Nhaya Parened

You Feudal Woman

2012-03-13T13:04:00.001-07:00

Was that patterned on the swaying paddies
Was that written on the teak pillar
Were you haunted by the ruins of second homes
Were you fucked up plainly by your own mother

When penis so powerful that vagina was a burden
Life so secure that uncertainty was unknown
A powerful man could play with you as his temple
And could give you a class and life simple

Those Things have gone past long ago
Only abstracts have remained and very much so
The powerful unknown is the owner of your ego
Gives you peace by ensuring certainty in chaos

There are reasons
for your madness
Einstein has endorsed
the relativity of godness
You are true to heaven
like a born vegetarian to chicken
How much you wannabe a racist
as it is all powerful and calmest

You can see through those godmen-women with mirth
You can laugh at those virgins and the birth
You don't have time for those daily piety
You are a non-believer but for patriarchy

No confidence on your playful self
And panic of a wandering half
Life is dismal and death won't be pretty
For you don't let go the charm of certainty

Undeserved

2012-03-03T09:19:00.004-08:00

One evening so non-descriptive
You smiled upon me calling

It was like a bolt from the blue
Thing I thought never would come true

I had so forgotten you
So I figured out you too

My longing for you was vague
Never were you mine to belong

That truth is slowly creeping over
Was this a mistake somewhere?

Possibilities are haunting and various
Each one more humiliating than the previous

Triumph has turned into a nightmare
Guilt of undeserved crushing me under

Colour of Lust

2012-02-21T06:40:00.004-08:00

Perhaps irritating stereotypes of a person begin with the association of colours with babies; pink with girls and blue with boys. Pink is so garish for my taste that I find it offensive both on boys and girls. Then there is another association of pink with love. I wonder how that could be the case. On the contrary, I've an empirical evidence that the colour most likely could be associated with lust instead of love.

The incident happened a decade ago (So, I have reached an age where I talk in decades. Why did I write that previous pointless sentence?) I was browsing through the cloth section of a mall in Hyderabad. I overheard a lady excitedly telling her man in Kannada, "buy the pink one, buy the pink one" and both started giggling. I turned around and found they were standing in front of men's underwear rack. I was scandalized by their loud vulgarity and felt disgusted with their moral degradation in their perceived anonymity in an alien land or in the midst of alien speakers. At that time, I didn't give much importance to lady's specific attachment to "pink" underwear - not for herself but for her man.

Few years ago, there was a so-called 'pink chaddi campaign' against Hindutva moralists who targetted pub going girls. I think the choice of pink colour in this case too gives credence to the association of the colour with lust. Empirical evidences so far only associate this colour with men when women expect them to be lusty.

Heart Disease and Y-Haplogroup R2

2012-02-11T06:08:00.000-08:00

A new study has observed that coronary artery disease (CAD) is passed from father to son or inherited through the Y-chromosome. The researchers also make a point that people with certain haplogroups are more prone to heart disease compared to others. Among British, men who have Y-chromosome belonging to haplogroup I carry 50% greater risk of heart disease compared to men who belong to haplogroup R1b1b2.

I have family history of heart diseases. My haplogroup is R2a. The greatest concentration of R2a clan is in Andhra Pradesh where one-third of males carry this Y-chromosome. Incidentally, Andhra Pradesh also has the dubious distinction of being the top state in India in terms of the number of heart patients. So, I make an educated guess that in India people who belong to Y-haplogroup R2a have a greater risk of heart disease compared to other lineages.

I suppose one-third of Sinhalese and one-fourth of Bangladeshis also belong to this haplogroup. I wonder whether their heart disease rates are comparable to Andhra Pradesh.

Middle Caste Fatalism

2012-02-11T05:47:00.001-08:00

[He1] : It was an intercaste marriage.
[He2] : What is she?
[He1] : ...
[He2] : What is he?
[He1] : ...
[He2] : Okay. It's good. At least both from the upper castes.
[He1] : Why do you say that? What's so bad if any one of them was from a lower caste?
[He2] : I blurted out something. Not much thought has gone into it.
[He1] : You may not mean it. But those words came out of you naturally. Aren't they?
[He2] : True.
[He1] : ...
[He2] : I don't know how to explain it. It may be different here in the South. But in the North, the caste consciousness so deeply ingrained that you just hate certain castes. The claims of superiority of certain castes is so overwhelming that you don't want have anything with other castes. You want to preserve yourself.
.
.
.
[He2] : I know, rationally what I just said is wrong and meaningless. But I'm conditioned to speak in a certain way in public.
[He1] : What is your true self?
[He2] : I really don't know. I have expressed my rational self occasionally with my family at least but those words made hardly any sense to them.

