in itself goes into divisive policy. The States Reorganisation Act 1956 actually re-organised India as per the languages. Here itself we were divided. The differences we see, the bullying nature we witness of people from different states is because of the acts started by the Generation of 60’s. Congress with its parenthood with British knew divide and rule was the best form of staying in power and they succeded till date. States were divided and so were the people. Have we ever spoken in a united way. Everywhere we reduce our loyalty to people from our state. When Mohanlal wins National awards, all malayalees will say he is the only best actor in india. When Vishwanathan Anand wins chess, tamilians say he is a tamil boy. When SAchin play maharashtrians say he is a marathi manus. Comeon friends the only identity you should be proud of is been Bhartiya. Rest all is just ajectives associated because you come from particular part of the country.
Well said Binesh. You are a true indian
I don’t think you have asked yourself why they call it re-organization (and never called organization) of states. I won’t blame you if you do not know the history of this sub continent before 1947.
So how do you propose the states should have been re-organized? what language should everyone speak to each other in the state when you mix hundreds of different language population together…show us how truly secular you are?
Not a single marathi will say he is only a marathi…The great man is truly beyond boundaries here in india
Well Said Binesh
I guess it was just meant more to entertain and educate a little and definitely not to offend…..
Northies???? North is a direction my dear… 🙂
What a jibe at the author 😀
not half as trash as “madrasis” I presume…
wow!!! A stereotype to defend another! You seem very intelligent.
Why do you hate Lola Kutty? 😦 she so nice!
hahaha! i luv her too
Wow! That was Hillarious!!…the choice of words and the expressions are just wow :).. I am writing a similar blog on Kerala and its people. 🙂 Please go through if you find time http://pinklungy.blogspot.in/
hahaha…awesome !
esp ‘I will Chammak Challo your arse to oblivion’
this is so u! I had all those things in my mind!! Its funny and embarrassing at the same time… How little I (we… Sure ther r many others!) know!
I LOVED it. . . your sense of humor; it makes my stomach hurt.
വെല് ടണ് ബോയ് !! :p
I just realized that google translate does not have malayalam to translate. Translation would be appreciated.
transaltion – Well done Boy !!!
The words ‘Well done boy’ have been written in Malayalam characters. 🙂
I second ghanshyam…
the post is satirically funny, the picture at the top more so !!
p.s.:the new look is quite good 🙂 !!
Hilariously enlightening! (if there is such a thing). I empathise with you…I belong to the ‘north indian’ category, Sikh, to be precise, and have often been subjected to silly questions asked by sillier people..like “Punjabis and Sikhs are not the same??”, “What is that thing that the men have on their heads?” (referring to the Turban), or worse, “What is that inside that thing that men wear on their heads??” (hair). And yes, we do not ALL hail from Punjab, or yell ‘balle balle’ at the slightest hint of joy, or have makki ki roti, sarson ka saag and parathas everyday!
hi nina…as another punju who’s lived in the south for a good 6 years, i completely relate to your post. in fact, i was nicknamed ‘balle balle’ by my classmates… not that i ever objected to it. i am a hindu punjabi but people there could not understand on what would i do in a gurudwara every sunday / how could i call myself a punjabi when i did not sport a turban / would i go ‘balle balle’ on every occassion (very similar to your experiences) / how could i call delhi home when i was a punjabi / if i would start my day with a big glass of lassi everyday / etc etc etc!
a caveat here…if you are the kinds whose parents / grandparents migrated to india from pakistan post partition (mine did … as did the folks for the vast majority of delhi’s population), avoid mentioning it in that part of the country. being called ‘balle balle’ is far better than some idiots labeling you a paki. grrrr ;-).
Hi Aditya,
nice post there. i completely understand what you went through and apologize for the (misguided) souls of my ethnicity who did that! 🙂
and yes, regarding the caveat about avoiding the label of “paki”– it’s ok, Aditya..forget it 🙂
no pakis, no indians, no english people, no americans, no blacks, no whites, no mongols!! NO DOGS AND CATS!! no oak trees and short tufts of grass!!
WE ARE ALL ONE!!:-
ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL,
ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL,
ALL THINGS WISE AND WONDERFUL;
THE LORD GOD MADE THEM ALL!
Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.
The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
He made them, high or lowly,
And ordered their estate.
The purple headed mountains,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning
That brightens up the sky.
The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,
He made them every one.
The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water,
To gather every day.
HE GAVE US EYES TO SEE THEM,
AND LIPS THAT WE MIGHT TELL
HOW GREAT IS GOD ALMIGHTY,
WHO MADE ALL THINGS WELL.
Ciao. 🙂
Well said, world needs this kind of attitude in every individual. no, gender bias, no racism, no caste, no religion, no discrimination on basis of region, language, culture, status etc. All are equally created by the Holy One. All these differences are introduced by we humans for our own selfishness and convenience.
Well said..World needs this kind of attitude..
You only wish that you would need this kind of attitude. However hard i try my eyes would not stop discriminating. i don’t know about others i think im not a racist, sexist or even discriminating by age. However these things are so deeply rooted in your upbringing that its hard to let go knowingly or un knowingly you do.
As i pray to god to make me unbiased against people and be kind to all.
Very well said dreamweaver. World will be a beautuful place devoid of any wars if everyone thought as u said. BTW whatver y posted is the poetryoriginally penned by u?
Lovely!
Yes, Aditya..I’ve been called Paki for my ancestral roots too. :p
Hehe..actually I Have mentioned my ancestral roots occasionally..and regretted having said that, for I’ve been called a paki almost immediately. :p
Ha ha ha ha ha! Hilarious!
Tirupati, Tirunelveli and Thiruvananthapuram are not baaju baaju mein. “Baaju baaju mein” is bang on, man!
bang on! indeed..
Yippee……. that’s awesome man… you said behalf of us..
Let me guess. Ra.One really hit a nerve, yes?
Hoping you’d appreciate a jokey stereotype so many days later, this is something that comes from Jawaharlal Nehru narrating an anecdote several years after first meeting his long-time secretary, M. O. Mathai.
At the time of their first meeting, Nehru rather thoughtlessly asked Mathai a question that went something like, “Mathai, most people from the South, are the leftists or rightists?”
Mathai probably decided to turn the tables on the prime minister when he cheekily replied, “Saar, we’re neither leftists nor rightists, wonly typists!” with a comically exaggerated accent that had Nehru rather taken aback.
When he realised his error, Nehru loved the joke enough to include it in his biography where I read it. 😀
*are they
LOL!!
nice one dude!
Loved it!!Written perfectly:-)
gud article , but what made you say Rajni belongs to tollywood ?? He clearly belongs to Kollywood or South Indian Cinema at large.
oh yeah! here starts the battle 😛
Everything was greatly thrown back at them, but Rajini is from KollyWood!!
You Mind it !!! 😀
I think what the author meant to say was, the degree of popularity rajni has in tollywood due to entertainment is same as what salman has in Bollywood..definitely rajni in kollywood cannot be compared to salman in Bollywood….I respect the author for taking that into consideration
Fantastic! Tiny typo there – sambar is the deer. No h in it.
Haha! But if you listen to them pronounce it, they say it exactly how he has written “saambhar”
On behalf of Gujaratis, I disagree; they call it itlee-sumbhaar and dhonsa or dhonso, the “n” in the latter two being nasally enunciated. Also, ” ‘Andu-Gundu-Naaru-Gundu’ may have profound meaning in modern Haryanvi, but is gibberish in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil and Tulu” one of the best thinly veiled insults. epic.
I love how you ended saying, MIND IT! Hahaha! Really funny 🙂 Its all the things that I have continuously fought/argued with my friends from the “north” 😛
The thoughts that I have been struggling to put in words for years, you made it sound incredibly easy :). Last sentence gave me a stitch in my sides! 😀
Whoever has written this, I love you! Absolutely brilliant. 😀
Superbly written!! Well thought out…I can relate it to my post on this a few days back…. Cheers!
Kollywood, actually. Tollywood refers to Bengali cinema since the studios are situated in Tollygunge. Tollywood thanks to TOI now refers to the Telugu film industry.
I’m a hard core Madrasi/Madras vasi and the only thing I take sleight to is comparing Rajnikanth and Salman. Dude, seriously??!!
Dear Ms. G [ I presume you are female,as you hesitate to reveal your name online (quite understandably!)],
Hope this post finds you happy, healthy and at your perky best!
And glad to hear that you are a hard core Madras vasi. It takes a lot to gain even this much acceptance from people of your ethnicity [ no matter how much time they have spent in the “huge single mass area” of the Deccan plateau which your lot collectively “classify” as “Saauuuth” India, AND no matter HOW MANY HUNDREDS of scrumptuous masala “DOSAS” ( it’s either DOSAI (Tamil) or DOSHA (Malayalam), idlis, uttapams,etc.they have gobbled up } !!!!
SO,
1) Firstly, YOUR POSITIVE FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED!!! We bow our heads in humility and gratitude. 🙂
2) Secondly, I have NO intention whatsoever, to start an ethnic slur battle and mud-slinging on this blog or ANYWHERE!!!
I have MANY, BELOVED and CHERISHED friends,colleagues and acquaintances from all parts of India. [ And I LOVE my share of samosas, golgappas, bhelpuri, jalebis, misri,dhoklas,vada paav, dal baati choorma, MAKKI DI ROTI te SARSO DA SAAG,etc. etc.!!!!!]
HOWEVER,
3) Coming to the point,
Your “horror” and adverse reaction at the comparison between Rajnikanth and Salman, is lamentably unfortunate!
And presumably, this perception can be positively illuminated by gentle persuasion :-
Salman may be more ” good looking” (by NORTH Indian parameters!) as his skin tone is quite a few shades lighter than that of our poor, “unfortunate” DEAREST Rajni.
HOWEVER, PLEASE take a little effort and exercise your cerebral faculties a little (just a little)!:-
a) FORGOT THE BLACKBUCK CASE?
b) Even worse, FORGOT THE BMW CASE? Salman RAN OVER several INNOCENT, SLEEPING, POOR STREET- DWELLERS in a DRUNKEN state!
c) Rajni rose from the humble beginnings of a bus conductor to a superstar based purely on HIS OWN HARD WORK AND DETERMINATION! (apne balbute par! 🙂 ). On the other hand, Salman is an arrogant, wayward, womanizing individual who had the advantage of being born in an affluent family and rose to stardom by relying solely on his physical appearance and muscle-flaunting tactics. ( On all other counts, he is a moron bordering on an outlaw/ criminal).
d) Rajni is famous not only for entertaining people as a filmstar ( no matter in whichever kind of role/ character), but also for his HUMILITY, KINDNESS, LARGE-HEARTEDNESS and CHARITABLE ACTIVITES FOR THE POOR.
Salman, on the other hand, is FAMOUS for whatnot……????!!!!( Apko pata hi he,hena?list bahut lambi he! 🙂 )
FINALLY, Ms. G [ and all my northie pals out there ( the ignorant ones,that is! 🙂 ],let me tell you some rather rare,largely unknown Bollywood facts :-
1) NUMEROUS beloved and SUCCESSFUL Bollywood heroines, right from Vijayantimala to Jayaprada to Hema Malini to REKHA to Sreedevi to Janelia D’Souza to Asin to the internationally acclaimed AISWARYA RAI-BACCHAN ( She,by the way, is a Thulu Brahmin from Mangalore,and NOT A “BANIYA” as the North Indian newspapers claimed when she married Abhishek!) are “Saaauuth” Indians. 🙂
2) MANY MANY famous and SUCCESSFUL filmmakers, cinematographers, singers,music directors,lyricists, pioneering CEO’s and other celebrities like
A.R. Rehman, Rasool Pookutty [Remember the OSCARS?!!! 🙂 ],Santhosh Sivan, Priyadarshan [remember Hera Pheri, Hera Pheri 2, Bhagambhag and numerous other laugh riots??!!:) ], Shankar Mahadevan, Hariharan, Yesudas, SPB [ these last two have sung SCORES OF NATIONALLY ACCLAIMED and POPULAR Hindi FILM SONGS!(Remember those LOVELY numbers from Julie, Ek Duje ke Liye , SAAJAN and HUM APKE HAIN KAUN–THAT voice belongs to a certain S.P. Balasubramanian 🙂 )], Chitra, Kavitha Krishnamurthy, Mahalaxmi Iyer, etc. etc.and ex-CEO Narayanamurthy , ex-President and WORLD- RENOWNED, PIONEERING SCIENTIST, Mr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the genius mathematician Dr. Ramanujan,THE NOBEL LAUREATE C.V. Raman (after whom the Raman Effect is named! :)),are ALL “Saaauuth” Indians, dear! 🙂
3) Many celebrities like John Abraham, Malaika Arora-Khan,etc. are half-southie. 🙂
4) I REPEAT– I have NOTHING against north indians or people from ANY TEENY WEENY corner of this country or the world,for that matter! WE ARE ALL ONE! UNITY IN DIVERSITY!!!! 🙂
5) AND, I AM AWARE THAT everyone from Lata Mangeshkar ( Kathali chenkathali… 🙂 ), Manna Dey ( Maanasa myaine varu..), Salil Choudhary [ the national award-winning CHEMEEN ) to Naseeruddin Shah ( PONDAN MAADA) to Shreya Ghoshal ( she ROCKS!!) to Udit Narayan (He’s from Nepal, by the way! 🙂 ] to innumerable artistes from diverse regions and cultures have been, and are still, contributing to the south Indian film industry! So PLEASE DON’T waste your time with such comments! 🙂
6) Now lemme get my cuppa coffee and watch the Flying Sikh coming alive on the silver screen for the FIRST time!! [ this has been LONG overdue!!! HATS OFF to BOTH the real life hero, Milkha Singh and the reel one, Farhan Akhtar!! 🙂 ]
Hi Dreamweaver!
This article is very well written. It was entertaining and informative. I agree with every single thing you mentioned. Just wanted to correct one teeny tiny mistake- Aishwarya Rai is not a Tulu Brahmin. She is a “Bunt”. I’m sure you know the difference, but for those who don’t: Brahmins are vegetarians, while Bunts are non-vegetarians. Besides, the dialect varies between the 2 castes. The Brahmin version of Tulu is influenced by Sanskrit. There is also a slight difference in the customs and traditions. For instance, Bunts have a “Ghar Jamaai” system, where the husband stays with his wife’s family, and usually takes over the family business. If I remember correctly, dowry is also part of their custom. Not so with Brahmins. And I think the daughters (bunts) have the right of inheritance (not very sure about this).These are the differences that I can think of, off the top of my head.
Just an input (i’m trying to be friendly here because you, with your fair share of love for everyone, still come across as a bit aggressive/defensive): it didn’t seem like Mr/Ms/Mrs G necessarily meant that Salman is better. I for one, belonging to the ‘his/her people’ category, assumed the obvious – that Salman Khan, regardless of what he manages with his movies, doesn’t quite make it to the same league as Rajnikanth.
And, I will continue to sing the Malayalam lines in ‘Jiya Jale’. No, I did not notice how Lata Ji did not do that. You don’t need to sit the audience with all my dolls. I don’t sing too well anyway.
Aishwarya Rai is no Brahmin,and tulle is a language spoken by the bunts from Mangalore.Bunts were the Ssheduledtribes and subsequently deleted because they grew affluent.I think every community has their accomplished people in every strata .What was the big lecture about Rajni and Salman.By the way Rajni is a mahar ashtrian .go figure….
Uma. no offense but since u thought of bringing some (wrong) facts. I think it would be great if you could google certain things u have written here.
Firstly its Tulu, not Tulle.
second, Tulu is not spoken only by Bunts in Mangalore..It is a language spoken mainly in the southwest part of Indian state of Karnataka and a small part of northern Kerala, which is known as Tulu Nadu. It belongs to the Dravidian family of languages.
Third, Bunts are not Scheduled Tribes, They are Kshatriya, means warriors. Hence they belong to the forward Caste
Fourth, for your below mentioned comment on Deepika padukone being a Maharashtrian, There is a village named Padukone in Udipi in karnataka from where she hails. She is a Mangalorean Konkani like Amrita rao
FYI
You are wrong Uma Ramteke. Bunts were never scheduled tribes. Bunts are warrior class and nagavanshi kshatrias. Nair community of kerala and Bunt community of south western karnataka & kerala share the same origin. Some common bunt sirnames are Hegde, shetty, Rai, alva etc.
Hi.. never mind my ethnicity for i am too differently mixed.. but let me inform you that northeners are very highly discriminated in south india which you wont find in North. People are too religious and conservative there.. Maybe thats why most of your herions come and marry in North 😛 And more over all your top heroins from Kajal aggarwal to Tammannna are North Indians… By the way you know good english but you should start acknowledging equality of human beongs and not start talking in local language in group where few are not locals.. South indians should know how to stick their nose to corporate culture instead of regionalism love..
After having seen the arrogance in Delhi and many other parts of India, I strongly believe that what ANI is talking about is a bullshit. I live in a city (south Indian city) where people speak Hindi and English more fluently that their own mother tongue. And about talking in local language – Most of the reputed organization where the mode of official communication is English, people only speak in Hindi (The so called Corporate culture), while they claim that Hindi is a national language – My dear friends let me tell you that nowhere in the Indian constitution has it been written that Hindi is the national language and we still (accommodation south Indian’s) accept it.
And Tamanna Bhatia, Simran etc etc come to South just to protect their modesty that they don’t get in Bollywood where women are just objects of entertainment and even a 2 yr old gal can get rapes anywhere.
So I would appreciate if all my so call fellow men would rather accept the fact that India also have intelligent and talented people living in south of India are also “INDIANS” and learn to respect their culture rather than stereotyping.
True… also companies like Tcs, Infy, etc have sensible and intelligent South Indians as their CEOs , who are more interested in improving our economy rather than filling their own pockets like you selfish ,corrupt North scumbags..
“Dear Ms. G [ I presume you are female,as you hesitate to reveal your name online (quite understandably!)]” – As if “Dreamweaver” is your name! lol And I am Mrs V ROFL!
