"Kannada Barutha??"

Achtung:Readers, don't blame me for a rather long blog this time...
(btw, I've not taken long to type it all... ;) it's one I read somewhere, but felt I should publish, with some of my own spice :).

Aaaah! I am sure most of you in Bangalore would have heard this, but what is "kannada barutha?" here it goes. Bangalore the IT capital of India , the silicon city and now a Metro city opened its gates to almost all kinds of people. Very evidently the recent poll census proved that there are only 47% of original inhabitants in Bangalore/bengaluru. The life style of the city has seen a gradual change with Pizza Corners replacing MTR's, classy eat out's replacing "Vidyarthi Bhavans" and flashy pub's replacing all the "Mahalakshmi wine shops".

"Change is inevitable" from the days of HMT, BEML, HAL and BHEL to INFOSYS and WIPRO; Bangalore has a new look now on the world map. Gone are the days where a typical Sunday for any bangalorean was a nice romantic walk on the pavements of "LALBAGH...", "rave idli and coffee.." at the nearest yet old looking MTR and a wonderful Annavra film either at Santosh or central 'talkies'. Today's Bangalore is deluged in traffic, stress and pressure, Saturday nights without beer is desolate and a Sunday without a visit to either a nearest spa or health clinic is schlocky!! The gandhibazar's are now AC cooled super markets, majestic is now replaced by an ultra modern and diversified Brigade road, "Sri cauvery coffee joint" is now Coffee day... and "Bhagyalakshmi coffee adda"... is now Barista. With globalisation and more retail market the city will definitely see more forceful changes.

Have all these changed our language? Kannada the local language of Bangalore is supposed to be one of the most meaningful of languages; it also has an unique script as compared to many of its other counterparts; but what percentage of people really use Kannada in Bangalore now? The figures are staggering, only 37% of people speak kannada in the state's capital as i read somwhere. for rest it is only "Kannada barutha?"

Any normal guy starts with this sentence "Kannada barutha?" while talking to another person. people confirm before they speak the language. You want to ask an address in Bangalore? or reply to a question... then English is the most preferred language with Hindi. It's a fact that two kannidagas in an IT company always talk in a neutral language!! even the vendors and shop keepers are channeled to this new wave, the moment when you step in any shop in Bangalore , you are always asked "Kannada barutha?" or the entire conversation takes place in non kannada languages. People have lost the confidence of speaking in the local language and more over speaking Kannada on the streets of "M.G road "or "kormangala" is substandard.

Shopping malls in the city have been completely banned from using Kannada, not a forced one but definitely an adapted one. One has to confirm that the other person knows the language before he starts using any language. "ondu glass beer" is a insult when it comes to any decorous pub in Bangalore. "Swalpa menu card kodthira..??" has been replaced by "Can I have the menu card please...?"

Just to hit some facts, marathi is still the largest and common speaking language in mumbai even though mumbai has the highest no of inhabitants. Telugu is a practised ritual in yet another IT HUB Hyderabad. When it comes to tamil nadu, beware you can be alive either if you are a fan of rajnikanth or you know tamil. Malyalam runs in the blood of every mallu be it Kuwait , dubai or any hospital; but when it comes to kannada it isalways "kannada barutha?" and next is "namaskara."

I am neither a Kannada activist nor do I run any Kannada supporting organization, I am just a plebeian who just loves the language. Globalisation is the trend and modernisation is the mantra. but at the cost of a language? Sounds no logic.. Is speaking kannada down market? The answer has to be found within oneself. Next time when you hear "kannada barutha?"., just remember that "kannada runs in your blood.."

Untitled.

Two lines of his, one friend wanted me to publish...

Why?? Well... for him, blogging is rather childish...

मजबूत यह दिल तुम्हारे इनकार से ऐसे खोखला हो गया।

मानो सावन न आया तो पत्थर जैसे डोख्ला बन गया॥

For those, who don't know डोख्ला, it's a Gujju Special, soft n spongy, swwweet n sour dumpling,

our canteen cooks prepare to the best of their abilities, never to match even a Gujju fledgling...

All these words are his, including this line...

all that I can claim, is that the blog is mine...

-Anon

(P.S: name not published:( , for that's what's asked of.)

I also don't know, what inspired to make a dhokla out of stones now:P

springing nature...

this one, again from the jungles of the Western Ghats... Nature was at it's colorful best, with leaves just budding out in the woods.

do it, or dont. Don't try to...

I've heard of this word "Try" from many people. I used it at one time too... maybe as a school boy. Then I learnt something. Someone asked me to try and drop a pencil; and made me realize what the state of someone's mind is, when (s)he "tries to"...

It's not just words that speak. I've learnt from life, that there are many other things that speak.

I once saw joy in my father's eyes as a small boy, (aged about 6 years.), though his words were as calm and composed as always... That was my first lesson to understand this.

As i grew up, I learnt... there are many other things that speak. the way someone smiles, the way someone reacts to your talk... even the way someone walks...

Even the composure of this blog speaks a million things... only for those who can understand though... wondering why I blog all this??

Only a few hours ago, I saw someone "trying to hide". It was so clear and evident that somethings were not acceptable. Still, the make-believe was that everything was ok. Accepting if something is not ok is always acceptable. But then... some people understand some things too soon... just be so very careful when you "Try" to pretend before such people...

