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Wednesday 5 October 2011

Puneri Be-Shuddha Hindi.



We Punekars pride ourselves in having the most fluent Marathi that can be heard. True to the saying- Marathi asavi punekarasarkhi, our Marathi is unique. Grammatically fluent, flawless, and purest form of Marathi can be heard only in Pune. In other places, English words have English meanings. In Pune, English words have Marathi meanings. It’s a foul if you talk more than 5 words in English at a stretch. You talk like that and you are branded as a person from “convents”. Not that Punekars are not fluent in English. If we want, we can speak world class English. But usually we reserve this for showing off our brilliance on the world stage. Punekars are not scared of languages like Marathi, Sanskrit, for these languages are in their blood. Before a Mumbaikar may realize what is being said, a true Punekar has cursed him in fluent Marathi about 10 times. This fluent, purest, stinging, and hurting (kamit kami shabdat jastit jasta apamaan) is a peculiar characteristic of Sadashiv Peth. People from outside have this notion that if you go to Sadashiv Peth, you return insulted in some way, and you don’t even know it. Yes. As Punekars, we are proud that we can do that! And the fact that we do that in Marathi adds more gloss and class to it.

As good as his Marathi may be, the Achilles heel of any Punekar is his Hindi. Every great person has a weakness. A Punekars weakness is his grasp of Hindi. Being advocates and lovers of Marathi, Hindi does not come naturally to Punekars.  His Hindi speech is riddled with Marathi words, which brings about a comical effect. As a Punekar, we are aware of this limitation of ours. But we hardly care. It’s our approach that if you are in Pune, you have to speak in Marathi. If anyone asks a question in Hindi or English or French or for that matter any other language, we reply in Marathi. Probably it’s because of our fear of talking in Hindi that we resort to Marathi. But yes, Punekars are scared of conversing in Hindi. Unless that Hindi is used to describe historical developments. History brings about the best in a Punekar, and language does not become a barrier. Ask a Punekar to tell the world the stories of Shivaji, then forget Hindi, he will even tell them in Tamil, Telgu, any other weird language flawlessly.

But Hindi. Puneri Hindi is comical. Rather the way we speak it, we make it comical. (Yes we like a laugh!) I don’t have to go beyond myself to prove how bad our conversational Hindi is. Here are a few samples of me talking Hindi:


“Arre e!! aisa mat karo tum… kidhar bhi rang dalo, mere doke pe mat dalo”

“Tumhe Shaniwar vadaa kaise jate hai pata nahi hai? Idhar se saral jao.. Bajirao road ayega.. udhar davikade valo..phir vapas saral jao”

“Aho, pishwi vala doodh do.. sutta mat do”

“Saral Saral bolo na tumhe ye karna nahi ata”

“Idhar kachra mat dalo. Agar tum idhar hi zopte, to tumhe kaise lagta?”

“Arre aisa situation ana nahi chahiye. Haat var hote hai!”


"Woh ushta kharkata sab ekatra karo aur kachrapeti mein taak ke aao"

“Are Pune mein jaisa rastyachya bajucha khana milta hai, waisa Mumbai mein nahi milta!”

“Pune ke dukaandaar 1-4 baje dukan band karke kulup laga ke ghar jake masta aram se zopte hai.”

“Tum amarathi logon ko Sadashiv Peth mein nahi ana chaahiye. Hum log tum logon ka tomne mar mar kar haal kharab kar denge!”

"Bhaiyya jaldi jaldi samaan bharo, mujhe aaj solid ghai hai"

These are just a few extreme cases of bad Hindi I remember. With me there must be a thousand other instances where people tell me to stop talking in Hindi. Ask Ravi or Divya for these- they may tell you more about my bad Hindi!
Nevertheless, I do not care how my casual spoken Hindi comes out to be. I am a Punekar and am proud that I can speak shuddha form of the language.

17 comments:

  1. here's a few more:
    Thandi "baj" rahi hai (Thandi wajat ahe)

    mein angholi ko gaya tha

    Are woh ghari nahi hai. tum subah koch (sakalich) fone karo.

    Mere khishe me sutte paise nahi hai!