OK… , first of all, we southies are disowning this person… And I am not here to argue whether Rajini is greater than Salman or vice versa but merely to point out that the pathetic losers like above think a movie actor is a life example to be followed and worshipped. What we have to realize is, everyone who came up in their life has put in some amount of effort more than an average commoner and we do have to respect that, but not to the extent of worshipping them and letting them sit in powerful positions in government, thinking that their real nature and their reel nature are the same.
This guy got offended for the wrong reasons (I am pretty sure he think Rajinikanth is god) and goes on a page long rant… That, my northie friends, is the single worst thing about Southies that if you point it out, I would take it lying down.
Oh and FYI, dreamweaver mofo… your God is a Maratha born in Karnataka.
have you seen God in your life buddy…?
some people help others to their extend and so Rajini does. So the people who got a new life feels the presence of God through him.
Don’t ever bluff of people unless you knew it completely.
I completely second you.
For all you know G might have meant that Salman should not be compared to Rajini Sir just for the reasons you have stated…
:))
excellent reply dreamweaver!
Awesome !!!
Well writtten..Kuddos..
Hi Dreamweaver!!
wow!:o is what came outta my mouth after i finished reading your article… i was sooo hooked onto reading it that when my phone rang i practically jumped off my seat! hehee.. awesome and informative.. thanks! 🙂
my man …that was not a very well disguised rant against the north….Am a kannadiga born and brought up in the North ..northies make fun of madrasis due to ignorance and yet people here especially in TN r intentionally unhelpful to people form the north[guess thts ok ???]…and whatever you may like to believe about Rajnikanth [ from his humble beginnings and what not] he in fact is a terrible actor….he is a mass star not an actor….salman khan of the old has more solid performances than rajni can ever manage…its not just about complexion..its about talent…..
Ritesh, don’t just repeat the common fashionable perception. Rajnikant is a excellent actor, way above, better than even your favorite (?) Amitabh. It needs real intelligence to know that popularity is not the opposite of talent.
by the way your comment was as enlightening as the article…i liked it…but on behalf of “g” s/he must have placed Rrajini higher than Salman and that is the reason why she didn’t want to compare,,don’t you think???
and I liked the attitude of the reply…but aren’t you stereotyping by saying that “G” is a girl because the name is not revealed??it could be the same reason why you call yourself ” dreamweaver”..
Kudos to the chammak challo line!
Awesome one 🙂
this is gonna be a shocker for all those who jus call us madrasis !! …. ur too good !! this is awesum !!
YES! Finally. So much amazing in one post, honestly. Especially the saambar, and the jiya jale. Love my non “South Indian” friends, but this is too accurate to be a joke.
Machan…a) Rajini not Rajni b) people in TN have idly for dinner too c) Rajini is not in Tollywood. He is in Kollywood. Tollywood is Chiranjeevi area.
…and the author wants north indians to read and learn LOL
but this mistake apart, this blog is absolutely amazing. hats off!
You mean they can’t read? as in illiterates? I am sorry, there are at least few educated people there.. I disagree..
No, its because they can never ‘learn’ 🙂
who are you asking? if it’s me, the meaning is that i was continuing nash’s comment
Awesome dude… Anyone who call me a madrassi, will get pasted on a wall…
you guys don’t accept hindi, and you want us to take the botheration of understanding you ? hindi is 2nd language in aircrafts, on currency notes, on railway stations along with english, if u have ur own way you’ll be treated this way, face it 🙂
Do you learn Tamil when you move to Chennai? or Bengali when you move to Kolkatta? Does every Punjabi in Ludhiana speak Hindi?
Then why should a person from Tamil nadu whose ancestors have been speaking the same form of Tamil for longer then yours have been speaking Hindi have to learn it. And FYI, the government of India has given 22 “languages of the 8th Schedule” the status of official language.
And for the ones who are settled in places that are not South India, we do not go around speaking whichever language it is and getting offended by the fact that the auto guy or veggie seller do not understand what we are trying to communicate. Sounds familiar?
well said @sonya
Love you, Sonya!! You hit the nail on the head! 🙂
Well said, Sonya! KUDOS!
Its not about learning its about respecting.. i tried to learn telegu for i find it good.. i would judge people on their work instead of region.. North India say delhi for example accepts all people with open arms.. Could say the same about Tamil.. sorry .. Andhra Pradesh is best except for few religious headed workless n worthless people..
I appreciate your interest in learning a new language. but , for heaven’s sake, it is TELUGU not TELEGU or TELUNGU..!!
Are you kidding?? Delhi is one of the worst… the people there are so racist!!! And what do you mean “religious headed workless, worthless people? Which place do you think produces the most number of engineers and doctors?
I bet you that you can’t learn Malayalam even if you are good in dominating language.
Don’t you think it should be the idea when one moves his residence permanently to a new region? Every language will open a new world to you.
I have not had the opportunity to move to a different state, but if I ever do, even for 6 months, I will come back knowing how to atleast speak a new language, if not read & write.
Absolutely true..!!!!
Leave alone learning the language after moving to the city. I have friends who are born and brought up in Chennai who know not a word of Tamil..!!!! Shocking.!! 20 odd years in the city. Schooling here, collage here, yet they have the audacity to not know the local tongue. how is this for arrogance?!?
They say they don’t have to. They can manage with their “tuta futa tamil” while arguing with the auto walas.!!!
Will the same go in Delhi or Mumbai? No one there will accommodate this kinda behaviour. But we do or we are forced to.
Well said Sonya…a majority of them who think Indians are “supposed” to know Hindi are victims of the misconception that Hindi is a national language because its written second to English on the railways and currency notes all over. I wont blame them for their schools not teaching them the correct notion.
Due to vote bank politics, Hindi was imposed as one of the “official” language alongside English for the “Union government offices”. On the book, this means Hindi can also be used as a official communication language between the Union a.k.a. central government offices across the country. Railways and Reserve Bank of India are all entities of the Central government and so as a policy they are supposed to use both English and Hindi in all their properties. This is also a way for the Hindi belt dominated central government to promote the use of Hindi all over. So who are the linguistic chauvinists now?
Poor Guru Wadhwa here is among the other victims of ignorance who are not aware that India has no national language by constitution and no citizen is “supposed” to know a certain language. The greatest irony is that even school administrations are ignorant of this fact and add Hindi as part of their syllabus giving it undue importance in non Hindi speaking regions.
i think ur GK is pretty weak and even your presence of mind! most of the south indians know hindi from a auto rikshaw guy to s vegetable vendor, and railways stations is south its kannada, tamil, telgu or malayalam with english if u havent noticed, i suggest remove ur dark north indian shades as see.. and what r u talking abt if you have ur own way, u’ll b treated this way? really? grow up.. u own no one.. and everyone lives their own way… u dont feed anyone.. gosh!
Respected Mr. Wadhwa,
Kindly go through my reply to Ms.G
KRIPYA Ms.G ko angrazi mein diye gaye mere jawab ko padhein aur apne dimag ko uttejit karein!
mr Guru please keep focus on you we knew how to survive in india . india is not only hindi speaking people. half northern state are poor in all term please focus on your state half of ups live outside their state ,your lead in everythink like crime child foreticide .mercy killing mind it
Wow, dude. You just underscored the arrogant hindi imposing behaviour of the North in your comment. Hindi is second language by chance coz the vote bank politics in India has always given us a PM from the “Cow Belt” (I am sure you are familiar with that, as it is in your neighbourhood) So, don’t go around spewing nonsense. It is a humorous piece, read it, laugh, and pick up some learnings if your Paneer clouded senses allow you to. #jusssayin
You haven’t heard about PV Narsimha Rao and Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda, Saar?
Unfortunately, genralisation is our inherent trait…the North n South divide I believe is only in the minds of a few…lets just take this in humour. It is been fun reading it.
my god. this might be the dumbest thing i have ever read. North-Indian btw, and hence i would like to say Dont generalize people. north india also consists on many states. the one above doesnt deserve to belong to any.
Who says we should learn Hindi? It’s not our National Language or anything.
Then why learn English?
It isn’t our national language either.
Because a person wants to learn English. Probably the individual sees some advantage in learning english. Personal choice. No compulsion there. Let individuals who want to learn Hindi, or any other language learn it. Leave it to the individual.
Lola kutty, i hate you!! 😛 aptly put! =D
most of our schools teach hindi and we go an extra bloody mile to learn the mother of it “sanskrit”. have u ever ventured into learning one bit of Kannada, Tamil, Telugu or even Malayalam? Apart from the “south Indian” languages, do u know what devanagiri means? can u read me one sentence from there? its time u learn to know that there are many languages that teach and mean more than what hindi has to offer. Come to think of it, none of what you guys speak over there in the north can be called proper hindi. My mom is a hindi pandit you fool! We dont ignore or mock any language or culture like how you do. All you have in your mind is the skin color which is why you think you are superior! Unfortunately not my friend. Grow up!
To Guru
Friend just because we learn English as our first language in schools and most railway boards are written in English too, does English become an Indian language? English is just one of the most accepted languages in the world. Similarly just because 40% of Indians speak Hindi it doesn’t become the nations language. I recommend that you read the Indian constitution clearly before you make such a comment. This is just an extract from it” The Eighth Schedule to the Indian constitution lists 22 languages that the Government of India has the responsibility to develop.[1] Along with these Eighth Schedule languages, English, Portuguese and French are spoken in parts of India, with French as an official language of Puducherry. Neither the Constitution of India, nor any Indian law defines any national language for the country”.
And if Bangalore, Hyd, Chennai, and Kochi decides to stop people from north, let me best assure you half the people in this country will go unemployed…. In short “We are self-sufficient”
I hope I have enlightened u my friend
Anju absolutely right, BLR is flooded with Northies for most of BPO jobs, we are accepting their momos on road side too……what more they just know only Madras in south
highly recommended as geography article for all students north of Vindhyas…..
Dude \m/ 😀 … That piece you’ve written there said evey single thing I’ve ever wanted to say and then some, and more eloquently than I could’ve managed…
oh my god!!!! i wrote something almost the same but with complete focus on malayalis! 😛 http://marinapaulose.blogspot.in/2012/01/i-am-malayalideal-with-it.html
I totally agree with your post marina in ur blog
Full on respect to the writer!
humorously put. but i truly wonder how many “non-southies” read this. its always the ‘opposition that’ misses the point because they dont bother to read.
haha.. nice article.. also don’t forget to mention we have pretty and intelligent women- Aishwarya Rai, Shilpa Shetty, Deepika Padukone to name a few.. Not all south indians are BLACK!!!
If your are referring to race, then I do not think any South Indians can be called black. If by black you mean dark-skinned, are you implying that dark-skinned is the opposite of “pretty and intelligent?” If so, thank you for buying into the Fair and Lovely conception of beauty, but I do not think we South Indians need anyone “defending” us by telling people not all of us are dark skinned.
Well said, Roy.
Isn’t it amazing how people, even in this day and age, are influenced by the concept of “Fair is beautiful”? If I had a rupee for every time I heard someone say “She’s pretty, but dark” or “She’s dark but beautiful”, I’d be stinking rich! Arrgh..makes me want to tear my hair out!
Pretty? Meh.. Intelligent ? Roflmao
Dude you just went full retard. You NEVER go full retard. Blacks?! Seriously?!! So what if they are ‘black’?
Deepika padukone is a mahar ashtrian.who was bought up in bangalore.she herself has said it on TV
Excuseme….. How is she a Maharashtrian.. when her father is from Padukone, a remote village in Southeren Karnataka. She basically is a Kannadiga, regardless of whatever she might claim herself to be. She has done a movie in Kannada too, before she did in so called Bollywood.
Deepika Padukone is very much from karnataka …born and brought up here in Bangalore…her parents and sister live here . Most certainly not a Maharashtrian
Hats off for writing so beautifully. .hope something goes into these dumbos…
Good one 😀 I d like every Indian to read this!
and by the way, Rajni is much much better than Salman. Be it as an actor or person 😀
Rajni is marathi 🙂
I doubt seriously if Rajini himself would ever accept it 🙂 He has been calling himself a Tamilian and he never misses out to thank his people every time 🙂
Well, I am a Marathi and I don’t think Rajini is Marathi. He may be born in a marathi family, but these are migrants who lived on the borders of karnataka and maharashtra. The borders were blurred back then, hence people spoke both Marathi and Kannada. He speaks Kannada, but doesn’t speak Marathi. If anything, he is a Kannadiga. A Punjabi in Delhi is still Punjabi…but a Marathi/Kannadiga/Tamilian/Telugu/Malayali in any other place is the place he/she lives in.
Rajni’s surname is Gaikwad and very much a mahar ashtrian.not a Kannadiga.he was not bought up in a border place.Get your facts right.
In that case about Deepika’s surname ‘Padukone’. She is a daughter of a great Badminton player Prakash Padukone. He was born in Padukone, a village in coastal Region of Karnataka. Then how will she become a maharashtrian.
Rajnikant is a Maratha but born and brought up in Bangalore…even worked as a bus conductor for the KSRTC …the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation…a Govt Of Karnataka enterprise
First of all clear your knowledge.. Rajnikant is not born in Bangalore… He was born in a village in Sangli district in Maharashtra.. Mhane Rajnikant cha janm Bangalore madhe jhala.. Ghanta!
Marathi is a language spoken by the maharastrians.
at the outset no one gives a damn which state you are from initially. Once famous, you want to find out what state he is? wierd!!!
before north indians can crack their unfunny lame jokes about south indians (which actually only makes us realise how stupid some of them are (no offence, not everyone) ) i think they should hear the way they pronounce “thirty”..they way they pronounce should make it spell like “thurrty”.. hahah..improve before you can actually speak some english”..
loved the article. but wow. this comment wasn’t racist at all. Lived in bangalore for 3 years. I know where im coming from. One of those punjabis who lives in delhi. taking one little word or number and making a deal out of it. really. the article, as per my understand was informative and funny at the same time. stop pushing racism into this. Am i supposed to pen down every single state/regions pronunciations to reply to this comment. ( notice i didn’t generalize it “south indians”. should do the same.
Ok, I have heard some Tamilians pronounce ‘Thirty’ that sounded like “tatti” – what did you want to prove?
Oh my Daivame! Love it love it love it. Especially that line where you threatened to “chammak challo your arse into oblivion”. And please don’t be apologetic for the messy eating. It would be absurd and insulting to eat it any other way.
Brilliant post. Simply put. Hilarious read.
I completely agree on the eating part. I had read somewhere that when you eat with your hands, you use all your senses to enjoy the food…sight, smell, touch, taste and you hear the crunch of food in your mouth. And for the plantain leaves, what’s not to like? The best environment friendly disposable plate it is!!!
Quiet an interesting take “yenna da raascala..” 🙂
T’was a good read. and quite a genuine article
Looooved it! Beautifully written. Im definitely sharing this!
as much as I appreciate what you have written and the reason behind..I would like to leave you and all your readers with a thought…and mind you though my name is “North India” I am a well traveled Indian who has also lived a in almost every direction in India over the last 30 odd years…and significant years in each location…and therefore takes of a lot pride in correcting people that I am as much a South and East Indian as a North Indian…
Know the Sikhs?!…the ones you call “Sardar”….the ones with the turbans on their heads and beards…if you have complains in how the remaining Indians treat you and offend you, they wouldn’t even know where to begin…but have you seen anyone ever complain…least of all you might actually catch them cracking a joke upon themselves…
there is a lesson here…the lesson is being secure about what you are and how you are taking pride in it…a secure individual would actually smile at these stereo types and move on…trust be..being branded is the the highest form of recognition (know what I mean!!!)
I guess we all need to rise above these small petty associations with region and try and be “Indians” for a chance…I keep entering into an argument with a colleague of mine in trying to convince her that, if at all anything, she is not a marwari but a bengali because she was born and raised there and may be now a Haryanvi since she has been living in Gurgaon for over a year making a living…(btw in your attempt to ridicule stereo types about your kind you ended up doing the same to others…notice!)
As much as I attempted to keep my comment neutral I am sure I can expect a fair amount of backlash…SO LET THE BASHINGS BEGIN
No bashings Mr voice of reason, your points did make sense. nonetheless the pleasure of venting out is ours. and every once in a while you need to give it back. You can hear north Indians calling south Indians black in work places , clubs , schools and colleges you know hw easily this can split the nation backed by the most irresponsible television media on earth .the point is yes some of us are dark , while we don’t have a history of slaves being traded , but we have history of black kings, queens and gods and goddesses ! we r not ashamed.. and of course we are proud of our selves , our origin and way of life. we know of the Aryan Fallacy and how there were only Dravidians untill the british wanted us to feel ashamed of ourselves.
That is correct. Indians as a whole are very racist. I have had my Kenyan friends tell me that they were called black or monkeys in all parts of India. Infact when in Kolhapur, I was the only Indian that had visited them and spent a Christmas with them – and some of them had lived in India for over 5 years. People used to poke fun at me because I mixed with them. My answer to them was that I was intellectually much closer to Kenyan friends in thought than the people in Kolhapur – especially due to our love for reading.
I totally agree with you Sreeram
Jai Hind !!!
@Sanjeev Grover : Exactly my thought after reading this. Cant be put better. To add, I am someone who was born in ‘North India’ but have lived in almost all parts of India equally over the last 30 years ( ‘south / southeast / southwest / southest-south’ parts of India included).
The post was damn funny but had a tone of frustration and victimisation to it, which is wierd..
Lolllll, start a dharna against the “North-Indians” ( the stereotype used here..) 😉 … enough said… 😀 funny post.
OK one simple question, if you were born in north India. Then why are you travelling all over India for 30 years? Why couldn’t you leaved in your home town. Its because you depend on others. We South Indians are self sufficient and We need travel to other part the country to get education or job to feed over self.
Karthik,
1) Not “leaved” – it is lived.
2) Your post is as clear as mud – it covers the ground but nothing else. You see to be hell bent on proving RK Laxman’s cartoon (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/ncert-textbook-cartoon-stokes-anger-in-tamil-nadu/article3507264.ece). BTW Mr. Laxman was a Kannadiga, so probably a traitor to you :-).
