Whats in a Name?

Growing up as i did, with so many people having the same names, it was difficult, to call each by his real name, and not end up getting mltiple replies. This happens with almost all of us. Thats where the magical words- nicknames come into picture. Most of us end up getting a nickname or two. I have got god knows how many nicknames! but the most prevailant is "Chinya". I guess every chinmay gets called chinya. its the easiest thing to do in marathi. get the first part of the name, and add a suffix -ya to it... so chinmay becomes chinya, manoj becomes manya, rahul becomes rahulya etc etc.

Sometimes nicknames are derived from surnames of a particular person like Joshi becomes Joshya. But more often than not, people are referred to by their surnames. I was almost exclusively called Datar in my school. My cousin, rather than being known as Rohan is known as Soman(Surname) all over.

On the other side of the coin are some weird people who call out by taking the first name, that too formally. Mr. Datar, Mr. Chinmay! i dont think ive ever responded to such things! calling by first name, is OK, but in a crowd may again cause confusion. so nicknames come in handy.

But there are some nicknames which stand out from the everyday, commonly used standard nicknames. Ive known people who have been called some extremely weird things. Things like Chhakkya, dhunganya, kullya! eww! imagine if we apply our preceding postulate of -ya to these words! imagine if some one was called Kullya, he could actually be Kulleshwar!

Some others are totally irrelevent, although more sobre. For some reason or another, people are given some weird nicknames, and surprizingly, they stick! I know some people like that. A friend of mine, Tejas, is called Bidya. another one, Amit is called all over as Bhamtya!Aadinath is called Chaddya! Even stranger is a guy called amey is called as Kadi!Another guy, Rohit is known as Kallu!

Recently, in college, a wave of two superb nicknames has spread. Madhura is now known all over as MadB. Hats off to the person who came up with that! its really different. And Virendra is now being called Veerbhadra!  some macho nickname! (credit for this goes to madb)

College nicknames stick forever i guess. I mean names like NPower, N95, Tatya, Lakshya, Mhais, Actiwate, Mhasoba,Butukya are hard to forget!( these are Neha, Neha, Tejas, Alok, Rohini, Gautam, Rao,Siddhi-Prachi)

Some pranksters, since their school days, have an audacity to even call out their teachers by nicknames. This was extremely prevailant in my school. We used to refer to teachers with names like  wally(short for Walrus), Yam(as in yamraj), Balyaa, Badhya, Hemu, Nago, Kaku etc etc.

Nicknames, i must say have become must! how do you address someone informally otherwise!! Creating them also brings out the creativity in a person! so people, instead of doing stupid things, start coming up with some good nicknames! u can start from me if you want!(and no chini-mini please! its extremely contradictary to what i am..)

बर्फाचे तट पेटूनि उठले

When it comes to Marathi literature, as I have time and again said, I am deeply influenced by the likes of vi va Shirvadkar(Kusumagraj), Baalkavi, Govindagraj, and Savarkar. I dont know why, but for some reason their poetry seems leaps and bounds beyond the normal third grade poetry we get to read now-a-days. Just going through their poems once is sufficient to know what they want to say. Infact the language is so bejeweled that I cannot take my eyes off it, once i start reading. And once read, the content stay in my mind- word to word for an eternity.

I dont know what, but its just the effect. No one writes such poems now, which is a really sad situation, and we have to take the blame for that on ourselves as we haven't read enough of what these great men have written. The best we can get is from Sandeep Khare. He is good, but again, nowhere near to my above quartet. The effect that a "Shravan Masi harsha manasi" or "mangal desha pavitra desha", "jayostute", "anaadi me anant me avadhya me bhala" or "saat" bring out is mind blowing. i get goosebumps every time I read one of these poems. and its not just one type of poems- their poems encompass a large spectrum of human emotions.but the ones on veer-ras are the ones i really love. in that no one can surpass savarkar and kusumagraj...

so to come to the point.. here is another one of my favourites by kusumagraj...

बर्फाचे तट पेटूनि उठले सदन शिवाचे कोसळले
रक्त आपुल्या प्रिय आईचे शुभ्र हिमावर ओघळते!


असुरांचे  पद भ्रष्ट लागुनि आज सतीचे पुण्य मळे
अशा घडीला कोण करंटा तटस्थतेने दूर पळे?
कृतांत ज्वाला त्वेषाची ना कोणाच्या हृदयात जळे
साममंत्र तो सारे, राणीची नौबत आता धडधडते !
रक्त आपुल्या प्रिय आईचे शुभ्र हिमावर ओघळते!

सह्यगिरीतील वनराजांनो , या कुहरातुनि आज पुढे
रक्त हवे जर स्वतन्त्रतेला रक्ताचे पडतील सडे
एक हिमाचल राखायास्तव करा हिमाचल लक्ष खडे
समरपुराचे वारकरी हो, समरदेवता बोलविते!
रक्त आपुल्या प्रिय आईचे शुभ्र हिमावर ओघळते!


खडक काजळी घोटुनि तुमचे मनगट-बाहू घडलेले
कडेकपरिमधील वणवे उरात तुमच्या दडलेले
काबुल-कंदाहार पथावर डंके तुमचे झडलेले
शिवतेजाची दीपमाळ पाठीशी अपुल्या पाजळते!
रक्त आपुल्या प्रिय आईचे शुभ्र हिमावर ओघळते!