Denied

2012-02-03T12:06:00.000-08:00

What I call that but a let down
I thought I wasn't heard out
Not a fair chance of presenting mine
I had shown the interest

I know I am ready
With ideas beyond the boundary
But you chose someone else
Who will never meet in uniqueness

No doubt he is capable
Perhaps a better bet in the long run
But I have plans ample
Not for my pleasure to you I turn

You follow a structure
Afraid as you that you may reinvent the wheel
Defined your life and your character
Based on imaginations of a male

You expect me to approach in Dreyfus model
That is a fallacy of is-ought scale
For us questions are known
A novice-expert in every moment I'll remain

You need a direct contact and a rapport
Building a bond toasting beer
Unfortunate stereotypes as the guiding rules
Burkha clad woman fighting freedom of choice

Unconfused and passionate first time in life
I would have triumphed or perished, hell right
You should have tried me out either way
Nothing would have made difference to you anyway

About Tennis Gods

2012-01-29T11:08:00.000-08:00

As an Indian, I should hardly care if any of the present trinity of the world tennis (male) win any of the tournaments. However, whenever I watch a match either between Rafael or Roger or between Rafael or Novak, I expect Rafael to lose. I wonder why I can't keep my indifference and enjoy their play equally and hope that the best player on that day would win.

When I think about it, I guess I like Roger because he comes across as a good boy who finished first and Novak as a funny boy who was more than a side show. But why should I like people who come across either good or funny? Is it because there is an instinctive feeling that these boys would be never be my wife's wet dream boys?

Coming out of that meaningless instinctive feeling, I feel I should always hope for a Rafael win. That is a better sight for the personality worshiping culture of developing world.

I found, among three only Rafael is an atheist and the other two are religious. Now, the Wikipedia article says, he is an agnostic. The term agnostic is basically meaningless, because I feel it introduced an unwarranted definition which didn't stem from a naturalistic view but originated from a monotheistic definition. In my opinion, there are two types of agnostics. The first one is a closet religious person but lives in a society where that would be seen as ignorance. The other one is overly bothered to project his/her humble self thus does not want to be known as an atheist. I assume Rafael is the second kind.

It is at the moments in the match that become crucial when I see the differences. Today at the Australian Open final, Novak was thanking the god profusely whereas Rafael was aggressively backing himself up. Novak's humbleness in thanking the god and Rafael's arrogance in not doing that would make Novak the darling of all not so gifted bodies as he shows there is some outside help afterall. What does Rafael offer? Nothing. He just indicates everyone are on their own.

It appears even the agnostic self is insufficient to make him humble enough. I wonder what kind of signs he should show that make others have a hope that if they ever thought of becoming atheists or agnostics then they can become a winner like him.

Novak's religiosity in a region, where a single linguistic group became three nations owing to three religions (or two, one Islam and the other two Christian denominations) and thus has been proven to be absurd and dangerous, is a bad example for hero worshiping people from other regions.

Need for the Caste System - iv

2012-01-23T20:58:00.000-08:00

A Karnataka Minister
- Rolling over Brahmins' leftovers cures the skin diseases of lower castes

Wavering Lawfulness

2012-01-22T06:17:00.000-08:00

[A lady customer storms into the pharmacy]
[Lady Customer] You didn't give me the bill.
[Pharmacist] < coolly > You didn't ask for it.
[Lady Customer] But you must give the bill.
[Pharmacist] Had you asked, I would have.
[Lady Customer] I might have forgotten.
[Pharmacist] I thought you didn't need it.
[Lady Customer] But you must give the bill by default!
[Pharmacist] Okay, wait. I'll give you the bill.
The present customer didn't ask for the bill. The pharmacist didn't give one.
The second customer didn't ask for the bill. The pharmacist didn't give one.
The third customer didn't ask for the bill. The pharmacist didn't give one.
Now the pharmacist turned his attention to the lady customer.
[Pharmacist] Name
[Lady Customer] < No longer the firm voice that she started with > ...
[Pharmacist] Spell it.. Doctor's name
[Lady Customer] .... Give me one more medicine
[Lady Customer] < pays for the new medicine >Take two rupees change...
[Lady Customer] Oh! It's one rupee...
[Pharmacist] Here you go...< gives the bills for the previous and the present medicines >
[Lady Customer] < ready to go >
[Pharmacist] Wait! you have to get back ten rupees change.
[Lady Customer] Oh! Thank you!