3) South India is NOT self sufficient. No region is. For example Matunga in Mumbai has a large number of Tamilians. Dombivili has a large Malayali population. You must have heard the joke about Parliament having a lot of pillars and Pillais – if you have not, please improve your reading.
4) There is a large migrant population of Tamilians in Sri Lanka, Singapore & Malasiya. Economy of Kerala is largely dependent on Gulf money, so your arguement about self sufficiency is false.
5) People DO have to travel across country if they are from Armed forces/ Paramilitary forces/ Central Government servents/ Railways and so on, so please don’t strech your ignorance too far with these questions.
Great reply. You saved me the effort to write something on this ‘arrogantly and so highly claimed self sufficiency’ by a few comment makers. No part of India can claim that, and several hundred thousands from the four states (and the others) have gone out of India to several countries for education and/or livelihood.
Karthik, it’s people like you who cause the kind of riot that it has with your ignorance. Is your ignorance because of your “over-confidence” that you are self-sufficient or because you have never left the four walls of your home to learn about other cultures?
And oh, before you start branding me as North Indian, let me tell you that I am a proud south Indian but completely disgusted by your response.
making fun of someone is fine as long as there is some amount of actual truth in it…”enna rascalla” “mind it”, noodles with curd rice!!!wtf….there is not even a little ounce of truth in the so-called stereotypes of “south indian” people!!!…so why should anybody put up with or just go with stupid stuff like that???
Sanjeev, I completely agree with your views. I am from north karnataka myself and have lived in karnataka, maharashtra, gujarat and punjab. We should never fight about petty things like these. If we look closely, people from karnataka are very different from other so called south-indians but even we are brandised as madrasis. anyone who has seen bangalore and chennai knows that they are as different as chalk n cheese. Also we have accepted hindi and north indians unlike other states and we speak good hindi ourseleves. So if we fight among ourselves, there is no end to it,
I agree Nikhil!!!
mone that was good da! write one pointing out the excact same flaws south indians are accused of . How the shittiest cinema in India is from Bollywood and they need to steal all the limelight and call themselves indian cinema. How Rajnikanth can hire salman or Shahruk khan to wash his underwear ( although neither of the three can act!) and how north Indians fuck up Engllish , like how Iron maiden is – I RUN MAIDEN.and how sri devi . rekha , deepika padukone and aishwarya rai are all from the south
LOVE IT!!!
Awesome!!
u wrote it on behalf of all of us!! n loved the chamak challo line!…adichu polichu!
also we need to be proud of the fact that when people like shahrukh khan n bollywood make fun of rajni! , the point they are missing is while they endorse underwear to shaving creams rajnikant and kammal hassan have vowed to not endorse any brand becuase they feel their fans deserve respect and should not be exploited. respect and admirtion is mutual., not something you rape! lets see is there anything else other than the unending caste voilence , communal unrest and mutual hatred for neighbouring states in the north . is there anything we can bash them with? maybe, maybe not! but i cant call them them like how they call us them. We south Indians dont hate you as much as you hate us . grow up. learn to co exist.
Agreed Sreeram!!!
I am so so happy to read this… everything that i always wanted to tell people with wrong notions, poor geography, and general knowledge… superb read.. 🙂
Hilarious! Nicely put. It is high time Bollywood stopped showing the south Indian stereotypes, as if they are true!
I will Chammak Challo your arse…… that is curd being served with broken-wheat upma! 🙂
A hillarious read.We don’t wander around with a zebra crossing across our foreheads,the humour.Bwahahahha!!
well written 🙂 annoying but well written.
Hahahah… this is fantastic… 🙂 Simply cant get over the last line ‘I will Chammak Challo your arse to oblivion’
we take pride in being what we are and are hurt by what people other than our tribal mentality describe of us, as long as the “I” “me” “mine” will remain this argument and counters will never end, the most important thing is we need to think and realise what has changed of us due to the un warranted comments recieved by the so called other part of our culture, or does it really make any difference to the traditions and customs being followed due to some wagging tongues, or is it that the hurt felt by the ego springs us into action, “think and talk” is what i would advice listen to your inner voice it will never have these feelings for anybody/ culture / tradition.
I agree to your comment
Refreshing…
I CANNOT BELIEVE PEOPLE ARE MAKING A COMMUNAL ISSUE OUT OF THIS POST. STOP!!! IT’S A FUNNY POST. READ IT. LAUGH. AND DO NOT READ UNDER, OVER OR BETWEEN THE LINES.
adipoli..!!
Only thing bad is ur apologetic of rajni. he is something beyond the scope of bollywoods understanding.and yourself i guess since you have compared him to salmaan shirtless mindless khan with bmw as his weapon of choice and is so hardly trying to be human! Rajni is beyond human in his charity , his simplicity and humbleness, he does not endorse brands! for he respects his fans! and has done criticaly acclaimed roles as well ( thalapathi with mamooka ) .
one example of critical acclaim and have you really seen his act or are u as blinded to the star power as any1 else…he is a terrible actor but will agree tht he seems to b a good man
I liked the Topic. One Change in the Article is Rajinikanth—- Kollywood, because Tollywood is name used for
Telugu Industry
first of all ,,,all these words like Bollywood for hindi cinema , Tollywood for telugu , Kollywood for Tamil Sandalwood for Kannda film Industry are not actual words…its some gibberish derived from Hollywood…and so many actors have said they hate the term Bollywood ….prefer Hindi film Industry or telugu film industry and so on…so can we stop saying Kollywood tollywood etc…these term are so silly
Awesome….adipoli is the word 😀
Must say..very well expressed.
Hahaha.. Well written!! Enjoyed it completely 🙂
Awesome..awesome..just music to my ears… !!
Love it!!!
Entammoo…I’d say “kalakkan ” 😀
Awesome!. 😀
High time I’d say someone made these things clear to the ‘non-Madrasi’s…couldn’t agree with you more…living in Mumbai, I have more non-Malayali friends than not and there have been many occasions when I’d to make some of them understand that I do not speak ‘Malayali’ and I am not ‘Malayalam’…enjoyed this article a lot…cheers…
PS: About Lolakutty. She herself has confessed that the accent she puts on is not genuine but a mix of what the non-Southies would consider South-Indian. She has also played the part of a Sindhi socialite in the play One-on-One and a Parisian speaking English…it’s a pity those things don’t sell on our sub-continent as much as a coconut-water drinking Malayali with well-oiled tresses…
I’m English married to a Tamil and I know only the south apart from tourist trips up north. First off let’s tackle ‘black’. No one in the world anywhere is black nor is anyone white. If they are they must be extremely sick or dead. Second, I’ve been around but the Keralan women are the most beautiful I have ever seen. Third I’m shocked that northerners hold such stereotypes. A lot of work to do here. Poking fun at any group is assure sign of ignorance but it’s understandable for the abused to get back at the abuser through humour. In England it’s the same but geographically upside down. You southerners need stand up comedians to spread the word; it’s kinda worked over here with a lot of media exposure. Hugh
Hi Hugh,
Nice post there. I particularly appreciate the “no black no white” part!! Complete agreement!! 🙂
Though I laughed a lot after reading this piece but this is also a big example of stereotyping. In fact many names of famous Indians who are mentioned here, are not actually North Indians. In fact the culture, habits customs etc. are so different in the Eastern or the Western India, that you can hardly put them together in a big whole called the North. The differences are huge between a Bengali and a Punjabi or a Gujrati and a Manipuri. Please do not use these stereotypes to define a Bengali ( from an eastern Indian province) or a Gujrati (from the West) or a Naga from the North-East. Please be aware that these provinces also exist in India, not necessarily in its northern part(the point of reference is important here). Like ways, a Bengali woman will not necessarily be a DIDI (a girl younger than you will tell you why she is not one to you) or a Bengali man is not a DADA(people of your father’s age will get offended if you call them so) always. In Bengal we do not pronounce “Saaambhar” or “Dossa” if these are food items or animals(our pronunciations may not be accurate so is yours when you speak Naga or Meitei). Provinces of the North neither understand the concept of Bengali Bhadralok nor they know how to manage them. Manna Dey, Salil Choudhury, Shreya Ghoshal et al. whom you have mentioned, are all Bengalis, and from the Eastern part of India( at least there are four directions in Geography). We Bengalis like Oriyas, Asameese, Naga, Manipuri, Gujrati, Rajasthani, Mizo and many others do not speak Hindi. Please notice that Imphal and Kolkata are also not located ” baaju baaju mein” 🙂 Hariyanvi’s are not known for promoting Bhadraloks. Similarly we also get irritated when many of you pronounce “Kaulkata” or “Baalobasi”. Bengal’s film industry is not a part of Bollywood and probably you have heard about a few others called Ritwik Ghatak, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Buddha Deb Dasgupta, Aparna Sen,Goutam Ghosh, Rituparno Sengupta too? So please do not generalize. There are several manifestations of culture in India, which do not fall in these North-South stereotypes.
It shows the ignorance of the northerners when they make spiteful comments. When some south Indian colleagues were transferred upnorth al lady in my workplace had the audacity to comment’These southies, they’ll go anywhere to earn money’
Hugh you’ve said it right!!!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. I hate to be “that guy” who pin points and corrects small details.. I am truly not that person, but it did bother me a little bit because I come from a family that earns it’s livelihood from the movie business.
Rajini: Kollywood (Tamil Cinema) :: Salman: Bollywood
Tollywood (Telugu Cinema)
Mollywood (Malayalam Cinema)
Sandlewood (Kannada Cinema) I’m not kidding about this..
The ending had me in splits… well done!
hate the guys who invented terms ‘kollywood’ / ‘tollywood’ / ‘mollywood’ / ‘bollywood’ aping hollywood! do we have to ape the west even for our regional cinemas! Media, be creative but please be original !!!
Rajni is Kollywood(Tamil Industry), Tollywood is Telugu. #jussaying
Well written.. True.. But there is one thing.. Kannadigas are not at all liberal. theya re only conservative, rather super conservative.. I am considering the 98 % crowd. Exceptions are always there, and in this case it would be hardly 1-2 % who are liberal .. rest absolutely not..
And, a kannadiga is asking you .. .what qualifies you as the expert on the liberal attitudes of Kannadigas. Charity begins at home. Look inside yourself. You may find some answers. As you would say… “Chale aate hain muh uthaaye”
Well put forward! 🙂
🙂
Hey @bangalorean forget dude. its pointless speaking with those people. We must be proud of over-self that we Kannadiga’s Are providing good education and job opportunities to other people especially from north. And this is what we get in return. So lets not bother about such senseless comments.
And what or who are you to speak of Kannadigas so comprehensively?
Well put!! Always wanted to do that Chammak challo to certain people!!
Machi adi dhool kalapita 🙂 hilarious 🙂
Awesome. you pretty much covered every aspect.
highly enlightening and hilarious 😀 Awesome post ,it made me realize “‘South’ is a direction; Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are states. !!” Well written
“Nethi Adi” ( tamizh) forehead slap!!!
Applause Applause Applause…. Iyer Kutti Loves it
Very well put… loved it.. 🙂
alliya, you hit the spot!
Why is your tribe so poor at Hindi?
Coz, being good in Hindi is not a basic need of life. I should actually congratulate you coz you commented in English 🙂
Outstanding reply! though i would like to ask – Why is their tribe so poor at so many other languages as well! unnecesary provocation to a we ll written article!
Loved your comment!!!
The second best thing on this page after the article iself..!!! rofl..! 😀
Ha Ha @bangalorean. what a reply dude.
Because we tend to speak Dravidian Languages and Hindi happens to be a Aryan Language. :)a
Hindi was not even a proper language. Both Urdu and Hindi came from a ‘boli’, Khariboli I think , invented around Northern India.
Hindi is not the national language of India nor did Aryans speak it!
Tamil, Malayalam , Tulu, Kannada and Telugu are all older than Hindi.
Hilarious Dude… You could have also written about our Fashion Sense… Apparently, according the guys from above the Vidhyas, esp. Daaalhiiiites… we have no sense of fashion, and it is difficult to have a conversation with us without knowing physics and chemistry, and of course computers 🙂
Fashion sense?? wierd, our poor tribe is very liberal on that front… but we just get a little perturbed when someone walks into office wearing chappals…. :),,,, and yeah, for the wellbeing of ashtamatics and us lesser mortals… avoid the litre of ‘chameli oil’ on your head..
A very cliched abstract by a conservative, ill thinking Malayali..!!! I referred Malayali and not ‘South Indian'(though nothing wrong in that reference just as there is no offense in North Indian or North East Indian)…since i could see a lot of Kerela hype in it(guess work though)…Friends which century are we living in??..where the youth(this is yet another wild guess; since i dunno wts ur age and also addressing all other commenters) of India still discuss which state or region they belong to!.the age where bengalis marry tamilians, delhiites marry manipuris.punjabis love hyderabadi biriyanis more than panner tikkas…..dude lemme tell u a brief bout myself..M a bengali by birth…studied for six years in Karnataka…worked and interned for several months in Delhi and currently work at Hyderabad. Even in my evilest dreams i never thought I was a bengali first and then an Indian and hence my only job was to spread around how many intellectuals we bongs have given to India, that Ravindranath Tagore, who penned the National Anthem is my ancestor etc.etc..True i too have been bullied as a ‘fish eating’, ‘typically saree donning, ‘wierd accented bongs’..but some how cudnt give back the same as somewhere my Indian ness prevented me from doing so..To tell u the truth i digest curd rice better than you, love to speak in ‘swalpa swalpa’ kannada and ‘Konchum Telegu or Tamil I know, have equal south indian and north indian, north east indian, west indian aka Indian friends, enjoy Ippudi Pode and shiela ki jawani equally!!!…watch Dhanush and Prithviraj ‘s movies as Sharukh’s Salman’s or Uttam Kumar’s…In short I am an Indian and will only remain an Indian….an then i came across this beautiful peace of writing!!!!
P.S- I dint want to mention bout that zillion times been asked during college days why I came down so far a place lik Karnataka leaving my native Bengal jus to study..(while my mind and heart wondering whether i was liable to take a passport to live in a place other than my native in my country itself or whether Southern Univ s were Oxfords or Cambridges)……..but did it jus to clarify that apart from those few ‘ur likeminded orthodox’ fellow citizens of mine, I met beautiful, sensible and most adorable Indians who are inhabitants of the Southern India who jus made me feel one thing..I AM AN INDIAN AND PROUD TO BE THE SAME..
Madam,
I apologize for those zillion questions on “choosing” Karnataka instead of Bengal. 🙂
By the way, I am a GREAT fan of Mrinal Sen, Satyajit Ray, Rituparno Ghosh, Shyam Benegal,Aparna Sen AND Konkana Sen.
ALSO, I AGREE– WE ARE ALLLL ONE!!!!Not only Indians,but people FROM all REGIONS AND ALL ETHNICITIES!…read ‘Where the Mind is Without Fear’, a poem by Rabindranath Tagore 🙂 [It’s actually Thakur. The British colonisers made it Tagore, because they found it easier to pronounce 🙂 ]
Funny article….very well written. BTW, if that list up there is a list of Bengali directors/actors whose work you like, I am pretty sure Shyam Benegal shouldn’t be on there. As far as my knowledge of this goes, his family was from Karnataka and he was born and raised in Andhra Pradesh. Not that his native state is above and beyond film making skills, but just pointing out a factual error. 🙂
I think you mean good, in the spirit of nationalism. Embracing diversity – which you have done is great and all of us have something to learn from that – but to reject the existence of diversity in our country and saying we are all just one, with the vast history every little nook and corner in India seems like …. an attempt similar to saying racism does not exist or caste system is dead or the likes…don’t you think this is stretching the spirit of nationalism a little too much ? Appreciation for diversity helps us to build a happy country together, while denial of its existence … guess your post is self explanatory on what that does – makes people angry 🙂 just saying, not criticizing you, give it a thought
That my friend was one hell of a refreshing piece of writing. Brilliantly put!
Hats off!
Setup sambhavam. enjoyed reading 🙂
Cheerz!
DN
Isnt the diversity of our country just amazing. Good to see that more people here are trying to clear misconceptions of fellow countrymen in a constructive manner, rather than the irritating ethinical debate happening on FB, Youtube etc. People need to get over the notion of a north-south divide. Everyone from the Hindi speaking belt should learn at least one regional language. MK Gandhi had started some sort of a movement for this, but the political parasites have hushed that under the carpets. BTW I am from MP, one of the hindi speaking states 🙂
need a like button for this post and comment.
Reblogged this on iRant and commented:
Totally what I wish I could tell people sometimes!
loved it ❤
While i loved every bit of it – Rajni”Kollywood please 😉 😉
Why do you have to defend all this so vigorously? Even a ‘southie’ (and I am one) also makes similar comments about a North Indian. Every north indian in Chennai is referred to as sethji. General disrespect to a North Indian who cannot converse in Tamil. List goes on. No need to take a holier-than-thou stand.
You totally nailed it!!! 😀
Very well-written! I really loved the blog until the very last sentence – “Chammak Challo your arse to oblivion”. It may be just my view but I think that this kind of hyper-masculinity will desist some well-meaning people from following your page
Arey we know da, we just want to fun of you madrasis! 😀
As long as Mumbai lies in the “North”; Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andra and all that is South. I personally love wada sambar made by a Punjabi Hotel qwner located in China town, in the middle of Nashville- Tennesse … Its a good read considering its coming from geography pundits who call every Korean, Vietnamese or Japanes a “Chinese” or “Chink-Chung” !!
Nish.
oh that stung sir
I’m a gujarati(muslim) urdu speaking indian, and i love your write up man! I’ve had the pleasure of being acquainted with quite a few keralites and kannadigas, since school days, and they’re as unique and relatively different as a punjabi is from a gujarati, though they’re equally lovable 🙂 . You guys have an amazing culture and tolerance, as i’ve noticed quite a few snide, derogatory at time’s comments directed at my friends from south india, by half brained gits. nevertheless they always try to take the sportingly, except a very rare outburst. Salute you folks, quite a myth buster this is. Sharing this with your permission.
