GLEAMS UNRAVELLED

It was during the last week I got to know that there is no word such as “Prepone”.
The opposite of postpone is “Advance”.
I didn’t accept this fact initially, but then I googled and hit upon someone else’s blog where the person had explained about this. From there I browsed through a couple of links and landed upon this wiki page on “Indian English”.

Quite funny are the things that are mentioned. Lets have a look.
Grammar tweaks:
Anglicisation of Indian words especially in Chennai by adding "ify" to a local Tamil word.
Eg: Did u oothify ink to your pen ?
I will pazhivaangify him !
My god, I have used these words so often in school days . lol.

Tag questions: The use of "isn't it?" "no?" “na” “uh” as general question tags,
You are going isn’t it ?
Hey coming no ?
Too cold na ?? - Use this and you will considered a person who knows good English :)
Ready uh?

People from South Indian state mainly Karnataka have the habbit of adding "U" to all english words when speaking Kannada.
Eg.LeftU for left , BusU for Bus.
I thought people from Andhra use it !!

Use of yaar, machaa, abey, arey in an English conversation between Indians.

Use of the plural ladies for a single lady or a woman of respect,
In Saroja movie, when Premji comes with the heroine , Shiva asks
“hey yaaruda intha ladies” :P
I thought it was for us to laugh, but now I got to know it is for respect :P

Use of "current went" and "current came" (also, "light went" and "light came") for "The power went out" and "The power came back"
“Current went” is more preferable and easy to use . isn’t it ? ahh.. Typical Indian I am.

Use of "y'all" for "you all" or "all of you", as used in Southern American English, especially by Anglo-Indians.
I thought this was a style statement when you write mails J

Overuse of the words "Generally"/"Actually"/"Obviously"/"Basically" in the beginning of a sentence.
Actually what I am trying to tell you is that generally Indians use these words.
Basically it is not their problem. Obviously everyone knows that.

Use of the word "gift" as a verb : You are gifting me a new cell phone?
So how do I say when someone gifts me something ;-)

In South India, phrases such as "that and all", or "this and all" are used roughly to convey the meaning "all of that (stuff)" or "regarding that".
A: "Are they really going around?"
B: "That and all I don't know. I just got the news."

Use of "chumma chumma" (Tamil:it means simply) at the beginning of a sentence.
Chumma don’t give me a reason .

Unnecessary repetition of a word to stress on the general idea. Used mostly with words like Yes No Right Ok etc.,
She has attitude. Yes No. Right . OK. Fine . See you.

Casual references:
"Hill Station" means mountain resort.
"Hotel" means "restaurant
My goodness ! they are casual references ??!!

Some words I leant after coming to Bangalore:
Use of the word "chal" to mean the interjection "Ok",
Eg: "Chal, I gotta go now" at the end of a phone call
“Chalo .See you tomorrow. Bye”

Use of T-K in place of O.K. when answering a question
Eg: "Would you like to come to the movie?" – "T-K, I'll meet you there


Words unique to or originating in Indian English (in formal usage)
to prepone (to advance, literally the opposite of 'postpone') – And I came to the point now :)
mugging or mugging up (studying hard or memorising, - This is one good term I learnt in School though I never practised.
pass-out to graduate from college – I am a 2007 passout.
would-be (fiancé/fiancée)
co-brother indicates relationship between two men who married sisters.
'bla bla bla' to denote etc. or meaningless trivial conversation -

Colloquial and slang words used in Indian English
buck (Rupee.) - I thought this was American :)
Fundashort for fundamental
fundu or fundoo - great. Someone who has good fundas is fundu.
enthu, a short form for 'enthusiasm' or 'enthusiastic'.
despo, a short form for 'desperate'.
senti, a short form for 'sentimental'.
"Deadly", "hi-fi", "sexy"
"Gone for a toss", to mean something got ruined.
freaking out - used (loosely) in place of "..having a good time

All these college slangs are unique Indian English.
So no harm in using them :)
TK . Chal. Meet you in next blog. Chumma don’t read and go off.
Leave comment ok .
Actually, I type adichified with great difficulty. :)

Its Diwali and I hear distant sounds of crackers.

Time for a little retrospection – I remember the time when I  was in school, Diwali was the most memorable festival for me. The bursting of crackers starts a few days before the festival. In the night, when all our neighbors start first with their flowerpots, followed by rockets the happiest times begin with a great pleasure. My mom used to wake us(me and my bro) up early in the morning( Early is not less than 6 or 7 o clock for us ;-) ) And apply oil in the head and we fight who has to go and take bath first. My mom prepares lots of festival sweets like muruku,adhirasam etc and it is not to be touched before prayer. We would be waiting for the prayer to get over so that we can take and start munching them ;-) I am not an eatomania either.  But still diwali muruku was not to be missed !

The strong competition starts between all our neighbors on the day of Diwali. Who bursts the highest number of crackers, who bursts all the high-end cracker (for e.g. atom bomb) and who bursts without any fear. I was one person who had always feared for bursting crackers. My dad used to shout from the balcony “Come on go and keep the fire”. But then when I near the cracker, the same time someone in the next house would come for doing the same. And then the fear starts gripping me and I take my step back. For to stand behind the gate and look at the cracker being burst by someone else. Always it used to be so much fun watching different people bursting crackers all over the street. At around 11 o clock the street calms down, we used to hear sounds only from a distance.

Then we start watching programs in Television where you hear the same sound from all houses. Everyone trying to have his or her TV’s volume the maximum.

I remember the first time when I burst an atom bomb. I kept fire and ran off at least a 100 meters fearing what would happen to me – The first and the last time it happened was in 1998. Now 10 years later I am sitting inside my house watching television and listening to the distant sounds of crackers. No entertainment. Just hearing sounds and a few sights of some children in the apartment who are holding sparkles and bursting a little lightweight crackers.

And in the night colorful rockets adorn the sky and it is just an awesome sight to watch.

Yea ! I only watch.

Diwali dress was also very special those days. I would be waiting for the D-day to wear my new dress and roam around the area for one whole day. Now I get a dress whenever I feel like buying it, and no occasion needed to wear it. And today’s diwali dress is happily sitting inside my cupboard.

Times haven’t changed Only we have changed.

Still the children near my old area would burst crackers the same way as I did , there would be someone who is very strong , someone who is fearless and someone who is not, someone who bursts the highest number and someone who merely watches.

Anyways, it’s diwali and a little nostalgia in me does no harm.

I read somewhere that Diwali is a time when the darkness inside your soul should be lightened by the light of the crackers and sparkles. The best time to get out of depression by watching all the light around us.  So a great festival indeed !

Happy Diwali :)