Joining the mainstream

2012-01-01T20:50:00.000-08:00

[Conversation over the phone]
[Blood relative 1]: He he he...
[Blood relative 2]: He he he...
[Blood relative 1:]: ummm...
[Blood relative 2]: HAAPpy new yi.....
[Blood relative 1]: eh..eh...eh.. happynewyear

Clothes Make the Woman

2011-12-25T07:48:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this post wearing my favourite polo shirt that I bought eight years ago. It is no longer in the shape so that I can wear it outside and can only be worn inside the house disregarding the wife's exasperation at the holes on the sides. Though, the colour of which is grey, I'm more enamoured by the stitches and by my own reckoning its fit worthiness to my rolling gait. But the purpose of the post is not to discuss feeling comfortable in my second skin.

I have always struggled to find clothes that I felt comfortable wearing. Now the problem is compounded from the fact that I need to buy clothes for my daughter. And I find most female clothes are sexist. Or to be precise, in my view, feminine clothes are sexist in general.

Let me explain my position very clearly. It is actually very simple and straightforward. A man's body is basic and woman's body is deviation. Generally, male clothes don't have penis pouch thus all clothes made for man are unisex clothes or there is no masculine clothes. Therefore, if a female wears male clothes, she is just conforming to her basic human body standards. But vice versa is not true. A man wearing feminine clothes basically endorses the sexist tradition that came up with the idea of feminine clothes. So, theoretically, females wearing feminine clothes are unacceptable but that is even more true for males.

With this background, when I shop clothes for my daughter, I feel nauseated seeing miniaturized versions of feminine clothes designed for deviated females. Evidently, I prefer to buy unisex clothes (sometimes marketed as boys' clothes) for her. I should say that I make absolutely no error in judgement with regards to sexism. In fact, my opening of this post is a supporting point in that direction.

As I said, my favourite was a polo shirt. For the last seven years I'm searching for a similar shirt without any success. I discuss with my colleagues that I'm searching for a polo shirt with V-neck, hands stitched with angle cut, texture is machine knitted but little coarse,and with vertical stripes. But one my female colleagues goes like, "I never thought that males think so much about clothes; that's a female domain". A male colleague pitches in, "V-neck is only for females". Those words give credibility to my thoughts in a way endorsing that they are naturally anti-sexist. I believe we should ban feminine clothes.

Malayali Classification

2011-12-24T19:20:00.000-08:00

I think Malayalis can be broadly classified into two categories based on their pronunciation. Majority use voiced labiodental fricative (v) instead of voiced bilabial plosive (b). Also, majority use retroflex approximant (zh) instead of palatal approximant (y). Considering the different paths trodden by these two groups, the former can be labelled as 'vazhi' Malayalis and the latter 'bayi' Malayalis. Or 'vazhi's and 'bayi's.

Daughter's language acquisition

2011-12-24T07:55:00.000-08:00

Few things I observed about my daughter's language acquisition
- She picked up velars and labials ahead of others
- She barely utters palatals
- Retroflexs are nowhere in the picture. I guess quintessential Dravidian identifiers are rather late developments
- Even though I'm the only 'ba' Malayalam speaker at home dominated by 'va' Malayalis, her initial words start with 'ba'. However, she is slowly making a transition to 'va', may be under the influence of zealous Malayalis at home.
- When words contain velars and labials, invariably, labial over-rides velar whatever may be the position
eg. kApi (Coffee) -> pApi
pArk -> pyApi
- Many words end with -i- instead of -a-
eg. Ani (elephant) instead of Ana
- Malayali tendency to change the first short 'a' to 'e' is already visible (Maybe influenced)
eg. banana -> benana

No Fasting is Better for Cholesterol Test

2011-12-21T03:30:00.000-08:00

There has been a study that found fasting is not a requirement for cholesterol testing. They observed "measurements are at least as good - and probably somewhat better - when made without fasting." But an old-patient in India has found that the fasting cholesterol testing in fact gives wrong results and Indians should always go for non-fasting cholesterol testing.