Peace be upon you all.
Awesomely written! Loved every line , especially the chammak challo bit!!
You indeed have been tortured by Illay Illay po just like we Haryanvis have been by your andu-gundu-mundu.
Wow! You have taken the words right outta my mouth! Every time “south Indians” are picked on in the “north Indian” films (fist pump!) I get reeeallly pissed off! Thanks a ton dude, they needed that!
Reblogged this on sushantpillai's Blog and commented:
We hold these truths to be very self evident.
looks like someone is injured deep within.
i can feel what u feel.
Good show dude! I liked the writing style. May eb a few factual errors while referring to a few things..e.g. Aishwarya rai as a Tulu Brahmin etc. in the comments. Overall.. a neatly written one that has generated a wonderful debate from the people who are used to stereotyping! Keep up the good work
sooper macha!!!
http://uchilpuneeta.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/the-collectivist-disdain-against-the-collectivists/
My reply to your blog and other similar ones that I see floating around the interwebz 🙂
absolute delight to read…and better yet to pass off to every single person 🙂
very well written!!
Man, what can I say! Many comments above that show words of awesomeness sum up my expression!! Though I generally refrain from putting in the same point already made, I simply cant resist saying ‘The Chammak Challo line in the end is awesome!
Y so serious? :p
Excellent spoof and you have made things very clear. I am going to forward this to all my North indian friends.
This is so amazing…I split my sides laughing and the so called “northy’s” with your very bad english with an accent to match, you better mind it!
this is pretty good ! specially loved that dossa and SOUTH is just a direction…
loved reading this
It was about time someone came out n said this! Glad you put it well!
I remember watching Ra-one , in a scene where SRK eats noodels with curds…as though we eat everything with curds. And now, Chennai Express..have u guys noticed Deepika Padukone’s accent when she talks..everytime I watch the trailers I think…God! Give me a break!!
Very well written, reminds me of my childhood wherein we used to live in a chawl with 35 families, all from Rajasthan and only 2 Tamil families including ours and one Telugu family. My grandfather used to be called Master Saab – ironically he was the only educated person in the whole area those days and also called ‘Yemandi’ coz for those marwaris, all south Indians are ‘Yemandi’.
well tried. but nothing’s gonna change. language drops deep roots. perceptions, ideologies, prejudices, stereotyping, and sheer ignorance grow so much when concepts get fixed in the language we use.
this was phenomenal… yet in an amusing way this blog represents a narrow racial stereotype of the North Indian’s narrow racial stereotype of the South Indian!
This is a great article.. Extremely entertaining… It is difficult to write something like this without coming across as offensive to either side.. But I think this article handles it pretty well..
Yennada Rascala!!! What an anthem its been ….Most humorously illuminating write up…With malice towards everyone ,yet none in particular. This piece is oozing information with sarcasm ,yet a very practical observation.!! ”Aadu muttadha gida illa” in Kannada ,means ”there’s no plant that the Goat doesn’t devour”..this’ show piece’ write up too..touches every aspect BUT with beautiful sense of fun & malice. From Abdul Kalam to St. Thomas to idly & dosas…its all encompassing.,secular yet insular.,…Whoever the writer, its sure been one hell of a ride buddy….roller coaster binge…petty factual errors ,like tollywood or Tulu Brahmin etc be damned….The message & the style are brilliant…par excellence…just see the response…I had to scroll down …almost to infinity..the hearts & skulls that this piece has touched could even put Manmohan Singhs/ Chidambaram’s, Budget speech on the back burner…..”Adhbutha, ,swarasyakara ,maarmika””[kannada],…Long Live The One-ness of India aka Bharath aka Hindusthan & more..So ,my people,If the Country’s Name itself Varies…isnt it understandable..that the beauty lies in in the Content & NOT the Container…HAAA He He He…..Jaagthe Raho..!! Hanste Raho ..& like” 3 idiots”.. ” Aaal eeej well”…the Gurkha ,it seems was Deaf …can we ask for more reason to laugh & en-JOY…….Frankly my dears—I DON’T GIVE A DAMN !!!! [Gone with the Wind]
You’re the next internet sensation. Mind was blown 😛 😀
oh! and thanks… these northies had it coming!
Hilarious! 😀 I’ve had more than one person try to correct my pronunciation of sambar which is rather funny cuz I’m like…err we invented the thing?! To be completely fair though, one of my Tamil friends confused Tiruchirapalli with Thiruvananthapuram. So you’ve got to give them that one.
This is genius! And SO TRUE. I have to say, “And if you describe Kathakali as that ‘mask-wallah dance’ one more time, I will Chammak Challo your arse to oblivion, okay?” is officially my favourite line EVER. Bleedy north indians.
Simbly Loved It…:-)
Some one took pain after long time. Fairly good
I am a Tamizh speaking girl from Madras and I now live in Bombay. If the point of this article is to get defensive, you have definitely hit the nail on it’s head. For someone who is so belligerent towards stereotypes, your article is a little stereotypical by itself, don’t you think? People don’t believe me when I say I don’t understand or speak Hindi and it does annoy me that anytime I try to speak to anyone here in English, I get a response in Hindi. BUT I don’t think stereotypes are unique to people who live beyond Andhra Pradesh. Yes, that’s right. They are all not North Indians. I think we are seriously deluding ourselves if we think we are bias free. Ever noticed Keralites being the butt of a joke all the time? You know who is often making such jokes? The so called fellow South Indians. Pardon my rancour, but I have chanced upon so many articles off late that are so defensive about languages, ethnicities, cultures, etc , which do nothing but build barricades between regions and people and leave them more fanatic if nothing else. I think stereotypes are fundamental to any society and before getting so defensive about them, we need wait a moment and think whether or not we indulge in the same. What we need to do to fight stereotypes is to be exposed to different cultures, perhaps read a lot, develop an open mind and more importantly not constantly get defensive about our identities, who we are and where we come from.
And FYI, I’ve known many South Indians who have butchered Hindi by way of their pronunciations. For someone who hasn’t lived in TN or Kerala, ‘zh’ is a difficult letter to pronounce. Give them a break.
Agree with you 100% I have written an article pointing out the flaws here, check it out and tell me what you think!
http://uchilpuneeta.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/the-collectivist-disdain-against-the-collectivists/
Rajni:Kollywood, u mean?
Hilarious! And so agree 🙂
On the face.
Mriggyyy!!! U mentioned Raos :p haha
I found the article hilarious !!! Good work . :* tc
When people assume something about me, I generally take my time to explain how that may or may not be true, cause in a country as wide and varied as mine, it is obvious that people in one corner are going to assume something or the other about people in another corner. But if it is a stereotype or a joke that is happening, I tend to take it lightly. Why, you ask? Because these stereotypes, while a part of me, do not define me. Also, they are funny! Yes, you heard that right!
Let me explain. As a South Indian, born in Salem, Tamil Nadu, whose ancestors are from Mangalore, who grew up in Mysore, whose mom grew up in Bombay, and whose dad grew up in Bangalore, I have as much in common with any other South Indian, as I do with a North Indian or a West Indian or a East Indian.
And yet, its become cool to flaunt this sort of jingoism. I call it the “Oh, I feel oppressed by your silly stereotype, and now I will try to justify myself and in the process stereotype ‘my people’ and ‘your people’ too” syndrome.
Read the rest here: http://uchilpuneeta.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/the-collectivist-disdain-against-the-collectivists/
Everybody on the planet could do with a little more knowledge and a little more tolerance. I totally love listening to MS in the morning, btw- and adore dosa for breakfast. My mum makes the best sambar. ❤ 🙂
Thank you for making my day. Haven’t laughed this loud in years.
Brilliant piece. Very well written. For most up North, everything down South is Madras and everyone is good at Bharatnatyam.
made a few ppl smile 🙂 nice!!
Reblogged this on inksplatis: this is my design .
Good stuff….but maybe you need to realize that generalizations in itself are general…they apply to everyone…and every region…its stupid people who think stupid….and even that might be a similar generalization….but we all do it… :)….for instance….if you think everybody not from the “south” thinks this way….aren’t you generalizing too?
Its a part of living in a country with so many languages and ways of life…
Should not let it bother you in any way
Anyway..as for the looking at it purely as a write-up….Good stuff 🙂
Cheers!!
Man, you are simply amazing. This post is too damn good. I am a tamizh and I have experienced most of the things you have written here.
Reblogged this on The Meta Narratives and commented:
This is a splendid post and every bit of it is good.
awesome one… hahaha……..
Reblogged this on cathmarijan.
Christ almighty, this is EPIC!
I have a colleague who asks me to explain a Tamil dialogue in a Hindi movie, while he knows am a Kannadiga, I pity his stupidity 😉
Awsome!!!! Must say.. I completely understand what u men to express here. I am a so called ‘Northy’ and have been recently posted to New Delhi after getting transferred from Chennai. Here people giggle at my face when I describe the beauty of sunrise at Chennai beach. They find it hilarious when they get to listen that Chennai is a better place than Delhi in terms of climate and other factors. The reason behind this misconception is beacause of those fake people who when in Chennai,describe it to be a pathetic place as compared to our Norths in summers where I would like to mention that in Chennai,even when temperatures are high in daytime,by evening it turns heaven.
Right on mate …. super thalla neenga … BTW No offence but:-
Rajni:Kollywood ; Power Star Pawan Kalyan:Tollywood |m| ….
excuse me? what did you meant by the zebra crossing you arse hole!
ya ya that is cool !!
You made my day. Most hilarious article I’ve read in a long time. Shared it on FB to get some Northies to read this.
awesome. Every culture is subjected to some stereotype or the other. I am a bong. I do not like fish, nor we cook in mustard oil everyday. My dad does not venture out in Dhuti Punjabi or talk in gol gol rasgulla like engliishhhhhh…. yes we can talk in Hindi , but why should we ? Anyway EEEEEEElish fish are rare and expensive commodities. And Bengali lovers dont say EEEEEESHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AT EVERY meeting. Yuck , Bollywood bong stereotypes.
Thanks for so eloquently expressing this! Funny and well written but as a serious issue it’s an old story much talked about and analyzed. I’ve spent a good part of the last 14 years that I have lived in the ‘South’ explaining unsuccessfully exactly some of the above to my ‘Northie’ friends and relatives. Absolutely cannot fathom why someone continues to confuse Kannadiga with ‘Kannada’!! However, aren’t folks living ‘Down South’ guilty of the same stereotype thinking everything north of Karnataka/Andhra is a ‘Northie’ or a ‘Punjabi’ without giving the Bongs, Biharis, Maharashtrians and our good friends from the North East their due? I also think that this will cease to be an issue in the next couple of decades as we mingle more thanks to technology and business bringing more people from all over India down south and helping bust the stereotypes. Then all we’ll have will be articles like this one!
well said dude… and i just loved the last bit..’ I will Chammak Challo your arse to oblivion,’ 😀 😀
Dude, it’s Rajni:Kollywood, not Tollywood. Kollywood= Kodambakkam +Hollywood= Tamizh cinema. Tollywood is the Telugu version. I thought you writing ‘for’ South Indian wont make such an obvious mistake!
It’s a brilliantly written piece- fantastic humour and great perspective!!!!
I must mention, though, that I was surprised to read some of the comments that followed- the communal rift in our country runs this deep???? If we’re going to be this uncomfortable with each other ( which usually stems from ignorance rather than experience) how are we going to get anywhere as a nation? Blaming foreigners and politicians for “divide and rule” is a load of trash. It’s each of us that should change.
Let’s just take this for what it is- a well written piece by someone with a great sense of humour and a lot of wit. Kudos!
All said and done, when one refers to east of India how many of us think to Imphal or Meghalaya (I know someone will blurt out an Assam). Chances are everyone will talk of Calcutta. So much for Indians knowing about ‘their’ Bharat mahaan.
Also pls add to point 1:
“Manipal is a city in Karnataka, while Manipur is a state in the Northeastern part of India”
Rajni-kollywood not tollywood..
Absolutely well written article! Many of the responses are beautiful too. Speaking of well known actresses from the south, let’s not forget Vidya Balan. And please stop with the ‘wood’s. Just because the American film industry is based in a place called Hollywood doesn’t mean that the mixed bag of Indian film industries should name themselves after that word. Do we have to demean ourselves in front of the whole world? Can we not be innovative enough to find better names than tolly, kolly and molly?
And just for the record, I am a malayali and I am also a human being!
absolutely absolutely….i second your point. but my point is he has made a silly mistake in a ‘well-written article’ and i just pointed it
Reblogged this on The Nameless One.
kalakki maashe! hahaha..
lovedl it..
Now this one seems like a fitting reply for all those chennai express out there .
And all north eastians are not chinkies….or assaamiees…
very good post….
take a chill dude.
what ever happens u r south Indians and not Indians.
cheap anna shit
“A certain Raja makes Money” this definitely was the icing on the cake !!
Have you ever tried Italy Dosa ?? Had seen this written on a roadside thhela in Delhi ages ago. the poor guy actually meant Idli Dosa !!
This is just simply hilarious! 🙂 And if you can enjoy at just that, great! If not, you’re just as bad as those who stereotype you! 😛
If you don’t mind my saying, it reeks of that other famous post- An open letter to a delhi boy. Could this be the same blogger under a different name? Or maybe you were just inspired. Anyway,good one.
Woooahhtt!!!!ya that was great and true!My question to you: ” you gonna be a doctor sahab,really?”
excellent… i loved thi spost…. specially point 9 which i needto point to my north indian husband!!!
Very nice read!! Just to add to the list… “Madrasis” are not just all folks below Maharashtra or from the southern belt. They are just folks from Madras..I agree we were once under the Madras Presidency. Going by that logic the North should all be Mughals 🙂
And No, not all Tamilians eat with things dripping from their elbow. I get really annoyed when someone tries to imitate a licking action starting from their elbow.
Southies dont pretend to be intelligent (say for eg. like the bongs), we are intelligent
Well written, mate. I kinda had stopped responding to morons who make blanket assumptions about people (madrasis, nerds, heard it all!). Sometimes I had itched to say- well atleast we dont say “yeedyat” or kongraetz but thought – nah , whatever makes em happy! although generally i do not tolerate fools gladly. Its kinda important to have a sense of humour abt things.
As for Shah rukh, dont even get me started. Nothing to do with where hes from or his (non)acting skills, but the man doesnt even look masculine. Muscles alone maketh a man not. I mean come to think of it, south indian films boast quite a few pot bellied moustachioed testosterone firing actors just like how Bollywood has quite a few gay hair dresser types , wth all the overmade up, trying too hard, top to head designer clothed ninnies. I think im gonna read the rest of ur blog, mate!
Loved your references and the acute observations and comparisons you’ve made.
–MY OPINION–
See, let’s be fair. You have written about a certain type of people, stereotypes, I would say.And, even I think exactly like you.. There are some folks(read my friends) who always try to compare Chennai/Madras with some other places and point out the flaws/negatives. I hate that. I say to them,”why cannot be this possibly good?”
And,about those certain people, just ignore them. All places have their different taste. I remember a line that I heard in a poem in school-“Learn to eat whatever you find when you move to a new place.” Well, that was the extract of the poem.
To be honest, I used to think there is a phrase ‘Yenna Rascela’ in Tamil, blame it on our ignorant films and media. Thanks for ruling this one out. But, about ‘nerd’, if anyone addresses me as a’nerd’, I would love to take pride in that.
just lovely man… chammak challo your arse to oblivion… thats toooooo much hard slap… 😀 😀
why author is trying to create difference between north and south ? aren’t we one ?
If this article is just for light fun – It’s great!
But if it is meant to make fun of people who dont know much about South India and tend to use stereotypes – well my friend, then it is not a good intentioned article and I will not term it as funny as well.
In this huge wide world there are too many things to know. Stereotypes are a evolutionary psychological feature that decrease mental load and prepare you at a subliminal level regarding a new stimulus. There are gender stereotypes, regional stereotypes, linguistic stereotypes, racial stereotypes, age stereotypes, sexual orientation stereotypes etc. etc. In short, there are as many stereotypes as the number of possible group-classifications on this planet (which can include something as absurd as ‘elder child stereotype’ or ‘favorite color stereotype’).
My point is – If some people use some weird stereotypes to describe people from South India, South Indians also do that for other regions. Everyone is doing it for the group they are not well-acquainted with. After getting acquainted with people from a certain group we correct our stereotypes but we keep using them for humor or leg-pulling. This is not ill-intentioned. Some people do use stereotypes to express superiority but that stands true for any group. I am sure some people from different states in South India do indulge in derogatory mocking of each other or of a Gujrati, a UPite or a Bengali or a Punjabi cracking those Rajinder, Parminder, Harvinder jokes.
You dont need to ‘chammak challo’ anybody’s arse for using a stereotype. Most importantly you forget to mention that people also use positive stereotypes which increase respect and affinity towards the other group.
This cocktail is the best part about this country. Cherish it!
Very well said,actually i stop thinking if i come across a well written stuff and become the rare blankly smiling,non blinking,arm pit scratching moron!you helped me with just the right amount of ideas above!My dad would generously praise APites for cracking IAS exams,Tamilians for their aptitude, Kerela folks for being very close to each other when outside(they would refer a malayali, irrespective of their caste,religion as “eh toh hamara gaon se hai”!)
As part of social experience we have heard family,friends,strangers,media..say such stereotypes and we as the perfect social lab rats have accepted it in some point in time,which i feel is ok untill we don’t pass these “assumptions” to our kids,and give them the liberty and sense of acceptance.
North/South here are some binding factors:
1) Moms are same across,they care about their kids and lunch dinner brkfasts!
2) We all eat,fart,smile and sleep!
3) We all like weekends!
4) We all have portholes on our city roads!
5) We all listen to FM radio on way to office( Amchi Mumbai till Namma Bengaluru).
6) We all use turmeric (food,marriage,pujas..).
7) All the ladies like to get dressed up for marriage parties, and we speak a common language of gold,sarees,icky mother-in-laws!