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  2. A friend of mine frm coll had an eye-infection:

    Sir: Why were u absent?
    guy: mujhko dole aa gaye the

    hehe

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  3. Your last statement is accepted in Mumbai as normal. Everything else is awesome. :)
    Pishwi vala doodh is the best, though.

    I remember this one time you were talking to Krishna, explaining why you had to leave early, and you said, "Arre, mereko aaj mere aajol ko jaana hai."

    That still cracks me up. :D

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  4. laichhhhhhhh bhariiiiiiiiiiiii :)

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  5. Ek number....Puneri hindi isn't close to cutting it but people from other places in Maharashtra aren't far behind....from one of my Aajji's Kolhapuri stories - when prescribing "Jaiphal" for a bout of an upset stomach, Mavshi Aajji was heard to say - "Wo Jaiphal ki nai, ugaal ugaal ke - ugaal ugaal ke churan banane ka aur galla-gadap karke khane ka...:)"

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  6. It is interesting to note that in one line you say" If we want, we can speak world class English" and just before that line you commit a grammatical mistake. I won't bother to point out where.

    Anyway, this entire write up reeks of arrogance. I am ashamed that my language gets associated with meat heads like the author of this blog. A Punekars weakness is not only his grasp on Hindi, but also his grasp on reality.

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    Replies
    1. blah. my blog, my post, my brain, my sentiments. If you are affected in anyway about what I write, the problem is with you, not me, or my city, or anyone else. Simple solution- Do not read what I write.
      I dont know what your problem is regarding this write up! Its not that im criticizing anyone in this am I? Im making fun of myself, and Im glad im doing it. Maybe your pea sized brain is something that cant process humour.

      I bet there are about a 1000 people from Pune, who can relate with what is written over here. We accept our hindi is not strong, but we do not care about it- not one ounce.

      Dont you dare to suggest that a Punekar has no grasp of reality. Come "one on one" on the streets of Pune with any punekar, and have a debate. Im sure reality will get kicked in your head, you will be left dazed and confused.

      As far as arrogance is concerned, yes its a special brand of arrogance that only Punekars can do - its called as "Maaz" here in Pune. Its in our blood. Learn to live with it.

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    2. kay re mitra "Fiddler/Toddler" jo kon asashil tu! gayab zalas na! mhanlo hoto vakdyat nako shirus.. loka layee bekkaar ghetil tujhi. mala kay, tuzya faltu comments mule jasta prasiddhi milali, tula shivya sodun kahich nahi! hehehe!

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  7. @mr fiddler: please rename yourself as 'toddler' (ha 'punekaran'kadun 'khas shaljoditala') :-p

    this will help you get more hots on your own blog! people will actually think you are a child prodigy!!

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    Replies
    1. sumedh, I doubt he will understand the meaning of the word "shaljodtila" dha gola vatatoy mala ha...

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    2. @chinmay: are tyala jar 'shaljoditala' mhanaje kay he kalala nasel, tar mag kay bolanar hya tathakathit marathi bhashikashi..
      aani hya narapungavachi keev ashasathi yetey ki ha sarva 'alankar' levun natalelya marathichya bhashasaundaryas mukala.. 'amrutatehi paija jinke' ashya hya marathi bhashetil khajina (ki jo mukundarajapasun aajparayantchya aganit bhashaprabhunni satat vardhishnu thevala) ha (va)nar kadhich anubhavu shakanar nahi.. he tyacha durdaiva..
      arthat he marathi bhashecha aani tya bhashaprabhuncha sudaiva karan nahitar ha tyanna mhanel "I am ashamed that my language gets associated with meat heads like you".
      @toddler: varil vakye na samajalyas amhi jababdar nahi. apalya teerthroopanna hya shabdanche artha vicharavet..

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  8. Fiddler... you really need to get your brain checked! a blog is ones opinion.... this blog is meant to be a fun thing... if your tiny brain cant digest it..you are more than welcome to buzz off, than insulting us.

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  9. This is such aproud thing for india that we have people that still treasure their language, unlike those of the other cities like Mumbai and Delhi
    सबसे उत्तम है पुणे

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    Replies
    1. thanks a lot! we make effort to retain our original city traits. otherwise all cities in India will be same...

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