The old-patient, a compulsive cholesterol testee, has consistently observed that the measurements are 50 units lower for LDL without fasting than with fasting. The all season "famine driven cholesterol" hypothesis gives a very good explanation of this phenomenon.

The thrifty genes in Indian bodies go overdrive in conserving fat when they sense lack of food. This leads to abnormal increase in the cholesterol levels at the time of lipid profile testing.

Since Indian clinics allow only fasting cholesterol testing, the old-patient advises fellow citizens to read LDL number by deducting 50 units from it.

Growing Up

2011-12-20T09:43:00.000-08:00

My height has always been 171cms. Few years ago when one of my friends met me after a gap of few years, he exclaimed that I had grown taller. I spent half a day measuring my height and the miracle didn't happen and I turned out be unmoved 171cms.

It's a bad number, if you ask me. I can't say I'm 5'8" and I don't want to say I'm 5'7". In other words, I neither wanted to have an inflated ego nor effacing.

Not that I have any issues with my height. In fact, when I was younger, a measurement chart that my parents came across predicted my adult height at 5'4". I have always taken pride in the fact that I exceeded my potential as an adult.

But every time when my height was measured at the hospitals, I was invariably 172 cms. Now I have a doubt whether I'm undercutting myself. So, I have decided to declare my height as 5'8" in any future communications.

Keeping a Woman Slave

2011-12-15T10:32:00.001-08:00

Son-in-law:

Nearly thirty five years ago, an old man was talking to his new daughter-in-law. He was showing her his collection of old days. Among them there was a letter from his son-in-law. It was a five years old letter. He gave it to her without any emotion and asked her to read it. The letter was addressed to the old man.

“You have ruined my life. I married your daughter because she was your daughter. How can I explain the disappointment I faced? You have given me a mute miracle. How can the light that shone brightly for outsiders couldn’t drive out the darkness at home? Why doesn’t she have the love of languages? Why can’t she talk about politics authoritatively? Why is her knowledge of great literary works almost non-existent? Why doesn’t she have any radical views? Is she also fearless enough to sacrifice everything fighting for truth or does she even understand it? How can I live the rest of my life with her? But it is you and only you who is responsible for my hopeless future. Why didn’t you teach her? Why didn’t you make her like you?”

Old Man:

Forty years ago, an old man was walking slowly to a temple where he would daily meet his friends. Unlike other days, he didn’t have to bother about the distance he had to cover alone as there were enough thoughts in his mind to give him company. He had received a letter from his son-in-law where he vented his anger that his daughter was dumb.

The old man just couldn’t understand what went wrong. His children received the similar upbringing that he had for himself. Probably, even better as they grew up in a more egalitarian society. He only studied upto fourth standard and all his children bettered him on that front. Whatever he did later he did because he either loved it or went along with his friends. Nobody taught him anything. He didn’t think much about his short lived “success” in public life as the price he paid for it was too huge and he could barely recover from it. The romantic persona of his that some of his caste people developed had no meaning for him. He never thought much about himself.

Daughter:
About thirty years ago, having just been returned to her husband's house after the reconciliation efforts by the elders of the community she set out tidying up the house. She had been admired by everyone for her cleanliness. Her illiterate mother had taught her that discipline and etiquette were marks of the true class and she was very proud that she could measure upto that expectation. Her work was occasionally disturbed by few thoughts that appeared from nowhere.

"I would have studied hard and completed the tenth standard had father insisted on it. Nobody was really bothered when I failed."

"Father was never into gods but he would burst crackers during Deepavali as we looked on."

She longed for class.

Kasaragodu Malayalam (glossary) - updated

2011-10-21T20:08:00.000-07:00

I want to make a list of Kasaragodu Malayalam words that I mostly use with my daughter.
pronouns:
മോള്‍ -mol- daughter
അപ്പ -appa- father
അമ്മ -amma- mother
ഞാന്‍ -nhan- I
നീ -ni- you
കുഞ്ഞമ്മി -kunhammi-darling
ആണ് -an- male
പെണ് -pen- female
ക്ഡാവ് -kdav- child

Sensory organs
കണ്ണ് -kann- eye
മൂക്ക്-mukk- nose
ചെവി -chevi- ear
നാക്ക് -nakk- tongue

Senses

നോക്ക്‌ -nokk- look

കാണ്ണ് -kan- see

കേക്ക് -kekk- hear

ചൂഡ് -chud- heat

തണക്ക് -tanakk- cool

നമ്ബല -nambala- pain
പൊള്ളു -pollu- burn
കൊള്ളു -kollu- hit/impact
മണ -mana- smell