8) All our Indian men know about cricket,chai-cigarette,best girl in campus/office,petrol price,investments and Maa ke haath ka khana!
9) All of us strive to make a difference in our lives,crib about the politics,which to do better,know that if we don’t study well or “sit for that competitive exam” nothing good can come out.
10) We have feel a pang of mutual uneasiness when we have to step into Cannes and we end up overdoing “Indian”,even as compared to ourselves back here!
You can check Deepika in Cocktail and in Cannes..
This is brilliant!
Just what I wanted to say in response to the post. Many thanks.
Salman and Rajani (not rajni) Both do movies that reminds u of cartoon network
However, the latter knows acting
Hi fellow blogger,
I liked the article, I had a good laugh too. I have seen a lot of people use the phrases that you mentioned in the post. But the way you reacted to it seems to be a bit strong. If you are saying that you are proud of your race/region/caste/language or whatever, there is nothing wrong about it. I am too but not to the extent that I find it disturbing my mental peace.
If you are saying that you have never stereotyped any other regional/linguistic group, look into your self. How many times have you type-casted people?
Aren’t Marwadis very cheeky about money? Aren’t Delhi-ite/Haryanvi guys brainless? Aren’t Bengali girls BONGS? Aren’t all Punjabis Santa-Banta? Aren’t people from the North-East Chinkis?
You talk as if you have been at the receiving side always. It is how we all are. That is why when someone says that India is a nation with diversity, YOU, yes YOU feel proud.
When I tell my friends here that we have 18 official languages and I speak 5, they find it great, and so do I. They love ‘Mundian tu bachke rahi’ as much as they love ‘Kolaveri di’. They don’t understand the language but they love it.
As for the feeling bad about you culture, you have no moral right to judge anyone. Because you must agree to the fact that you have done the same some or the other time. I don’t say I have not. But all I say is I don’t get angry when they call any Marathi guy ‘ghati’ (literally means people from the Western Ghats but often used for socially or educationally backward people) I know this is not true. I know it doesn’t fit every Marathi guy. But I don’t make a fuss over it. I don’t cry mommy. About Rajani, he is Marathi. But I don’t say he is not Tamil or for that matters Indian.
South India is a region agreed. You don’t get angry when someone calls you an Indian do you? So why when the ask you if you are from Southern part of India?
Chammak Challo your arse? Why?
Illa Illa po, don’t you think all Delhi guys keep saying: Behen-de-t**** or other words? Is that not stereotyping?
About skin color, you make it obvious that you are not proud of your dark complexion. I am not fair but I don’t feel bad about it. So what if someone thinks it is bad. I know what I am.
People think the 3 cities you mentioned are close-by. They are ignorant. Smile and leave it.
They find the eating style ugly to look at. So? My friends in the US say eating with hands seems weird, I made it a point that they tried eating with hands. And mind it, they liked it. Peruvian, American, Chinese, Guatemalan, Bolivian, Japanese, all of them thought that eating with hands brings more flavor to the food. I don’t find it annoying that they call it names.
One more thing, if you so specifically wanted to mention that idli is breakfast, you must also note that EVERYONE across the entire nation loves idlis. So feel proud about it.
Lastly, one thing that you perhaps missed. The title to your post just highlights that ‘stereotyping’ is way down in our blood. Indians are racist and discriminating, but they don’t mean it when they say it. Do you???
Well said!
Awesome ! 🙂
Kunal, the stereo type towards the south is for one generation too, many I remember my grandma’s grouse against it, if alive she would be all of 88yrs today
Can you please explain a bit Parwatisingari? I think I am failing to understand where/how to punctuate your statement. Or I don’t get the meaning.
The stereo type of the respectable south Indian has been there as long as Hindi cinema. My grandmother if alive would be 88yrs, she would complain about this stereotyping too.
So you say this stereotyping is extreme? Yes perhaps it is. And movies cannot depict what is reality. Let me tell you, as a Marathi guy, all Hindi movies show Marathi ‘kaamwali’ or some cheapo poor guy. Does that make me one? Are all the Marathis working as house maids? No. I don’t say it is good. But it has existed and it has existed on both the sides.
Having been with non Indians for quite some time now, I can tell you that Indians are perhaps the most racist lot. I have made fun of some Asian friends and they know I am just having fun. I realized it one day when a friend in a fit of laughter said: you Indians are so racist. And it clicked. Yes we are. We love to stereotype and laugh about it. Ok. We don’t mean harm by a few words.
But yes, everything has to be in moderation.
Peace Out!
LOL, my maharashtrian mother-in-law told me all south Indians were uncivilized.
good one yaar.. when i went for my navy training i had the same experience..everyone calling me mallu..and thinking they are superior..we “poor madirasis” had the last laugh in the end..bagging 18 out of the 20 top positions while passing out..beware of the silent killers..
Wow. Amazing. You have actually portrayed the pangs of agony we south Indians have when we settle in any state out of south India. Amazingly written and hilarious.
wat a frustrated soul u r…. u can’t push things to other ppl….watever experienced above by u as explained in ur post speaks of other ppl ignorance and lack of knowledge[like wat the word South India means and all??]…. if u want to make a point a plain message [to those who listen] will do the job not sarcasm….
i have stayed in Tamil Nadu for 6 years and i respect their culture….i love idli…when i go to a hotel , i order mostly idli, dosa,uttapam… besides its not like only Nothies make fun of Southies…its a 2 way process….i had to myself face the descrimination quite a few times while i was in TN….
My point is stop complaining nd falling prey to divisive policies of the nation…. or dividing nation…
Nice post..good sense of humour..
hahaha…awesome ! ‘I will Chammak Challo your arse to oblivion’
Well articulated 🙂
Interesting read, thanks
This is really hilarious stuff, just made my horribly boring day take a complete u-turn…great read..my fav- ‘Andu-Gundu-Naaru-Gundu’ lol..keep it up…
No Point covered on Mallu Porn.. 😀
Kadak!
Kickass I say……! You r so bang on man….. Love love love it…… 🙂
Zebra crossing on forehead- even lord shiva will be dancing up there, not sure with joy or anger
Hilarious!! Loved ‘zebra-crossing’ and the ‘mask-wala dance’ 😀
I would’ve loved to read more points 😀
As one blogger to another, Dreamweaver:
This is a good attempt at sarcasm with well-written lines and immaculately placed witty sentences. The use of phrases like “baaju baaju mein” etc made for a good read 🙂 All in all – syntactically – an excellent piece of writing.
But then there’s the subject of the piece. And I’m sorry (maybe I shouldn’t be) but you are from a Southern state residing in the so-called Northern state (although Maharashtra would geographically be West India, not North) and I believe you have written down your experiences. Point taken.
But, please do note that the plight is the same for people from the “North” who are living in the Southern states. WE face similar questions, similar ignorance about us etc.
I, for instance, am a native of Sikkim who has been in Bangalore for 9 years now. Every time I say “Sikkim”, people go “Where is it?”. I’m not sure how many of you even know the number of states in North-East India, leave alone the names of the states and their capitals. And yes, Sikkim is a part of North-East India.
And speaking of punctuation – interesting it was, I thought – if people think that non-South Indians do not know how to pronounce sambar or dosa and get it wrong all the time, then I wonder if it’s the same as South Indian folks saying “parotaa” for what would normally be known as “paratha”? 🙂 And let’s not even get to the way “daal” (lentils, you know) are pronounced down South.
It’s a common paradox I guess – living in a different city makes us realize this. Just wanted to let you know that you are not alone 🙂 Generalization exists everywhere, and that’s the unfortunate thing.
Take care. Cheers.
A nice presentations to pierce through the misinterpretation of ” South India”… so is it an eye opener for North India only or, “Rest of the India” ???? with due respect, I bring something to your notice ladies and gentlemen, “Paschimbanga” can not be a part of North India, it finds its place in Eastern India… you are coming up with another prototype to do away with one prototype. And its not necessary that every second person has the same misinterpretation of “South India”. Just because they cant read, write or understand Tamil, its not proper to say that they don’t like Subramanya Bharti. But, still I really like the attempt to rectify an error sitting on a millions of Indian minds.
with every point i think it can’t get better … and it does!!! n for that i love u.. simply made my day!!!
I’ve often thought of making an “Introduction to South India(ns)” brochure for people. Thank you for sparing me the effort. Love it.
“arse of oblivion” (y) rofl waiting for more to come
🙂
simply brilliantly awesome 🙂
There is nothing good about this article. It just shows how a person wants to pull down people from other states of India just in order to defend his own opinion. On top of it people who add in a word saying that its well said on their behalf also reflects that how much neglected and biased they feel in their own country and don’t have enough courage to tell people bang on their faces that this is undivided India. The author seems to be especially biased towards Bengalis which is very very sad, wish such educated people spend their valued time in writing more inspiring stories and blogs than such satires.
I laughed till I was ill! Absolutely hilarious! God bless your parents for they begat a genius 🙂
Nailed It!!!…
You’ve put all my frustration into this excellent article. Many of my North Indian friends think Telugu and Tamil are same… I had to be bold in answering “The difference between Telugu & Tamil is similar to what the difference between Hindi and Bengali is”… Excellent article..
Wow! You are seriously burnt! Heh!
dis is osum.. being half kannadigan i can totally relate to dis.. kudos 2 u for bringing it upright here… thank u.. n d icing on the cake is the last sentence… u totally bought me der.. 🙂 way 2 go yaar!!! proud of u…
very well written – kudos !
correction:
rajini: kollywood
Awesome!! Like the satirical way of putting it across.
Consider this………..if the 4 ‘southern states’ (AP, TN, KL, KA) were to secede from the Indian Union, what impact would it have on the national economy?
Sorry to hear your separatist notions. A new Jinnah in making.
Your sense of humor is profoundly gifted! Not to forget immensely hilarious! I have half a mind to circulate this to my ‘northie’ pals with all their stereotyped ‘Madrasi’ comments but I’m pretty sure I’ll be hounded by the HR department with compliance mails! 😉 😛 (oh yea! IT field is filled with such noobs (not all some) who’ve never seen the bottom half of the Indian map!)
Hilarious! Even though I’ve grown up in Gujarat, I’ve spent half my life in Vellore, so I consider myself a honorary Tamil. Every time I tell this to someone, their first reaction is, “But- but- you don’t look like a South Indian!” As if there’s a cookie cutter ‘South Indian’ appearance! Honestly, Bollywood needs to stop caricaturing ‘Madrasis.’
Stereotypes are always there and will remain. They add fun factor. You don’t have to take them seriously. If you do, well then do at your own risk.
Thomas the apostle didn’t introduce christianity in India.
he did.. ignorant
Kudos to you for putting it down so well. Hilarious and at the same time, frank no nonsense post 🙂
We are from Kerala, but my father owing to his job was transferred from place to place. His first posting out of kerala was in Assam…he and my mom with two very small kids made the move to Assam without knowing the language or culture (we are talking early 80s here)…from there on we moved from place to place including Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh). One thing I can be sure of is that these misconceptions lasts only till they know you better. We learnt the local language wherever we went. We never became experts but the localities appreciated our efforts. We had to use mustard oil instead of coconut oil coz the coconut oil always froze in those weathers. I hated my idlis…but i loved to carry them to school for lunch because it was such a sought after item that i cud choose whom to exchange it with. I love being a mallu and everything that goes with it, but at the same time I enjoyed being a part of where I lived and those places will always be a part of what I am. PS: My younger sis and I talk in Hindi even though we have been living in the southern states for past 2 decades….its more our mother tongue than Malayalam will ever be!!
Exactly. Until unless you let people talk to you and talk with the people, no one would appreciate anyone.
Super-o-super… A must read for every North Indian. Sharing it on my blog. 🙂
I am a Malayali, and I strongly believe such articles are unnecessary. Each sect of our country is stereotyped in some manner or the other. I don’t think anyone has anything to complain about.
lol..loved that..zebra crossing pasted across my forehead. Hilarious
Add to that “filter coffee is good, but some of us drink tea as well”
By the way, what about some of our enlightened news readers ? They can mouth Anders Rasmussen or Haile Gebrselassie without blinking an eyelid. But just drop “Nedunchezhian” into their newsfeed and, after an exaggerated pause, they will lisp an unrecognizable version of that name as if the person were something that crawled in from Krypton !
hahah hilarious read
Sweet!!!
That is one pissed off dude! I am a northie born of southie parents, until this day and probably for evermore will be trying to draw parallels between the two………….. there’s a lot to laugh about, and there are other things that just makes one lose their brain on both sides. I consider myself lucky to have most of either side……
a light hearted one..hope we all irrespective of what..take it in stride. I admire the bloggers creativity ,language skills n sense of humour. Would love to read more such…we r so much diverse n we have so much more to write abt.
Though I have not come across such situations I loved your write up and laughed till tears rolled down my eyes. Your sense of humour and writing skills are too good. Nice one!
Nice, funny & the truth. Also sad as it exposes what a farce the concept of India is…
The concept of India is not farce. It is enjoyable. In every big country there are regions with different culture then others, which leads to stereotyping. This does not make the basis of those country a farce.
hats off anna….tooooo good
Reblogged this on J Walker – Smooth Talker and commented:
Well said mate.. 🙂
I am from north and have been living in South for quite some time now. I was apprehensive but gradually fell in love with the sambhar-rice, idli on mornings (this was in Tamil Nadu). Now I am in Bangalore and I can never comprehend why some people from Delhi etc. come to Bangalore and have the most atrocious, nasty, absolutely racist things to say about south indians whom they collectively call ‘madrasis’ and yet are dying to go to the happening places like Egg Factory and Only Place and what not! I am talking about my flatmate from Delhi. I was so disgusted I lectured him on it and told him I won’t take you to any new cool place now and I haven’t and won’t. I don’t know what the big deal in eating out of a banana leaf or of one’s own hands is, I for one love it. It is authentically Indian.
Similar story here.
Spot on. It irks me to no end that up above the Vindhyas folks think we are all flowers and oil!
damn crazy! loved it
respect everybody on this earth, respect every language, their cultures and religions…. those who usually come out with such kinds of nasty comments on South Indians should think that we are also the part of that country where you belong to…..
Nicely written.
And finally going through almost all the comments, there is this question that comes to my mind.
Is there some place/site/blog where the northies claim racial supremacy over the fellow southies?
Are you not aware that the bhaiyaas(read Biharis, UP-wallahs) are made fun of everywhere? The same goes for Sardarjis. But then, this happens. And until this does not lead to any serious economic and social issues, you can just laugh it off.
In fact, Telugu is made fun by Tamils, and vice versa. So, it is not that a particular community is the villain here. This happens everywhere.
Every culture is rich, and people belonging to one(with not much education) will consider it to be superior over others. This works like religion, you see. You are bound to have a biased view on other cultures. This goes for all the states, including yours. Not everyone is Mahatma Gandhi, you know. But then, I reiterate that this bias should not lead to any economic or social issues. And our constitution sees to that.
I hail from the “Cow belt”, and although the people there do call you madrasis(which by the way, is not for fun), you are held with high regards. Why else would so many of us come to the South for studies.
You underestimate yourself; and unnecessarily pay heed to some random bloke who is entirely ignorant of what you are. You have to know that you are an essential, if not the most important cog in this machine called India.
Ohh, and if you seriously feel that calling you madrasis is such a big issue, why call a certain region “cow-belt” ? That too is branding, right?
Cheers.
I am no writer, so please pardon my mistakes.
This is intended to all those wannabe’s from Delhi ( mind it! I meant wannabe’s) I suppose you are not one of those.
I have some good friends from Delhi and yes one of them is a very good friend of mine. This write-up is totally intended to those who do not even fall into the category of good people from Delhi.
I am writing this because I have been constantly bullied by these wannabe’s….
Why we eat with our hands: .Each finger aids in the transformation of food, before it passes on to internal digestion. Gathering the fingertips as they touch the food stimulates the five elements and invites Agni to bring forth the digestive juices. As well as improving digestion the person becomes more conscious of the tastes, textures and smells of the foods they are eating, which all adds to the pleasure of eating.
More details here: http://www.hinduhumanrights.info/vedic-wisdom-behind-eating-with-your-hands/
Women in south put turmeric to look fair: Do you know what you are speaking? Women put turmeric because if you use turmeric on your face, it removes the facial hair.
Why do you wear dhotis?: Well at least I have my tradition. Do you have yours or is it a borrowed one?
Why do you use Aiyoo, chumma or machan? We never ask you when you use “yaar” in every sentence. Or when you use “MC and BC” to begin and end a sentence. Do we?
Why can’t you look cool like us? You mean to say we should buy those fake levis and Ray ban shades and look cool. We know which Karol Bagh market it comes from 🙂 We also know that you secretly use those Indulekha oil trying your luck to stop hair fall.
Your Hindi is so funny: Well I at least know to speak Hindi even if my slag is bad ( we agree ) but do you know to speak Kannada or Tamil?
All south Indian movies have Tata sumo’s flying in air: We agree that we are a bit more creative 🙂 but what does Salman khan’s movies show nowadays?
What is so great about the mask dance (Kathakali)? It takes 8-10 years of intense training to become a kathakali artist. Respect their dedication to the art!
South Indian songs are so slow and boring: I am no musician so I can’t comment. Let me write a mail to AR Rahman to check why is he so cruel to us?
You guys are all dark: Yes we are! We are dark because we want to increase the market share of Fair and Lovely.
Stop speaking like this, I know Karate: I know “Marma adi”. Do you know what that is?
I will not rant more, I know I have already added some more fuel to the fire.
To all those good Delhi people: I had got the opportunity to visit Delhi once and I must say it is a well planned city with a lot to enjoy. I envy you guys for all those eateries you have there. I spent close to 4 days just eating from every other place, one could suggest and I must say that “you are blessed with good food”.
