Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Break Away


I’m not too much of a caffeine consumer nor a big believer in the goodness of smoke/walk breaks.
I think anyone who has seen me at work realizes that I have enough walk breaks forced on me day in and out as I trot from one dreaded meeting to another.
When I’m on one of these work imposed walk breaks, I find myself admiring the people motley spread across various zones in the office, indulging in self righteous cloning to fit into the social mold.
Total strangers exchanging nods of rapprochement across their shared hot spots, Stimulants in the form of coffee and pretty girls sitting aplomb (talk about the absolute dearth of good looking men at work!), hysterical laughter in the corridors, ephemeral clouds of fancy perfumes, office couples who (sometimes!)make you wish you had your better half right by your side all day, the raconteur of every group animatedly reporting the latest gossip, pathetic souls hopeful for promotions looming in the background as they nod in agreement with every word the boss utters over their routine smoke breaks, high maintenance babes on the way back from the rest room freshly painted faces and the works, brotherhood of the stalkers, the mommy’s association engaged in agitated talks about the forthcoming school exams, strangers clutching onto resumes waiting anxiously in the lobby to be interviewed, the security staff looking at people suspiciously at the beep of every swipe card...the sheer diversity of the multitude of people...all the drama, the colors, the noises...makes for some unadulterated entertainment!
I couldn’t agree more…All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

It’s all about embracing the differences!


I dedicate this post to some of my best friends from the north of our country,who truly love and respect the south as much as they love their own land.
This one is for you Pinkster, Tara, Nimi, Kanika, Saku and Pragu!

So, dear old AT is indulging in his quotidian, free caffeine at the office cafeteria (All alone of course!) and a Chomu (Chapatti oriented masses) comes up to him, points at the chair next to AT and asks him in hindi...”Kya yaha pe koi aa raha hai”?(Anyone coming here?). Poor Chomu had no clue about ATs antisocial status.
Anyways what follows is even funnier, AT looks up and replies, ”Aarum verinilla, kasara editho”!(In eloquent Malayalam….No one is coming,(Like duh!)you can take the chair”!
Chomu is shocked by the strange language thrown at him and immediately switches over to English, and AT, having proved his point, obliges politely.
Anyways, that set me thinking….why Hindi?
I don’t know what speaking Hindi with a south Indian accent is, but I believe I do a good job at it.
After years of wrestling with the language through school..I feel put to test even now!
All credit to Bollywood! Far from mastering the language, I can just about manage haggling with the auto drivers and shopkeepers
A lot of people live under the misconception that Hindi is our national language, hello ignoramus…it is our official language and one of the 22 scheduled languages of the country.
When there is clearly an invisible division between the north and south of India isn’t it unfair to assume that everyone knows Hindi.
Thank god for globalization and the IT boom, South India is actually on the world map and to the rest of the country we are more than just “Madrasis” down south! To their disbelief they discovered that the very same lot of Madrasis comprise of Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Konkani, Kannada, Coorgi, Tulu, Badga and Toda speaking masses with a multitude of dialects to boot!
Its 2008 and yet, we have to endear comments about our not so colored skin, not so oily hair and not so funny name!
Although ignorance is bliss, someday may all these misconceptions be dispelled….
May you appreciate the idli, appam, bisi belle bath and andhra meals as much as you relish your chaat and roti,
May you appreciate the safety of our territory and the hospitality of our people,
May you realize that we are more literate yet less arrogant,
All the world needs is more mutual respect!
Ironically, there never was a united India until Britain made it so. We were a nation of warring states held together by the British Raj and today they left behind a language that in some sense unites us as a nation
A funny thought occurred to me though….what if Hitler had conquered Britain in 1940?? :)