Speech words

ബിളിക്ക് -bilikk- call

ചെല്ല് - chell- say/speak

പരെ -pare- say
ഓര്‍മ -orma- memory/remember
നിരോണ -nirona- reminder

കൂട്ട്‌ -kutt- noise/shout

Body parts

തല -tala- head

ബായി -bayi- mouth

തനര്‍ -tanar- hair

പല്ല് -pall- teeth

കയ് -kay- hand

കാല്-kal- leg

ബെരെള് -berel- finger

ബയര് -bayar- stomach

പൊര -pora- back
കാദ് -kad- pinna

എരാവു -eravu- wing
തുവല് -tuval- feather

Physical movements

നഡക്ക് -nadakk- walk

ഓഡ് -od- run

തുള്ളു -tullu- jump

പായു -payu- run
ഇരിക്ക്-irikk-sit
നിക്ക്-nikk-stand
തൂച്-tuch-sit
താച്-tach-sleep
കഡക്ക്-kadakk-lie down
ഒറങ്ങ്-orang-sleep

ബ്ഊവ് -b'uv- fall

Physical actions
ഇഡ് -id- put
എഡക്ക്‌-edakk- get/take
തൊഡു -todu- touch
ബെക്ക്‌ -bekk- put back/ return
പിടിക്ക്‌ -pidikk- catch/hold
ബിഡ് -bid- leave/free/release
ചാഡ്‌ -chad- throw
ബലിക്ക്-balikk- pull
തൊരക്ക്‌ -torakk- open
പൊത്ത്-pott- close
അഡിക്ക് -adikk- beat
തയിക്ക് -tayikk- beat
ഉന്ദ് -und- push
ചൊരിയു -choriyu- itch/scratch
പോ-po-go
ബാ-ba-come
കേര്-ker-climb up
കീ-ki-climb down
കൊഡുക്ക്-kodukk- give
താ/തെറു -ta/teru- give (to me)
ഇന -ina- take (from me)
ബാരു- baru- comb (v)
കീരു -kiru- tear
കഡിക്ക് -kadikk- bite

പൊട്ടാക്ക് -pottakk- spoil
പൊട്ടിക്ക് -pottikk- blast/burst

പൊളിക്ക് -polikk- break/destroy
കവ്വ് -kavv- wash
കത്തിക്ക്‌ -kattikk- light
ബിരിക്ക് -birikk- open and spread
പൊദിക്ക്‌ -podikk- cover
തിരിക്ക്- tirikk- turn
ചവട്ട്-chavatt- step on
ചുട്ടു -chuttu- circle(v), go round
പ്ര്‍ക്ക്‌ -prkk- pick
പെര്ദ് -perd- search

Existential words
എന്ദെ -ende- what
ഇന്ഡ് -ind- exists
അല്ല -alla- no (not that)
ഇല്ല -illa- no (doesn't exist)
ബ്ഏണു -b'enu- want
ബ്ഏണ്ഡ -b'enda- don't want
ആക് -ak- do
ആകി -aki- did
ആയി -ayi- done
ആഗ -aga- don't
ആകണ്ഡ-akanda- don't do
കയ്യു-kayyu-can
കയ്യ -kayya- can't
പണി -pani- work

Directions
ആഡ -ada- there
ഈഡ -ida- here
ഏഡ -eda- where
അങ്ങോട്ട്‌ -angott- that direction
ഇങ്ങോട്ട്‌-ingott- this direction
എങ്ങോട്ട്‌ -engott- which direction
മീത-mita-above/top
തായ-taya-below/down
ഉളില്-ulil-inside
പൊരത്ത്-poratt-outside
എദുരു -eduru- front
ബയ്യ -bayya- back

Activities
പാഡ് -pad- sing
കളിക്ക്-kalikk- play
തുള്ള്-tullu- dance
പഡിക്ക്- padikk- learn