WTF is wrong with you people…every region is stereotyped. You doing this makes you what- more clever? You are grown men with (I’m assuming, half a brain), don’t you see?…. the more you try to distance yourselves from being stereotyped, the more you become one. Also, You did exactly what was done to you. I’ve lived in DElhi and born in WB and South Indians are some of the more sincere people I’ve met. However, I’m quite disappointed today. Having lived in Maharashtra and endured prejudice to the point of being violently attacked for being a North Indian, I can tell you one thing- NO ONE, I know has till date witnessed a South Indian being beaten for being a SOuth Indian, neither in the North nor in Maharashtra. On a lighter note: My sardar senior in college, used to lead his own baraat at noon everyday!! He did it on purpose.
YOU sound like a teenager in your post.
Wow! Talk about unity in diversity. Well…..How much fun would it be if we were to accept the stereotypes that we were born in and laugh at ourselves once in a while…..Regional associations are fun! And at the end of the day, the be it idlis , dhoklas , parathas or puran poli , Its all Indian stuff folks. And as far as people who make generalizations about other people from the four corners of India just to annoy, Ignoring them would be the best way to deal with them. The fact that we have such enormous diversity in spite of being not-so-enormous on the world map, should be something to be proud of, laugh at generously and taken in stride , not squabble about mindlessly!
This is brilliant! I have lived outside the south of India for a long time now and I’m so tired of the nonsense that passes off as ‘knowledge’ about the ‘South Indians’.
You people yourself are obsessed with white skin, aren’t you?
I mean check your movies , the heroine is always unnaturally fairer than any other girl in the movie.
Am I wrong?
Infatuation for fairer skin is a national problem not local.
निंदक नियरे राखिये, आँगन कुटी छवाय |
बिन पानी बिन साबुन, निर्मल करे सुभाव ||
This is what i meant when i said… I get to see both sides and enjoy it too 🙂
Ha ha ha very good blog…. There is no unity in diversity in India. Indians are very bad racists!!!!!
Sharp writing Mrigank. Hope you have seen this article on South Indian stereotypes: http://baradwajrangan.wordpress.com/2013/06/24/ayyo-rama-whats-aappening/
@ Uma Rametek : Deepika Padukone (pronounced as दीपिका पदुकोणे ) IS from BENGALOORU and she is not Maharashtrian. Her surname itself comes from a village in Karnataka – called Padukone (पदुकोणे ) (https://maps.google.co.in/maps?q=padukone+village+in+karnataka).
and @Mrigank : Well written article!
There..that’s the one : दीपिका पडुकोणे – Deepika Padukone and पडुकोणे – Padukone ( had typed the above hindi words at an online typing site and hence the typo in the previous comment)
Thank you very much for writing this. With all my love for the unique and hatred of stereotypes I hope this goes viral.
Very well written. I think the ability to laugh at oneself is the best test for the existence of a sense of humor. Here is an art piece in a somewhat similar vein http://www.behance.net/gallery/The-Malayalee-Alphabet/9958061
Loved the part on religion. zebra crossing on the forehead–hilarious.
I read it and its well written, however, one question arises, when any peson from south can call a punjabi, a gujrati, asami , bihari all north indians, then why to feel offended when we call them south indian, there no teasing in this, its just a perception…. and please do not feel complex about ur culture, I lived in almost all parts of india and i really enjoy and like the varities we have and how different our culture is but still we are united as indians. There will always be effect of some illitrate people from region to region who sitting inside a well think this is the only world and others are aliens,,, for example… anyone who speaks hindi in punjab are reffered BIhari… and anyone in bihar speaking hindi are angrez… so its jut LOL,, lets enjoy the diversity in our culture and behaviour of some stupid people in our country… they have not got opportunity like us to visit places in india… they simply live under some perception and imagination as potrayed by media.. or some other means…
India is one of the rare countries which has diversity in each and every region… that is our speciality… lets not try to explain why we are like this or you are like that… we all are unique and together stand as INDIANS…
most of the northies still think kerala is in chennai…ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That’s utterly crass – you are just making a point for the sake of it.
Loved the article! Brilliantly written. Loved the humorous bits!
The come back comments, trying to belittle the north Indians are slightly disappointing.
I thought the point of this article is to clear misconceptions, break stereotypes and rise above; but some comments end up reinforcing stereotypes!
I am a north Indian, but not the ignorant one!
I am well aware, in fact most of the people I know are well aware that every individual who comes from south India is not a Madarasi; It’s just convenient sometimes.
P.S: There are quite a few divisions among north Indians as well… but we don’t fuss over it!
Indian first 😉
+ 1
wow! I am so glad I found your blog and hence your post… I am not from any particular state cause my lineage is an amalgamation of various ethnicity and hence i truly like to call myself an Indian (however cliched that sounds)…
what irks me is when we misinterpret and hence generalize…
don’t want to go all soppy, patriotic, preachy and other adjectives that I generally get… just wanted to tell you that I totally loved the post 😀
Why not change the terminology to southern/northen india/indians to rule out confusions. Many of the younger generation has started calling suji ka halwa as meetha upma , so may be few decades down the lane northies will be like southies and vice versa.
For a Tam Brahm from Kerala who grew up in Pune, as the only ‘Madrasi’ family in the locality, and who now lives in Namma Bengaluru …… I can almost rewind all the years in these instances narrated !!! Please travel the country, it will change your preconceived notions !!! …. everyone South of the Vindhyas are not Madrasis, similarly all North of the Vindhyas are not Punjabis !!! East is not only Bongs !!! The West has its inhabitants too…. Marwadis, Gujjus and our very own Marathi bhaus and bahinis !!!
Hey Sujata,
You are the mann!!! i was reading the comments from top to bottom, got fed up, so started from bottom to top. Only to search for one comment that i could relate to. And here it is!! yours.
Am a Malayalee, born n brought up in Mumbai, worked in Delhi, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Hyderabad. can speak 6 Indian languages fluently and can manage to speak 3 others in bits n pieces, also good at 2 foreign languages. Lastly, i no longer stay in India.
So, my question to all these people out here fighting for which part of the country is better (and there are numerous similar posts too) is, “What am I?” “Which side do i take?”
I recently witnessed a fight (note that it was a fight and not a mere argument) here, on further probing, i was told that they are fighting over which political party is better suited to govern India. As mentioned, I no longer reside in India, and this fight was amongst Indians staying abroad!!
After all thats said and done, i would just like to add one last line. If this is what our future holds, “R.I.P. India”
Regards,
Eon Heath.
p.s. :
1. Dear Author, when you say “no offense meant” we all know, its a paradox to be within the limits and yet offend.
2. I use a pseudonym not for hiding my origins, but because thats the name i use in the virtual world. So, kindly spare the trouble of Ms. or Mr.Who
umm…Rajini not from tollywood bro
But isn’t that a mask-wallah dance?
*Tears of happiness* You spoke my mind! * Claps Claps*
IN SHORT WE ARE STUPID INDIANS…
You summed it up my friend!
Nice one! Even Bollywood has been showing South Indians in poor light. Be it “Padosan” or “3 Idiots”, a South Indian is portrayed as someone who may be talented or scholastic, but not a true winner in life. But it is a North Indian who is projected as street smart, superior and successful. It is not true that all South Indians speak Hindi in that typical accent that is shown so stereotyped. This overall discrimination feels so ridiculous and obnoxious.
Well written humor presented in a subtle way. Excellent blog! Brought on a smile. I was able to relate to it in so many ways. The last line was a gem. And then, the HORROR – Read one fifth or maybe one seventh of the comments – wow – some of us sure have the talent in turning everything to a North/South, East/West, Longitude/Latitude, Fair/Dark, Tall/Short based debate. Appreciate the blog and PEACE out folks!! Mind it!
well said n well written 🙂 loved it!
They ask me if I speak Malayali. I ask them if they speak Hindu. That leaves them confused, just the way I wanted it.
U speak for all South Indians… I salute you….
Great read. Not a south-indian but having lived in South India for over a decade, I can appreciate everything that is written here. Plus, I loved your style of writing. Very refreshing indeed.
Loved it!!! I have a ton of friends from all over .,….. but some of what u said is bang on – south is like one single entity for a number of them and we are too tolerant to ever take offense…….. but this was kick ass!!
Absolutely……Loved it!!!
if kathakali is not “mask wala dance”, then what is it….a “lungi waala dance” and Lata mangeshkar had better things to do on life than utter “gibberish”
உங்கள் எலும்புகளை உடைத்து இல்லை, என்னுடைய செய்கிறது. என்று தெளிவாக இருக்கிறது. உங்கள் செல்கள் பாக்டீரியா மற்றும் வேறு சுரங்க விட வைரஸ்கள் செயல்படும். உனக்கு உடம்பு இல்லை, நான் செய்கிறேன். என்று தெளிவாக இருக்கிறது. ஆனால் சில காரணங்களால், நீங்கள் மற்றும் நான் தண்ணீர் அதே வழியில் செயல்பட. நாங்கள் மிக வேகமாக அதை விழுங்க, நாம் தடைப்பட்டு. நம் நுரையீரலில் சில கிடைக்கும், நாம் மூழ்கடிக்க. அது போல் தோன்றலாம் ஆனால் உண்மையற்ற, நாம் இணைக்கப்பட்டு, நீங்களும் நானும் நாம் எதிர் முனைகளில் ஒரே வளைவு, இருக்கிறோம்.
இப்போது Tec-9, தென் மியாமி ஒரு அபத்தத்தையே தெளிப்பு துப்பாக்கி உள்ளது என்று. இந்த துப்பாக்கி அமெரிக்க குற்றம் மிக பிரபலமான துப்பாக்கி என்று விளம்பரப்படுத்தப்பட்டது. நீங்கள் அந்த கதை நம்ப முடிகிறதா? இது உண்மையில் சிறிய புத்தகத்தில் அது வருகிறது என்று கூறுகிறார்: அமெரிக்க குற்றம் மிக பிரபலமான துப்பாக்கி. போன்ற அந்த கதை உண்மையில் பெருமை தான்.
a kannadiga brahmin married to a marwari, i can tell you that being introduced as a ‘madrasi’ is now not worth baring my teeth.but once in a while, i let myself go…so i agree and sympathize with you.
Its so funny how we Indians, be it from the South or North or even the East or West…..love to make an issue of everything.
By the way, I am a south Indian…but mostly a proud Indian.
Loved it.Have faced many things you’ve written about. But we all suffer this to a great extent when it comes to our knowledge about other parts of the country, like the north east for example. SO let us all make it a point to educate ourselves about our wonderful country.
Soooper Macha!
ur post was thoroughly entertaining.. enjoyed it.. 🙂 keep writing..
amazing..i am a born maharashtrian , brought up and studied in delhi and last 17 yrs in Bangalore, I now call myself a kannadiga. What you have written is very very true..some of my “northindia” friends when call me will ask “oye madrasi, idly dosa kha liya? hahaha…
What do i think of it.. It is Ragingly Hilarious. I loved each and every word of it, not just because i’m a malayalee. I loved the in ur face attitude. Simple, Funny, witty,a re just a few words i can think of to say how wonderful your post it.
Amazing! Great job and congratulations on everything.
First of all, let me be clear that this is not a reply to the original post which I thought was satirical and hilarious. Instead, this is a reply to most of the comments that followed which have been judgmental and border line offensive.
I am a Keralite born in Northern part of the state. Though I have studied and worked in few parts of the country, I cannot claim (unlike many others who have commented before me) that I have fully understood the culture of those places to analyze and judge them. So, whatever I am writing here is from the little experience I have and I can be wrong.
I have often been ridiculed by my friends from Southern Kerala for the “strange” dialect in my part of the state and I have criticized them from being selfish and arrogant. But whenever I see something like http://www.firstpost.com/sports/ipl/hero-worshipped-in-kerala-sreesanth-still-a-victim-in-his-state-788627.html, I find this overwhelming urge to reply and correct the writer of the article, despite the fact that author takes about Keralites in general, and not about my particular region.
In the same way, I may make fun of my Tamil friends for the larger than life image of their actors and politicians, but I feel deeply offended when I hear my North Indian colleagues commenting on how horrible it would be if they get transferred to Chennai and how irritating the people over there are.
Likewise, I might consider a few North Indians pompous and fake, but that does not stop me from being furious when I find that foreigners criticize about the way Indians eat with their hands or about the way we use the toilets (Warning : The link contains graphic images – http://www.chinasmack.com/2010/pictures/filthy-india-photos-chinese-netizen-reactions.html).
My point is that even though we may fight over regions or languages, it does not stop us from being proud of the collectivist entity that we belong to. I am a proud Keralite but that does not mean I am not proud of being an Indian.
Extending the same, I am proud that Mohanlal belongs to my state but I am also proud that Satyajit Ray is an Indian.
I feel proud that P T Usha is a Keralite, but feel the same when the world respects and worships Sachin Tendulkar. I feel bad when Sreesanth was accused of IPL Betting, but also felt ashamed when Azharuddin and Jadeja were involved in match fixing scandal.
In conclusion, I think the discussion on how we stereotype others and how being judgmental is a wrong thing etc. becomes insignificant when we look at the big picture. And can’t we all look at the big picture and believe in unity in divesrity?
Loved it…. except for one thing… Rajinikanth:Kollywood::Chiranjeevi:Tollywood… Other than that it was wonderful 🙂
Reblogged this on itsonlywordz and commented:
Some real good and hilarious eye-openers for all those who think All SOuth Indians are Madrasis and they all speak andu-kundu-gandu-ille…
This is absolutely incredible ! am tired of Shahrukh khans idiotic enna rascala dialogues !! seriously and absolutely beautifully written ! regards !!
Chennai Express is a perfect example of how non southies do not still know anything bt South India… The film’s heroine is supposed to be a Tamilian.. but why is she wearing the Kerala saree and why are Kathakali dancers in the background ???? Guess they havent yet figured out “madraas” or for that matter “madraasis”…Only ignorant ppl still remain ignorant… Up urs. northies…
Mamata, not Mamta. We Bongs don’t spell our names the North Indian way.
Love the post – Just to add one thing – Anyone to the north of Karnataka is not a North Indian the same way anyone from the South of India is not a ‘Madrasi’. Hate to point this but to clap you need two hands…..
one of the most Fantastic things i’ve read. Ever! Dont go by my name. I’m a Kannadiga
The article per say is excellent, very well captured nitty grittys… I am a North Indian staying in South for over a decade and can relate to this in a somewhat bitter-sweet way (smiled my way through the entire piece). well captured sentiments (but the comments made are surely in bad taste – not all, some).
Haha. I think this may as well be personally directed to me :p
But in my defense, I act like a daft Delhite simply to annoy the f*** out of everyone further South of Mumbai. The best part is, you guys DO get annoyed 😀
Forgive our ignorance and strange humor :p
Time please! 2011 – 2013! And i land here, even after i hate FB! Gaia, take a bow! Author(ess), Doubly so! Next topic should be congress vs. bjp.
Wow!
Many congratulations to all the ‘Northies’ and ‘Southies’ in the comments section.
*clap, clap*
For you have successfully proved that there is no such thing as ‘unity in diversity’. It’s just a myth. You are all probably going to die fighting amongst yourselves in the name of Salman (‘kya body hai yaar!’) or Rajini (‘thalaivaa!’), that’s for sure, and all the half-decent people will just sit there helplessly wondering what’s gone wrong with the world.
We are such enlightened folk that we can’t appreciate a piece of writing without indulging in all this racism and name-calling! It was meant to be ‘creative writing’ not fuel to a cyber-riot. I wonder what kind of s*** would hit the fan if you all were face-to-face.
Now good luck figuring out if I’m a ‘Northie’ or a ‘Southie’.
Well said KK! This piece was supposed to be a humor and of course, some insight to the frustration but some people just took it too far! Get a life guys.
On a lighter note
” Punjab , sindh, Gujarath , Maratha, Dravida, UTAKALA, Banga “- its Utakala and not ujala or uchala here
Jaya he , jaya he and not jaya ge , jaya ge
…. somehow very few southie tongues get that :p
By a northie bred in Tamil Nadu …
Unity in Diversity 😀
Well.. I liked the tone & selection of words. Most of it is true. I am from North, a punjabi. I concur that there is a tendency in us (all of us!) to generalize about people from far away lands, which is not a good thing. But it is natural.
When I am here in the south for many years now, I see a lot of differences in what was all the same to me before e.g. the various scripts of south indian states. But, at the same time, I see the same tendency here also w.r.t. people from north. A bit of that infiltrated into this very article. Kind of irony.
So in a nutshell, when people get closer, they understand each other and these tiny things disappear. Both North & South Indians are warm people who are culturally much closer than the firangs.. you know.. the gori chamdi.. they are all same 😀 .. just kidding!
Peace
that wz freakin good..!
Lets face it, those from the south do face discrimination in the north and its the same vice versa. The tone of the article was humorous satire, and it was pretty enjoyable. As someone who has lived all over India, I can totally see where this is coming from, because I’ve had my fair share. But with each comment, I felt this is becoming a bashing game – so its the north on one side and the south on one and they are just trying to put the other down. I hope people realize that this attitude is actually the cause of all this discrimination. You may say we are alike/we’re all Indians, but clearly that is not what you actually think if you’re ready to bash each other at the drop of a hat.
Hahahah! I absolutely enjoyed reading this blog post. Very well written. Like your style a lot. To be able to convey the facts successfully is great in itself…to be able to do that humorously is even greater! “Chammak challo your arse….” fantastic!
To all those who are a bit offended, come on take it lightly. We all tend to identify people with the special traits they carry with them, It could be the way they talk, walk, live, work etc etc… its just identifying them not judging them. However, its good to know the facts behind these traits. This young man very nicely pointed out some of them. Got to appreciate that.
soooooper 😀
very well said
Delhites:
– Desperate wannabe Punjabis!
– Proudly calls Nariyal ki chutney as “White Chutney” pudeene ki chutney as “Green Chutney” and adrak ki chutney as “red chutney” as if there could never exist a more apt name.
– The word “Gate” is used to address any wooden door of a house.
– Thinks the word “Gadi” is to be used to a four wheeler, and a two wheeler is called a Byke.
– Suffix and prefix every single word with the irresistable word “b c”, you got it right!
– No matter in how deep shit you are, the only consoling word you get from them is “Koi dikkat ni”.
– They feel wearing Lungi could be the most obnoxious thing a human can ever do.
