The sensationalism of the two buzz phrases “Indian Team Wins The World Cup” and “Anna Hazare’s Anti Corruption Anti Government Campaign”  have saturated our ears and eyes for the last one month and I wouldn’t like to bore you on that like our famous Barkha Dutt does with her shrewd remarks or our Navjot Singh Sidhu boxing with his one liners. Whether you hated it or you loved it, you just couldn’t help from getting engrossed in them. So, on a lighter note , taking the same aura ...

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After 18 years of living in Gujarat and sometimes being asked “Aap Madras ke ho” I moved to Chennai last year, bracing myself to become a pucca “Madarasi”. I was sure I would yearn to hear Hindi being spoken and thought might have to refresh myself with a liberal dose of Hindi movies. What I have seen in a year now, in Chennai is anything but what I had imagined it to be.


My first encounter as a “Madrasi” was quite an eye opener to how pervasive Hindi had become. Mustering courage...
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I guess I am a sort of a hybrid personality. I don’t meet the definition of a South or North Indian. I don’t have a Madrasi accent but can’t speak more than 3 sentences in Tamil. Those who couldn’t resist their curiosity regretted having asked me for an explanation. Those 16 mark university questions don’t quite develop abilities to “answer to the point”. Born in Delhi, grew up in Gujarat but actually a Tamilian and perhaps looking for a Bengali bridegroom! Well that ought to co...
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