Bio-respnose

കരെയു -kareyu- weep

ചിരിക്ക്-chirikk- laugh

ബായി പരെയു -bayi pareyu- scold

Feelings
നല്ലെദ്-nalled-good
മദി-madi-enough

പേഡി -pedi-fear

പട്ടിക്ക് -pattikk- dupe
ചിച്ചി-chichchi-bad

ചൊടി -chodi- anger

Bio movements

പയിക്ക് -payikk- hungry

ബേയിക്ക് -beyikk- eat meal

കൂട്ട്‌ -kutt- eat

കുഡിക്ക് -kudikk- drink

തൂരു -turu- defecate
തുപ്പ്‌ -tuppu- spit
ബ്ആത്ര ബ്ആത്‌ -b'atra b'at- pass urine
ബേര്ക്ക് -berkk- sweat

Changing Environment
മയ -maya- rain
കാറ്റ്‌-katt- wind
ബ്ളക്ക്-b'lakk- light
ഇരുട്ട് -irutt- darkness
കുളിര് -kulir- chill

തി -ti- fire

Still environment
മര -mara- tree
ഏല് -ael- branch
എല -ela- leaf
തയ് -tay- plant
മണ്ണ് -mann- soil/earth
ബ്ള്ളാ -b'lla- water
ചേര് -cher- mire

Articles
ചോര്-chor-rice/meal
ചെരുപ്പ്‌-cherupp-sandals
കാട്ട -katta-waste
ചീര്പു -chirpu- comb(n)

തൊട്ടില് -tottil- cradle
പായ -paya- bed
ബായക -bayaka- banana
പയ -paya- fruit

പൂ -poo- flower

Dwelling
ബ്ആട്ട്-b'att-house
പൊര-pora-house
ബയി -bayi- road
ബാദല് -badal- door
അഡക്കള -adakkala- kitchen
ചൊമര്‌ -chomaru- wall
ബര-bara- boundary wall

Space and Time
കാല്തെ -kalte- morning

ഉച്ചെക്ക്-uchchekk- afternoon

ബ് യട്ട്-b'yatt- evening

രാവ് -rav- night

പാരു-paru-flow/fly

നേര -nera- late
ബേന് -ben- quick/immediate/in advance/fast
തിരുച്ചു -tiruchchu- again/re
പിന്ന -pinna- after/later/again
പുദിയദ് -pudiyad- new
പയദ്-payad- old

കയിയു -kayiyu- elapse/complete

Dimensions and Measurements
കൊര്ച -korcha- little
കൊറേ -kore- plenty
നൊര്ച -norcha- full
ഇത്ര -itra- this much
അത്ര -atra- that much
എത്ര -etra- how much

ബെല്ദ് -beld- big
ചെര്ദ് -cherd- small

ഒന്ന്‌/ ഒരു -onn/oru- one

രണ്ടു -randu- two

Animated objects

പുര്‍ക്ക്-purkk-mosquito
പൂച-pucha-cat
കോയി -koyi- chicken

Unclassified
കിട്ടനെദ് -kittaned- gettng/coming across

ബെര്ദെ -berde- simply/without any reason

Ratings of 20th century Kannada literary figures

2010-12-20T20:27:00.000-08:00

Nowadays I hardly read Kannada fiction. I was thinking about all the authors I have read and the ones I have missed. The list doesn't look extensive. I have observed that I have not read any poetry and plays. I have skipped most of the female literary figures (apart from a children's story teller). But I might have seen movies based on many of these authors' works and I might have seen dramas and also I might have studied poetry in the school. But I have always been a reader of prose in the form of fiction or non-fiction.

I thought of ranking my favourite authors. So here is the list.

1. Poornachandra Tejaswi

2. B G L Swamy

3. Masti Vekantesha Ayyangar

4. Shivaraya Kulakunda (Niranjana)

5. Subrahmanya Raje Aras (Chaduranga)

6. Devanuru Mahadeva

7. Kota Shivarama Karanta

8. Kuppalli Venkatappa Puttappa (Kuvempu)

9. Goruru Ramaswamy Ayyangar (Goruru)

10. Anupama Niranjana

11. S L Bhairappa

12. Ha Ma Nayaka(Hamana)

13. Patila Puttappa (Papu)

14. Ta Ra Subbarao (Tarasu)

15. Aa Na Krishnaraya (Aanakra)

16. Bhimasena Rao (Beechi)

And the authors I shouldn't have missed reading(not ranked).