– Walking barefoot exterior of a house is a taboo!
– Eating rice with fingers is something which is only done by people “below poverty line”.
– Consider the purpose of tea spoon and table spoon to be the same.
– Can challenge the whole world that entire south india is only Chennai, all they know about south india is that Tamil nadu is the capital of Chennai, be rest assured!
– Call Lord Balaji, the south Indian Lord venkateshwara as Hanuman.
– Consider Subtle beard can never be in fashion and it is only kept when a person is lazy to shave.
– Eat rice in a plate with a tea spoon ( It is meant to be eaten in a bowl type plate with a table spoon or fingers)
– Rejoice eating Idli, Dosa, wada and consider it as most exciting thing that could ever happen to a meal.
– The only entertaining viewing left in 21st century is tollywood movies dubbed in Bihari/Bhojpuri accent hindi.
– Wearing any kind of ‘funny looking’ abandoned by the westerners woolen wear in winters is in fashion.
– Do not feel ashamed/guilty to sit in a manually ridden cycle paddled driven by a week old man.
– Eating Chicken is all about eating Tandoori chicken if dry and Butter chicken if wet.
– People wait for these months more than new years eve and their birthdays, the months or extreme gusto – “January” and “July” cos it is the sale season 😉 find everybody wears new branded cloths in these months with high sprits!
– CP is a comfort zone for gay couples.
– Even rarest or drug and sex with your fantasy wouldn’t give as much pleasure as a delhite gets after shopping at Sarojini nagar market!
– There cannot be a day without a mobile network executive pleading you to migrate to a postpaid connection.
– The crime of registering your number with Policybazaar.com will haunt you for a decade!
– Delhi has patented the word “chahiya” as “cheye”, any place on the planet, if you hear a person pronouncing cheye, confirm at that instance that that person is a Delhite.
– “Koi baat nahi” rather “No problem” has become “Koi ni”
– Composition of Dosa batter mix is no less than a rocket science, starts pleading for the recipe of Rasam with any south-indian they come across.
– Most confusing is that they think the language spoken in the south indian states is a synonym of the name of the state/ People called of that state.
– Address every other thing with a feminine tense! For example, ‘Bus a rahi hai’, ‘ mail aaye hai’.
– No where else on the planet will you find a better example of window shopping than the malls of Delhi.
Also …Delhi men are not an inch ashamed to wear ….not boxers ..but v shaped underpants ONLY at home in front of their mothers, daughters and spouses..and NEIGHBOURS…yuck!
Again… typical delhiites take bath just once in day …in the morning ONLY..and prefer sitting under the fan to dry off the day long smelly sweat before goin to bed.. both men and women.. no wonder why it feels so damn suffocating in the metro..
FYI, this post has almost gone viral in facebook 🙂
I will “chamakh challo” his arse to oblivion as long as “jab tak hein jaan” with the feeling of “kuch kuch hota hein” building up and has to catch the “chennai express” to say sorry as there might be a “Kal Ho Na ho”
Hysterical Southie 🙂
Okay. I read all the comments and the article. I liked the way you wrote this article.
your article starts with geography. If you are so concerned about geography find out other disbelief as well about east and north part of India. You got so offended when someone said Tirupati, Tirunelveli and Thiruvananthapuram are baaju baaju mein.. as if someone called your wife your daughter :)(Again Just an example).
You get annoyed when ppl call u too conservative.. and you also get annoyed when ppl call you nerds 😛 This is funny.
I don’t understand why are you angry? I mean there is nothing called ‘madrasi’ but its not a bad word either. How can you even discuss on something which doesn’t even exist? I am from Pune and people call me ‘maharashtrian’ or ‘punekar’ but I do not feel bad or embarrassing. I feel proud that I am representing my city or state. why do you feel embarrassed when people call u madrasi.. they simply mean person living in madras.. easier way to convey the feelings isnt it? whats so wrong in calling you ‘south indian’? are you not a part of south india?? just fyi we also have a term called ‘noth indians’, do they also feel embarrassed when ppl call them north indians? commmeon..its just easier way to point out by directions.. ppl also make fun of north indians but i have never seen any NI guy to write article and explain the terms… they feel proud about that.. why dont you??? you get angry when we say telgu, tamil, kannada sounds similar. but we do not when you guys say marathi, hindi, gujrathi sound similar. its just how you take the things. You get annoyed when ppl call ‘sambhar’ but we dont when ppl call our ‘wadapav’ a burger :), These are just terms people chose according to their convenience. you do not need to explain every term and expect that ppl will follow them. ‘South indian’ english has a typical accent so does ‘maharashtrian’ english. but we are not embarrassed with that. “ab hai to hai” big deal..
seriously?? you got annoyed coz of the movies? well most of the bolly movies has shown typical maharashtrian, poor, jobless, scared, underdog people always get bullied by others. Does that mean we all are poor and jobless?? 😛 We never got angry and wrote articles. 🙂
you guys take it too personally and get annoyed. You get annoyed and that why people make more fun of u. Simply ignore and don’t give so much importance to this discrimination. I do that all the time :).
Feel proud about the things instead of getting annoyed.!!!
Awww I bet you feel smug thinking you have torn apart this blog. You have missed the point my dear on so many levels that I can’t get into each one of them. So let me give you an example. South Indians get offended when people call us “Madrasi” because we are not all from Madras.
This is not an angry blog, its a humorous take on how ignorant non-south Indians like to stereo type. Stereotyping is offensive in any part of the world.
South Indians are pretty proud of who they are – we have the intelligence, education and common sense to back us
Haha.. i do not feel smug and all 😛 but it seems my comments touched ur heart and you got annoyed ‘again’ 😛
“South Indians are pretty proud of who they are – we have the intelligence, education and common sense to back us” .. sure you have.. who said you dont. But why do you need to keep telling this to world again and again??
You urself create questions and give answers. 😀 Man. if one person calls u madrasi that doesnt mean everyone thinks the same way. Best thing is to ignore. I tell you most of my friends are SI and i love them. and we all make fun of each other’s language, habits and all..big deal?? And yes stereotyping is offensive. I have seen so many times how ignorant south indians like to stereotype about non-south indian people, places and so on 🙂 We should also start writing blogs about it 😉 I bet you know this better. 🙂 Anyway.. No hard feelings.
~~
Cheers
And we’re not all North Indians.
Stereotyping exists on both ends.
I find it equally humorous how South Indians label people from all twenty-eight minus four states as ‘North’ Indians.
Clearly the North-South divide is a linguistic one.
@Not Madhavi: I think the name ‘Madarasi’ came from the fact that almost all of the southern part of India was once a region called: Madras Presidency. I hope you get it. Don’t feel bad about it!
And about stereotyping, don’t hide behind the veils of innocence and condescend yourself saying that you do not stereotype others. Again, read my comment on this post.
Exactly my point. If you see, I have mentioned some of these points in my comment somewhere up there.
As an Indian out of India, you realize that it is not even about being Indian. This pride we have is not going to take us anywhere.
It is some mental peace and meditation that the writer needs more than anything else.
Smile and leave it!
Well Said Madhavi!
Ayyooooo, mai south indian uthapam khaane jaata. Aur mai khaata Dosa, Idli, Pidli aur Posa. ayyyooo, mai kaale kapde pehen ke Sabrimala jaata. Mera poora naam Appaswamy Murugan Subramaniam SriSriKrishna hota jee. Mai rice apne haatho se khaata jee.
Awsome … You just make us proud for being” the south ppl” … Loved your blog … Adding to that all hero are not dark and champu even our suriya is hot and cuter than ranbir kapoor 😀
Reblogged this on Parwatisingari's Weblog and commented:
the grouse of every respectable southie
Well written!
I am a Malayalee, have lived in various parts of South and North India and have friends across east and west, north and south. It is true that South Indians are being stereotyped in many mainstream Bollywood movies and some of the non-South Indians (I intentionally avoid mentioning North Indians) learn from the screen and tend to stereotype us. But on a wider perspective, is this something to be outraged about? People from North may call the people from South as ‘Madrasis’, but they may not be knowing enough to see Malayalam and Tamil or Kannada and Telugu to be different! Or if someone is really taking the offence on you, yes it shows their low-standards, but are all ‘South Indians’ magnanimous in that respect? Don’t we too make fun of the people from up-North? Until I went about staying in Allahabad for a while, I never knew that people do eat food items other than roti, daal and rajma-chawal in North! Similarly when a person from North come and live in South, they will get to know that it is not just idli (or iddali as Keralites say!) and sambar that is being eaten in Southern parts of India. Until I got a few friends from Punjab I thought all Punjabis are Sardars and all men from there will be wearing a turban! Similar is the experience of some of my friends from North who are living in Kerala now, they love food cooked in coconut oil, they have learnt to pronounce ‘Kozhikode’ properly and can distinguish between Malayalam and Tamil!
Of course people make fun of each other, but anything beyond a limit is daunting. At the same time intolerance on others’ non-sense makes you no different from them! Dear Southies (including me), if you laugh at Sardarji jokes, then you can’t go mad over the South Indian issues in Bollywood. And my dear friends from up-North, there is no harm in knowing a little more about South so that you won’t need to call all of us Madrasis!
Understand people, there are bigger issues to be bothered about, should this also add to our pain?
Appadi Podu Aruvala
Nangunnu thalaillai kutti sonna thaan puriyum
Mind it
….and you put it down exactly the way all of us feel! way to go bud! n ya.. lemme hear atleast one of them pronounce Kozhikode! huh!!
*hats off*
once heard a northie pronounce Kozhikode as ..wait for it..”KO ZEE KO DAY” …LMFAO!!
Madhavi… very well said dear 🙂
I am sure most of the people will not ready to accept your points even though they are facts. You will find most of friends commenting here are south Indians (who got hurt) and they expect you always appreciate them and never make fun of them 😛
But guys don’t make a misunderstanding that we are not appreciating you…we all are Indians and we are best in our own ways. We having very different cultures across India and its very hard to get known everything by every Indian 🙂
East, west, north and south every Indian is get appreciated for certain things and also not to forgot they have many fun parts too…which we make laugh of it 🙂
Just chill my dear friends…Take it lightly as everybody does such for others.
Salini, I agree to your most of the point but where you said that “my dear friends from up-North, there is no harm in knowing a little more about South so that you won’t need to call all of us Madrasis!”
The same way can I say to all South Indian “there is no harm to know at least Hindi language.” Don’t you think this our national language we should know that?” if they travel across India what they expect everybody should speak in English or their own local language? I had example of my friend who most of the time use to call us while coming in office or from grocery shops because he can’t communicate in Hindi with auto driver and shop owner. This makes difficulties for you but most important you are losing chance of involving with other culture. But its all up to you.
I have so many south Indian friends (from Keral, Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Andra ) and many are my best friends too. We never had any ego issues with their culture and the way they live. We still call one of my friend “Anna” even though he is not… and he never bother about it 😛 I still love to eat idli, samber, dosa, appam at my south Indian friend’s home. It’s awesome taste 🙂 and they are best in that but as these dishes are common so if somebody makes fun of this idli-samber and all it does not mean anything guys.
Believe in you and your abilities forgot the rest world…take care 🙂
FYI, Hindi is not the national language of India. http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Is_Hindi_our_National_Language-nid-87992-cid-29.html
Dear friend Roni,
The link you provided it’s just a news and over internet there are thousands of such news debating on “Hindi” is national language or not and such debate is exist over politics too and because of that nobody made Hindi as National language.
But don’t forgot other part of it. Hindi is native language (belongs to) from India and also it is still our official language. Search out over internet.This is what i want to mention above.
How can a majority (41%) language be declared “national”? In India, the majority religion is Hinduism. Does that mean it should be declared as the “national religion”. That would obviously hurt the sentiments of people of other religions. In the case of languages too its the same.
But I very much agree to your point that learning Hindi would help people all over India to help communicate while visiting or staying in Hindi speaking states or cities.
And yeah, its Rony with a ‘y’. 🙂
well, hindi is not the language of the soil where i hail from. damn should i speak it for the heck of british occupying the sub-continent(you and me). the throne of hindi is seated over the corpsesof languages like mythili, santhali, rajasthani, ghondi and other local languages in north india.
before giving sermon to south indians on hindi, better replace bengali, gujarathi, punjabi, marathi, kashmiri thoroughly with hindi in the states north of vindhyas. we shall *consider* taking up hindi if you succeed!
Santy, don’t do that. Don’t you take up that issue again, ever.
Before you say something like that, do your research properly.
Dekh bhai, language same kar dene se India ka whole essence hi barbaad ho jayega. Ek baar Tamil (Tamizh) ke baare me wikipedia pe dekh toh le, tujhe tere answers mil jayenge.
* Tere agal bagal state ka hi hoon.
Kg, I am not interest in taking that issue either. You can find many people that they want there local language to make them as National language so will keep that aside.
I mate many people from south and its good to know that they some how manage to speak multiple languages like Tamil, Kannada, Telugu. Here just to ask them that can they take little bit more effort to learn Hindi language also, so that they can get involve with rest of the part of India. Here im stating Hindi just because most of people from india speak Hindi. This is not my mother tongue dude.
Aur bhai tu kaha ka bhi agal bagal ka ho, tu india se hai utana kafi hai mere liye. I m proud of my state but i always love to represent India and feel more proud of that. 🙂
I don’t know where you live Santy, but this I’ll advise you:
Take a train to some place (within the boundary of the country of course) 1000 Kms from where you live.
The language that you’ll see being spoken there also “(belongs to) from India”.
Seems like an expensive affair?
Google ‘languages of India’ or even ‘languages with official status in India’. You’ll see the list.
Nice assumption, friend, but our eyes need to be open a lot wider. And this isn’t just meant for you – it’s for all these people (be it from the South, the North, the East or the West), who don’t understand and embrace the cultural richness of the country owing to its diversity, and instead want to disrespect, condescend and alienate each other.
KK, I live 12600km away from India 😛 but I belongs to Maharashtra 🙂
for your kind info i travel more than 1000 kms across India :), i know the different languages of India.
I am not forcing anyone to stop using their local language dude. We love our local language but we want some language which can help us to know each other 🙂
“I am not forcing anyone to stop using their local language..”. Really? ..As if you have the power to do that! It is condescension like this that pisses people off, especially when such condescension is the result of some deeply ingrained inferiority complex.
Incidentally, why is it difficult for some people to accept the legal and real fact that Hindi is not the national language, but only one of the official languages of India? Read the constitution.
//We love our local language but we want some language which can help us to know each other :)//
And that language can be english; which provides a level playing field for all.
Isn’t it too arrogant to expect “learn my language so that you can converse with me in my place; and learn my language so that I can converse with you in your place as well. oh by the way, I’m suggesting this for your benefit only”
Well said reader and KK. I dont think Santy gets the point because like many other ‘Patriotic’ Indians, Santy too believes that the rest should all learn one common language which in their humble opinion, should be Hindi. He says Hindi is a native language…what a joke. Ignorance is bliss.
Good one.Enjoyed the punches.
Hats off to the author who wrote this post!!!!! It clearly has bought about a huge debate from the very beginning/2011(read all the comments from the beginning, got bored some where in b/w)…. I am a malayali (malayalee) who has spend most of my life abroad (precisely GULF / b&b there)…. This was a reply to all the north indians who think lowly or show disrespect to the south indians only bcoz they belong from the south….. A clarification to the people living in the GULF(or the nationals), All south indians are not MADRASI’S & people from Kerala are not called MALABARI’s they are called MALAYALI’S….
An addition to my comment here is that A Malayali can learn any language in this world but it is very difficult for a NON Malayali to pronounce malayalam (the language) the way it shld be done. We can learn all the different accents of English (UK, US, AUS), French, Spanish, German, Arabic but people in general do not understand that MALAYALAM itself is spoken differently in diff parts of Kerala…
PROUD TO BE A MALAYALI!!!! (Wid all its pros & cons)
Absolutely loved it…I’ve been thinking about blogging on the same theme for some time now…i am absolutely disgusted by the way hindi movies have potrayed us as jokers …
i mean, seriously? u wrote this and this many ppl liked it? i dont know what to say any more.
since u’d love to know what people think (or so your comment box says) – i HATE the way you have written. putting someone down is not the way to explain yourself. zebra crossing on the forehead was not funny. it was offensive.
stereotypes exist everywhere. we are a subcontinent BECAUSE we are so diverse. in writing pieces like this you promote the very stereotyping that you seek to denounce.
….and we say we are victims of racism when we are in other countries!! We are the biggest racists in this whole universe!!…what a shame.
totally agree bro!!!
“We’re conservative. We’re liberal too. Figure it out.” Like it.
Loved it!
I am from the northeast and I stayed in NCR for 2 years, left and came down south. Its been 11+ years in Bangalore now. NCR people, Go figure 🙂
All Losers!!!.. at last we are still indians.. stop discriminating among ourselves..
bro, it will stop if every one realize and respect that we live in a multi-cultural, multi-linguistic, multi-linguistic “federal state” which was not founded by typical “nation state” concept of one-religion, one-language and one culture.
without realizing this, if it is expected to join the “we are indian” bhajan, then subjects of this nation bound to feel alienated.
What about your hatred about Hindi language????
nice stuff dude. way to go
Loved it! This is amazing!
excellent post!! should have mentioned about “dreamum wakeupum song” or the most illogical scene in ‘RA1’ movie using fake Rajani in cheap costumes..
buddy, that was from Rani mukherji movie, There is a willing partner n crime; prithviraj sukumaran!
Well written, very humorous, although I don’t see why one needs to be so defensive about one’s local culture. If people in a certain part of India go around in their traditional attire instead of pants and sport a ‘zebra crossing’ on their forehead, that is part of the culture that one should be proud of. There is a long history and probably good reasons for the way a culture has evolved in a certain part of the globe which has its unique environment.