Heads and Tails...

Whenever I need to make a quick decesion, I toss a coin. "Heads, positive, Tails, Negative". I suggest many that this is the simplest way of deciding. I know, they would think I'm a moron or a Psycho of some kind, or something else, anything but normal. But there's a further secret step to be taken. This, I've only told those who've tossed a coin on my suggestion. Time to reveal it to everyone who wants to know too...

The moment I toss the coin, I also have a decision. A decision to toss the coin again, until it ends up in the affirmative. A few days ago, when I read Q&A by Vikas Swarup, I realized, how similar I was to the hero of the novel in making decisions., who had already decided what it was going to be. Heads, Positive, Tails, Negative... and he would never go with the tails for a Positive call... and would always win, for the fact that his coin was "Double Headed";)

"Decisions are already made..."

Recession... no better explanation

Yet again, but after one experience I had with a security guard, this time it was a traffic cop. Now, this time, it is not for me to think if we are worth... rather, this guy made me admire how even such "Jargons" of the "Civilized world" are so simply understood by these"People from the Small Towns" (छोटे शेहेर के लोग as they are commonly known across the बड़े शेहेर के लोग। ).

The beauty of their life makes me admire the छोटे शेहेर way of life. As always, like it's more out of habit (the habit of chattering too much;) ) than something else, I started talking to this guy too. The moment he realized my Engg. background, and that I work for a sw firma, the first thought that hit him was about recession. I was sure it was his first thought, because he took no time in asking how SW engineers made a living with this recession. Now, as I started explaining how less the impact of Recession in India was, and the hype that the media has created, he interrupted me. He said, ಬಿಡಿ ಸಾರ್ ಗೊತ್ತು ಈ Recessionಉ. (Meaning, leave it sir, We know what this recession means, and its menace too...). I thought it's time to close my mouth, and open my ears. so, continued hearing what he was saying...

This is how he explained "Recession" to me...

"There is a situation, where tomatoes cost 40rupees a kilo. wondering about the profit they would make if they grew tomatoes, everyone kicked off with tomato cropping at the same time. Now, a while later, when it was time to harvest, everyone was waiting for a shock. With all the crop harvested at the same time, the market was so full of tomatoes, that it became hard for the farmers to sell it at even 50paise a kilo, and the harvest was going down the gutter. Now, you people are the tomatoes, and all the SW firms, the farmers, who thought you tomatoes would be the best bet in a market so full of vegetables, to make the best profits."

Yes, he was so very simple. The way this छोटे शेहेर का आदमी spoke.. actually, had I been given an explanation like this at the first instance, I would not have taken so long as I actually did, to understand recession. How simple, and practical the lives of these people are. If only... I were from a place like where he was from... Life would have been so simple to understand... and so, would be the meaning of life...

Hats off to the simplicity of these people. Civilized earthlings, learn something from them. Recession would ceretainly not have hit us as hard as it has, had we understood life their way.

The secret of a movie...

Never had I thought that such an incident can happen on such a beautiful Sunday eve. But it had to, and happened this Sunday. 2 of us, A friend of mine, and myself, were sitting on a bench and discussing about something (irrelevant here) when one guy, seemingly aged around 20 came to us, and enquired if we spoke Kannada. Getting a response in the affirmative, he started chatting with us for a few minutes, and so unsuspectfully...
A while later, his true persona was revealed. He had come to us with a purpose.
From what he told us of himself, he was a dropout after being unable to pass his 10th, and had to go to one of his relatives' house in Chamarajpet. He asked us if we could help him. When we enquired about his whereabouts, he said he lived with his parents in the Quarters adjacent. His parents never stopped him from going to the relative('s') house, neither were they ready to give him any money. So, he wanted us to give him something, so that he could.
We looked at each other for a while, and thought (the first mistake!) that he was truthful, and decided we give him some money, at the most 20bucks.(the second mistake!!) However, as it was to be, neither of us had any bill that could be spared for him. I said I had nothing lesser than a Rs.100 bill, and pat came his answer. "Irli sir, adanne koDi, naanu 60 rupai change koDtini" (Ok. give me the 100 rupees, and I will give you a change of 60 rupees.). The most horrible shock of my lifetime. A person who hadn't even 20 rupees to go to his relative('s') house, in no time, possesses atleast Rs.60.
Us:Why do you need money when you already have sufficient?
He:actually, wanted to buy a CD.
Us:what's important? CD or Relatives?
He:both... I also want to go to their home. (Which, I interpreted as CD being more important)
Us:and what's more important?
He: CD.
Us:which CD is it, that's more important than your relatives?
He:actually, I want to buy a CD of "Raaz". (For those who might wonder, it's a Hindi Movie. I've not yet seen it though.)
Us:But you could actually rent one and watch it for less than Rs.10.
He:No. I want to own a CD of the movie! (Ain't it a wonderful answer?)

This shook us up literally. What's so special about this movie?
What is the "Raaz" behind someone being so desperate to own a CD and watch the movie?
can someone let me know, before I waste bandwidth to download movies like Raaz to find out the "Raaz"???