Anasuya Shankar (Triveni)

M K Indira

Sara Aboobakkar

U R Ananthamurthy

Girish Karnada

Chandrashekara Kambara

T P Kailasam

P Lankesh

Baraguru Ramachandrappa

Chinese lessons

2010-08-28T00:52:00.000-07:00

Chinese are no longer overawed by Indians' mastery over English. On the contrary, now it appears they want to atone for their inferiority feeling vis-a-vis Indian English.
[Chinese]: It's tough to follow your accent.
[I]: he he he
[Chinese]: I asked my colleague how to follow Indian English and he told me there were three rules.
[I]: A-ha...
[Chinese]: You don't say -t- but -d- instead.
[I]: Is it?
[Chinese]: Say, "interesting"
[I]: iMTresTiG
[Chinese]: Yes, Yes. There you go, iMDeresTiG
[I]: < That must be my Dravidian tongue. We are supposed to use 'voiceless' form in the beginning of a word and 'voiced' form in the next part. > Okay. So, what is the second rule?
[Chinese]: You don't say -c- but -g- instead.
[I]: huh...
[Chinese]: You don't say 'come' but say 'gum'. Say 'come'.
[I]: kam
[Chinese]: < brightening > You see... gam .
[I]: < Now that is a googly. That defies my Dravidian tongue too. I should be natural in pronouncing voiceless velar instead of voiced velar in the beginning. > And the third rule...
[Chinese]: Say 'Mary'
[I]: myArri...Did you mean mEri
[Chinese]: mEli! You don't say 'r' but use 'l' instead.
[I]: < How can my rhotic ever be misunderstood for alveolar lateral approximant? > That is tricky ...ha ha ha..
[Chinese]: Oh! Trrrr......

Unstereotyped

2010-08-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

[Few summers ago]
[Air Hostess]: Mr. Mangalore, you have ordered a vegetarian meal?
[I]: < I have to tick 'non-vegetarian' next time onwards >. No, I didn't give any preferences. Probably, agent must have ticked wrongly. I would like to have something from the menu.
[Few summers later]
[Air Hostess]: Mr. Mangalore, you have ordered the Hindu meal?
[I]: < What's this non-sense? Why the agent had to change my non-preference to vegetarian preference > No, I didn't order for Hindu meal. I'm not sure how it happened. I would like to chose from your menu.
[Last winter]
[Air Hostess]: Mr. Mangalore, you have ordered the Hindu meal?
[I]: < What is going on here >. I'm sure that must be a mistake. I didn't give any choices. Do you have something else.
[Air Hostess]: Sorry, Sir. You have only vegetarian selection. Would you prefer that instead of the Hindu meal?
[I]: < What difference will that make? Why these fadists want to force their identity to the majority? > Okay, I'll have the Hindu meal.
[Hindu meal was delivered. It was a non-vegetarian meal]
[I]: < Did they make a mistake? Who cares? >
[Few days back ]
[Air Hostess]: Mr. Vadiarillat, you have ordered the Hindu meal?
[I]: < I stared at her face thinking what to say >
[Air Hostess]: Hindu meal, it's a non-vegetarian meal
[I]: Yes, I know. I'll have it.

Relative knowledge

2010-07-25T07:23:00.000-07:00

[Get together at my relatives' place]
[Visitor Malayali]: This parippu vada (red gram vada) is a typical Malayali dish.
[I]: Yeah, it is very common nowadays.
[Host Malayali]: Yeah, Yeah...
[I]: In fact, in Mangaluru we call it 'chattambade'
[Host Malayali]: ...o..o..
[I]: It's basically a funeral dish...the name 'chatta' means funeral and 'ambade'* is vade
[Host Malayali]: [Confused, looks up and nods his head]

* ambade was the original common (Proto-Dravidian) name of all these dishes, now surviving only in coastal Karnataka. The diluted name 'vade' of eastern Dravidians has become common name all over India and among Western Dravidians like Kannadigas too. Strictly speaking, the native Kannada word should have been 'bade'.

Raavan - Movie Review

2010-06-28T06:10:00.000-07:00

Other day I watched Rashomon. I wasn't impressed. I suppose I'm sort of saturated with the idea of people viewing any event thro' their own limitations. A day later I read the plot of movie 'Raavan'. It reminded me that I'm still living in Treta Yuga when it comes to Indian movies. However, I'm not going to be a cynic. I would say that the film still has its merits. It has intellectualism of 20th century if not 21st century in its characters.

I have already mentioned I haven't watched the movie. But after reading the plot, I am sure not watching is not a drawback for writing a review. As I have said I'm going to discuss the the wisdom 20th century in that movie. It's all about racial struggle.