As regards discrimination: We hate to admit it, but it is part of life! The inherent desire in all humans to be better (or be perceived better) than fellow beings leads to discrimination. It could be on skills, knowledge, money, looks and unfortunately also on ethnicity, religion etc. It is very difficult to draw the line. In an ideal world, everybody would be content with the fact that they are good or in a good position. In the real world, to a lot of people, contentment comes not from just being good, it comes from being ‘better’ than others. And for yet more people, it comes from an ‘ostentatious display’ that they are better, which could be by way of deriding others or ‘discriminating’ against others. In the extreme, this results in racism. It may be against the law to show acts of discrimination, but how can you have a law prohibiting discriminatory thinking. The only way to get rid of this is to have more ‘mixed’ groups. The more people are exposed to different cultures, the more understanding and tolerant they would become. Cosmopolitan cities, inter caste/religion marriages etc go a long way in building this understanding. Till then, I believe all of us get subjected to this ‘typecasting’, instead of reacting or defending, it would help if we keep a calm mind and explain and educate on why we are different. AND accept good-humoured banter!
No offense but as long as you people don’t learn Hindi you won’t be considered Indians by those who live in Hindi speaking states.
Exactly.
No offence, you say? Hmm.
So basically, you wouldn’t mind being considered non-Indian in other parts of the country?
Let’s show this hostility to each other. Let’s break the country into hundreds of pieces based on the slightest of differences in all the dialects spoken here. Yes?
You, my dear friend, and all those who think like you, are as much a threat to the country as anything else you can think of.
//Let’s show this hostility to each other. Let’s break the country into hundreds of pieces based on the slightest of differences in all the dialects spoken here. Yes?//
well my dear friend, then let us make my mother tongue (not hindi) as the national language of India which should solve the problem. agreeing for a deal?
Hilarious you are!
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For people who are getting too carried away and going all “you people” and “those people”, my dear bros and sisters, we r all Indians. This post was a light hearted take on south indian stereotypes and I see no intentional insult or injury. Theres nothing stopping upset north indian folks from doing vice versa but heavens sake, ease up, folks! An “indian” stereotype is abt us lacking a sense of humour 🙂
Lol….good read it was.
Difference in cultures breeds progress and our acceptance of it leads to unity! The one thing anyone from another country would appreciate about India is the diversity in it.They cannot see just one part of our country to know it all!!
And stereotyping, well yeah when Indians are stereotyped abroad thanks to some enlightened souls propagating it eg. Russel peters, Raj in Big bang theory etc. but no one takes those seriously 😛
Why can’t we stereotype each other but just to enjoy it in lighter vein?Don’t we tease our best of friends?
We can pull each others leg whenever we want as long as we are here to offer a shoulder when the other needs it 🙂
Hilarious! Good one.
brilliant
wow! so many comments…. and here i thought i was the only one jobless! anyway i am gonna try and unite you all by giving you a common enemy(ies)… hunger, poverty, unemployment, corruption, terrorism, discrimination of all sorts (sex, race religion, caste), religious lunacy, aggressive china, unstable Pakistan, weak willed politicians, pillaging corporates, and the overwhelming presence of myself …. so be concious!
Indian racism at it’s best… And we talk about racism in Australia, US, UK, etc.
Arguments between North, South, East & West is just a waste of time…
I see that the divide and rule policy of the brits is effective even today…
We just need to remember that we are Indians at the end of the day…
Learn from the Army, where you are known by what you do and the Ranks and Medals you earn by your hardwork…
Capt. Anuj Nayyar, Maha Vir Chakra (posthumous) – 17 Jat Regiment. His roots were from the south but he was a part of a purely North Indian Haryanvi Regiment.
He fought along with people from different parts of India and laid down their lives for the country.
Maj. Avinash Kaushik, Sena Medal – Madras Regiment. Instructor @ Indian Military Academy.
He is from UP but is a very well renowned officer in the Madras Regiment.
This is just one example, I can go on and on… I feel service in forces should be made mandatory for everyone. This will help us:
1) Be more self dependent and active
2) Be more humble
3) Have the sense of brotherhood and comradeship
4) Inculcate leadership qualities
5) Learn to have a heart with emotions, feelings, and sentiments
6) Finally will teach everyone to be a man
At school I was taught Moral Science and from it I just took few things…
1) Judge people by their deeds
2) Their are just 2 kind of people – good and bad (Not South, North, Dark or Fair)
3) Again the bad people are also good people, but they just decided to do bad deeds. They can change their path anytime
I have friends in almost every state of India. I love all of them a lot and they do the same.
BTW I am from Odisha, which is in the Eastern part of India and I have always been referred to as a Northie by my geographically weak friends.
I just laugh at their idocracy, they are all my brothers after all 😀
Cheers to the reality!!!
Reblogged this on Pepsicated.
class act man….it is brilliant….still don’t knw y the head and belly of india looks at its leg and find it other worldly…..
It is quite interesting to note that while you had tremendous satirical writing skills (I do admit you were good at that), and the underlying tone was downright deplorable (not withstanding your support), you were also gracious enough to remove the link that I had posted as my response to you. It just reflects on you perhaps in the light that I had thought would be the case. All the best with your notions buddy.
A good release to a lot of pent up frustration. Aren’t we going back to the past every time with this…or similar blogs??
Is there ever going to be a time we move on??
And laatly are we really liberal….In the true sense or is it just a delusion?
A good read, breaking the south stereotype..its as normal as it can get!!
After reading the article and almost most of the comments – My question is what was the point of writing this and have you achieved it?
Humorous intent or not – while pointing out how ‘others’ stereotype ‘South Indians’ – you have ended up stereotyping the remaining three regions — so guess you are not all that different than the ‘others’. This could have been handled in much better manner [lots of posts have already been made by different bloggers who also had a humorous side to their posts without having to stoop to stereotyping the remaining cultures].
This post is like you telling people not to drink while downing your own shot of Tequilla.
Well, please scroll back right to the top and check if you did manage to read the first sentence. If you consider yourself in that category, this post is for you. The author clearly is pointing out to a specific set of ignorant people. You, kind sir, are the best judge of where you stand on this matter.
awesomeness. love every word u have written and well written too…. love it… esp the ending…
Wow wow wow! Very well written! Loved it!
Nailed it.
Excellent and crisp !!
Well said Mrigank! “I do not wander with a zebra-crossing pasted across my forehead”…. LOL funny 🙂
very well said n i sure do love you for it!!! 🙂 😀 awesomeeee!!! its time we got rid of regionalism…..we’r Indians for christ’s sake!!!
awesome read! very well written…for everybody who has taken this blog as another reason to have heated debates on religion and racism and all of that, all I wanna say is…sometimes it’s nice to sportingly accept someone’s talent for putting across a point in a witty manner..let’s not dig deep into everything and look for reasons to dispute it!
Below are my stereotypes of the Malai Kofta’s..so called North Indian people
1. Anyone who lives North of Andhra are Marwadis and they all sell Pan.
2. Their English accent is funny, but they think they speak cool…esp when they say Come for table (Comfortable)
3. The only dish they know is Butter Chicken and Naan.
4. They actually think that they are white people, but the sad truth comes out when they move out of India, esp in the US, people think they are Mexicans.
5. Shahrukh Khan the Superstar of Hindi movies, did not change his facial expression for the past 20 years.
6. The only music they know is Bhangra and the Light bulb changing dance that goes with that.
7. Both Men and Women wear the same Salwar Khameez.
8. They still think Hindi is the national language of India.
Sadly this is true, but let’s just laugh about it and the message to Northies is please do not think only you can stereotype….We do too.
Peace!
Nothin to read n learn. All i could make out is. . . its total ‘regionalistic, rotten rubbish’ from a perverted mind which deserves to be in the waste basket!
Dr. Warrier, Great article. Was reminded of so many situation where the expressions you listed were used. You missed one: The habit of calling it Kannad instead of Kannada. Some of them refer to the state as Karnatak rather than Karnataka.
Loved the ‘mind it’ at the end.We southies can certainly take a joke as well as being the but of but of one.Loosen up guys, it was all meant in jest any way.wokay,wokay,,.
I am a kannadiga and I think the only people who from the north who respect the regional identity of the south are sikh punjabis…I think this is because they too have a strong regional identity..the moment they come down south, they start learning the language..I know a few punjabis who can speak as fluent a kannada as any other kannadiga…I cant say the same about delhiites and haryanvis cause they are the most ignorant lot I have come across..
I love it!! U expressed my views.. Everytime I hear any north indian say all south indian languages are sound same I get really irritated.. many times i tried explaining then i refer the scene in chakde then they keep quiet.. i really love this man.. I love u for this :).. Am a malayalee but also know to speak Tamil & Kannada like a local & can understand Telugu little bit, read malayalam & kannada well & telugu a bit and married to a muslim who knows only english & hindi..
Very well-written, Mrigank 🙂
The humour is the right amount of “tongue-in-cheek”.. Being a Malayali born and brought up in Bombay, I have experienced a lot of what you have written.. not to mention.. Bollywood, which has contributed with Mehmood’s histronics as a “madrasi/ undoo-gundoo”..
If I may add, to all the critics.. the blogpost is the author’s opinion on the generalisation and maybe his experiences.. Let us leave it at that.. Yes, I am sure other parts of India also go through the same trouble..
Reblogged this on anecdotes of a jester.
Hi there!
Could you please take me of your email list? I do not wish to receive your blogs! Thanks!
i think people specifically think of native Hindi speakers when they say North Indians, not the other non-Hindi speakers from North, East and West of the country, who have just as much been made fun of as South Indians, especially by the Hindi film industry (I am particularly thinking of actors like Mahmoud who played a role there…)
Really well written!!
Haha. Pretty funny. Love how sensitive people get. Lets admit one thing, regardless of North or South, you all smell like curry.
Nice to read the article
I felt that the person took it personally….. Ideally, we the north Indians and south Indians dont ever meet, there wont be any such misunderstanding. Also, north Indian in south India will be ridiculed as south Indian in north gets….. Its just being human……. what to do…….. Unless, we request god to change us from being human…….
Zebra crossing???? You seem to be more offensive than people who stereotype innocently!
in poor taste. just to get views and comments. take this!
and teach your guests how to speak your language instead of mocking at them. reminds me of the shruti hassan ‘its not tamil’ bullshit during some ipl interview.
I will Chammak Challo your arse to oblivion, okay?
Aiyoo 😀 😀
I absolutely love it! I like the humorous approach the writer has taken to point out our ignorance towards our own brothers and sisters. Readers should not take this personally and start a fight. All of us face problems outside our native states.
I would also like to mention the latest Zomato ad where it shows vada pavs for mumbai, dokhlas for gujarat and idli and dosa for ‘South India’. I mean how dumb is the advertising agency? are they so stupid to not do their homework on gongura, podi & biriyani for hyderabad or andhra, chettinad chicken, idli and vada for tamilnadu, karimeen pulichadu, bullet rice & appam for kerala, what about kadubu and neer dosai for karnataka? I mean even dumb ass advertising agencies make silly mistakes and the joke is that zomato is supposed to be considered a good search engine for food and even these guys dont have the brains to correct their stupidity.
yenna rascalla! great piece! 😀 But then again, what can we expect in a country where politics is all about caste, religion and language? Most states are language based. Elections are won or lost based on regional affiliations rather than performance or competence.
The most common refrain: “Who cares whether he performs or not, he is from our caste. He’ll surely help my son get a government job…”
And mind it! this sentiment is not regional… it’s a national phenomenon. And no, that word has no relation to K.K. Menon. He’s one of the actors i like. not revere, like. he acts. no antics with shades (either treating them like boomerangs or hanging them on the back of the collar). he acts. i like.
India… north, south, east, west and Centre… is all about who knows who. “Don’t you know who i am…?” Familiar? well, It’s everywhere! Even where i come from. A region in the far east where the common refrain is “we’re neglected.” Come on! Who isn’t, except politicians?
We are regional? Hell yeah! We’re supposed to be, inside India at least. that’s our identity, our roots. we have to stick to it. and as for the stereotyping, that’s what makes life interesting. it’s the lighter side of otherwise boring customs that we’ve been following just because “our caste does so…” no questions asked.
but have you noticed how each of us grow up hating our communities and its irritating customs? it starts at home actually. neighbourhood first, then area, then locality and then the town or city, and then comes districts, states and region. finally, comes India. we defend things we otherwise thought valueless one we move to a bigger arena. only then do sentiments apply. Same logic applies when we land on foreign shores. we become ‘directionless’, just Indians. we jump with joy when we meet another Indian. then we speak for and defend our country then.
so please. enjoy your sardar jokes. most ‘chinkies’ don’t know kungfu or aren’t militants. kolaveri di has no relation with mamata di. and last but not the least, practice this in front of the mirror if you’re a patriotic Indian: (naa re! not who’s the fairest of them all… most indians aren’t) practice this: Don’t you know who i am? (then whip out your visiting card… muruggan shthyle!!)
Don’t mind 😀 corrupt country breeds corrupt minds 😀
Loved reading every bit of your write up.. 🙂 Excellent 😀
Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Telugu are different languages people – if you don’t know that by now you prolly need to re-enroll urself in middle school..
Next time u tend to place all South Indians in the convenient ‘Madrasi’ bucket.. or when you say – undu, gundu, yendaa, ppondaa etc. to make fun of South Indian languages.
Visualize yourself standing in front of a mirror and your reflection is a perfect portrayal of your lack of maturity and sensibility. Because to us when you say such things to South Indian’s that is exactly how u appear to us – absolutely mind numbingly 100% foolish – U have the body of a human but w/ a Donkey’s head to match with that!
Mrigank Warrier’s Blog: I first started following this blog after I read “Yenna Rascala.” As a South Indian, I can’t even begin to tell you how much that post made me laugh. In a country that’s polyglot and different in so many ways, Mrigank really just put a humorous and educational spin on “facts” that North Indians think they know.
i came to know this blog after reading an article in “India Today”- this is a humorous post (even though some are wrong).
My reaction : we need to know our india better if we intend to know the wonderfull meaing in “unity in diversity”
Reblogged this on My Travelogue and commented:
Just so you know..
LOL post !!! While on stereotyping, pls read my post “Firr wahi bokwas stereotyping???” http://wp.me/p1dZc2-gW
Feedback welcome !!! Thanks
Insulting punjabi’s is sardarji jokes… insulting rajnikanth is rajnikanth jokes… insulting southindians is humorous for you….insult yourself to feel happy…. First Stop sterotyping south Indians.. always refering south indians to idle, vada , making fun of rajnikanth, always thinking south are inferior. U assume that Hindi is the national language and everyone shud know it if not they are inferior… if v have idle vada,,, check wat u have , got and brought to south gutka, hans, manikchand, panparag, ganjaa..baang.. Rajnikanth is one of the finest humble human being…. not like few bollywood stars who are in jail for terror links or killing animals or criminals nor he charges 1 crore for appearing in any function…. u guys want works of ar rahman, u want manirathnam, u want ramgopalvarma,, u want prabudeva, u want aishwarya rai, deepika padkon, genilia, rekha, sridevi, list goes on.. u want all top technicians from south but u dont want to respect south indians..
Bollywood alone is not indian cinema…. it is just a part of indian cinema..
this in not Hindia.. This is India .. mutual respect is the only way , we can move forward.
(Can you post this comment at the top.)
Read the post, enjoy and laugh about it. Don’t scroll down and read the comments if you really wanna enjoy the post.
“‘Andu-Gundu-Naaru-Gundu’ may have profound meaning in modern Haryanvi, but is gibberish in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil and Tulu.”
Hilarious. And yet so true. People ask me what my mother tongue is and I mention its Tulu, but they remain hell bent on saying Telugu. Idiots. Great post!
Well the post was hilarious … And even more fun was the childish ranting in the comments … The purpose of language is to communicate … Showing intentional arrogance feigning ignorance to any language by anyone beats the very essence of a language i.e. COMMUNICATION … use sign language if takes that …
Grow up people ..
You took the time to write a blog to try and explain this to people? Rascalla…
rajni != Tollywood, its Kollywood! Mind It!
I came across some ignorant comments by some monumental idiots who seriously lack sense of humor, who do not seem to understand the intent behind the post.
OP do not worry about those idiots, this is a hilarious, very true 😀
Damn funny! just read it! Amazingly written. Hilarious! Myself being a malayalee found the last line THE BEST :’)
Cheers mate! (Y)
OMG! That’s damn hilarious. Feels like reading over and over again and again. Finally somebody wrote on this . Well written 🙂 .
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I am a half Keralite, 1/4 Telugu, 1/4 Oriya ( from Koraput Orissa) man who grew up in Bhopal. I was raised as a Malayalee but I am confused as to what really I am. I too heard… madrassi, annadurai, ille-po, so much that it still echoes in my ears. I don’t even live in the Indian sub continent. To clarify, being Indian is a state of mind when convenient…. am I right?
In Rajasthan, we do not talk too much about other states or have demeaning stereotypes of ethnicities. (We do- of castes.) We (apart from a few castes) find the saree a quaint (to me it is a cruel dress for Indian climate.), We do not stare when women are bathing outdoors. Men dont rub on women in buses. We do not eve-tease on Holi. (All that is normal in Delhi.) Most of our castes/tribes have wonderful dances in which the women and men move their hips. (Therefore, sensual- unlike the Bhangra). Only in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Western India is different? (Raj, Guj, Maharashtra, Goa, parts of MP and Karnataka)?
We have horrid casteism (the colors of clothing identify caste) but we dont have constant caste friction..The adivasis and others have mutual respect or at least distance. We have strong vaishnavism and shaktism without the oppression of the latter which has led to maoist movements elsewhere. Western India will never have such a movement because we will work out a pragmatic compromise and not live by pride. (The Rajputs do not fight if a solution can be found through dialogue.)
Why are we different and so calm about ethnicity (but not about caste)– is it because we were not under the Mughals, Brits, Cholas (sarees), or Marathas directly? Did British and Mughal administration reduce casteism in other states? Or is this difference the impact of Jainism in Western India? Or of lower population density or living in isolated areas?
Yenna Mrigang Man I simply love everything S Indian but why can’t I have Idli breakfast, lunch & dinner?
I guess this video link will explain more about South of India, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk_CI-ss2gg
I am an Indian first. Rest all secondary to me.