Let's check the names of the characters.
Beera Munda: The main protagonist. Equivalent to Ravana of Ramayana.
   In Ramayana: Ravana was a Brahmin. Most likely Indo-Aryan speaker. Supposedly a scholar. Hence Rama, Kshatriya thus lower caste, performed a penance called Brahma Hatya Dosha for the sin of killing a Brahmin (in that case Ravana). The story was good versus evil. The good was a Kshatriya and evil was a Brahmin.
   In Raavan: The surname Munda clearly suggests Austro-Asiatic tribal man. Thus an oppressed being and probably illiterate or with a moderate education. He is a diluted version of Ravana of Ramayana in every sense. The story is grey versus grey. The anti-hero is a Munda tribal and hero is a Brahmin.

Serena Munda: Beera Munda's sister. Equivalent to Ravana's sister Shurpanakha.
   In Ramayana: Shurpanakha lusted after Rama and Lakshmana. But was disfigured by Lakshmana when she tried to harm Sita.
   In Raavan: The name Serena is unique. It's not a common Indian name. However, most of the educated Indians instinctively imagine Tennis star Serena Williams when the name crosses the mind. Thus his sister is a representative of an African woman. Another suppressed population. Here Serena is the object of lust.

Note: While I started this post couple of days I back I found Wikipedia mentioned her name as Serena. Then they changed it to Jamuni. It appears producers announced the name as Serena but later changed it to Jamuni. Anyway, I'll stick with their pre-release name.

Dev Pratap Sharma: Equivalent to Rama of Ramayana.
                      In Ramayana: Rama was a born Kshatriya. Probably moderately educated. A brave warrior but panicky about purity of his kidnapped wife.
                      In Raavan: Dev Pratap Sharma is a Brahmin.Ruthless and modern enough to be bothered about purity of kidnapped wife. On the contrary, he coldly uses the purity concept of a woman to his own advantage. He is not a stereotypical Brahmins of yesteryears who were passive and panicky about the purity of their women. He is a modern, educated, liberated counterpart of mythical Rama.

Ragini Sharma: Equivalent to Sita of Ramayana.
                       In Ramayana: A passive and submissive wife. Always trying to prove her purity under every circumstances.
                       In Raavan: A passive and submissive wife. Probably even dumber compared to Sita. Confused in front of aggressive males. Also, trying to prove her purity.

My Genetic Horoscope - i

2010-04-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

Slow metabolizer of Caffeine
Less likely to avoid Errors

Bengaluru in other languages

2010-04-19T03:13:00.000-07:00

I consider changing names and spellings of the colonized places is a very rational move. However, I believe we can give very scientific/linguistic nature to the whole process. We know that sound changes give rise to multiple branches of a proto-language. We already know the sound changes between the languages of the same family. Therefore, I would propose we should make sure the languages belonging to the same linguistic family must have the spellings/pronunciations that follow those sound changes.

Consider the case of Bengaluru (beGgaLUru)

In Malayalam: veGGallUr
In Telugu: veGgulUru
In Tamil: veGgaLUr

I suppose non-Dravidian language speakers, as far as possible, must pronounce it close to Kannada pronunciation out of courtesy.

A Kafkaesque Early Morning Dream

2010-03-21T07:18:00.000-07:00

Something happened and I was ushered to a hotel room. I found myself sharing that room with a family. The family consisted of a middle aged woman, a young man and a young woman. The young woman was breathtakingly beautiful. There was a TV in the room. The women went inside the living room. I went there and came back. I went out.

In the corridor, I ran across another young lady. She was gravely attractive. She looked at me. I couldn't make out whether that stare was blank or she was smiling. Somebody then stopped me and told my room was different. It was 305 and there was the key. I didn't take it. I said something and went somewhere.

Then I found myself arguing with somebody. I told I needed a separate room. Some more arguments. Then I met another guy and took the keys.

After that I found myself in a friend's room. I told I was stranded and was put up in a hotel. There was another guy. He asked me whether I met Ananya. I said I did.

Then I was at my home. There was something to be done. I sent my brother. After sometime I went there myself. I saw my brother. Then I was walking inside some building I met this tall police officer.

The police officer stopped me. He asked what I did to her. I said I didn't do anything. In fact, when I found myself sharing my room with them I asked for a separate room. Then I said my friend's friend knew Ananya.

[My alarm clock went off and I woke up. I was supposed to study for my exam today but I went back to sleep to complete the mystery. But it was of no use]