कोटी कोटी असतील शरीरे- मनगट अमुचे एक असे
कोटी कोटी देहात आजला एक मनीषा जगतसे
पिवळे जहरी सर्प ठेचणे अन्य मना व्यवधान नसे
एक प्रतिज्ञा, विजय मिळेतो राहील रण हे धगधगते!
रक्त आपुल्या प्रिय आईचे शुभ्र हिमावर ओघळते!
-

Of bat pees and Chairs..

The last couple of days have been absolutely weird in the way that we have been thinking and acting... i mean we(as a group) do a lot of silly things... but then in the past few days we have crossed the line..

It all began when out of nowhere, i picked on Alok, accusing him of "Deviating from his LAKSH" for staring at, well to put it, a better looking CoEP girl from first year. Dont know what got into peoples heads after that.. but everyone started picking on poor old Alok...that included Diksha...she is supposed to be a junior and not do such silly things...:P but still... Alok has been suffering badly ever since... he is forever singing..."Haa yahi rasta hai tera... tune ab jana hai..." in short.. he is addicted to the phrase..."Laksh to.. har haal mein pana hai"...hes hardly had a moment of respite...people who are now teasing him are also deviating from the original "Laksh"...man...teasers... stay focused!

Then came the cheap array of jokes from sumedh... his ability to pass comments, though useful at times, is going to drive a buldozer down his butt one day. they are sarcastic no doubt... but he should remember that they should be directed at people who are capable of passing it as a joke... "Abhinav madhli mula useless astat" to "Abhinav mule punya madhe swine flu pasarla" faar kahi khas navta.... yes but it did incur the wrath of a few abhinavites(Adani bhikari, nalstop che vadari!)

Yesterday, again, we had a hilarious sponsorship meeting...its unbelievable that the spons team have got an incredible amount of money from certain companies.. hats off to them...especially considering the severity of recession. The impression of the sponsership team is amazing. we first thought that they would be like mendicants roaming around the city for money.We even had the nerve of suggesting to rag first years to give 200 rs for raising required funds. But these people...they are all devilish... they have extracted all they could from anywhere they could, including thier own homes...which had created a lot of whisperings and snidy silly comments being passed.That said, people dont realise that such commenting could seriously damage the budding romance thats being created in the extra ordinary team.

Coincidentally, after that hilarious spons meeting, we had a infrastructure and requirements meeting... thats when all creepy ideas started crawling in my mind... the most terrifying one was regarding my event... since recession calls for cost cutting, i was really tensed as to what to do... the problem is.. im heading "Save the World" a ppt competition, to be held in Room 6 during mindspark... it has nice chairs... A certain Mrs X was specially invied for this event... to tell people who dont know her... well, she is definitely not on the thinner side...my main worry was whether she would fit in the chair! when i made my point, no one could help but laugh... even worse.. what if she fits..exactly.. and then gets stuck! man im really worried...

This moment of madness is nothing compared to what Ajinkya did a couple of days ago... we were trying to connect to the internet from the civil department... vadachya zaachya paravar baslo hoto... this was when i saw a big green wet lump, which i concluded was bat crap. i dont know what kicked into AJ after that... being the naturally curious guy that he is, he started searching for the colour of BAT PEE!! man! arent there any better things to do around in life?! bat pee!! eww!!! all i know is that it stinks... but Ajinkya actually googled it... me and akash were trying our level best not to explode laughing... the google results were hilarious... a website accused a woman for doing it with a bat(not the flying one.. but the baseball one)...but yahoo answers had an even funnier answer... "Its supposed to be purple!" it read... man!! why search bat pee?! and why read its supposed to be purple!! its hilarious!! next time i see potassium permangante, im going to be reminded of bat pee.. for sure..

its been a fun week.. mindsparking, doing crazy things, learning that just hanging out in college with people rocks! apart from that... learnt many more new things... its been a week of mixes it so seems..Alok, once deviating from his laksh is back on track...its good to have him back.... Rohini, Divya, Rao, and their entire team has come up with all new ways of conning people, even loved ones... they need a life... sumedh is going to have his butt bulldozed in the upcoming days...we finally concluded that Mrs X will fit in the chair.. thanks to hep from omkar...oh.. and finally thanks to rao, i learnt a gruesome thing...bat pee is purple...

The Hypothetical T-20 league of Pune.

(Everything in this write up is imaginary. it has no relation to practical everyday life, if u come across one, it is purely coincidental.)

In the recent wake of the ever growing popularity of T-20 cricket, there has been a steady but certain demise of Technically excellent Test cricket, and the somewhat overdrawn One Day cricket. The number of t-20 competitions is growing day by day. Add to that the grand success of T20 world cups and the over the top extravagenza that is the IPL. certainly, T-20 seems the way ahead to blockbuster entertainment.

Based on the success of these international events, the maharashtra cricket board organised its own version of T-20- the MPL, which was again extremely successful, with large crowds. Inspired by this success, and the fact that the tournament was entirely scheduled in Pune, the Pune Municipality has decided(hypothetically) to organise its own version of T-20- The PPL(Pune Premier League).

The Board plans to get started with a pool of 20 teams, which will play each other twice, year round. there will be no finals or knockout games, but only a league.(Based on the EPL). till now, 8 clubs have been formed and registered, although there is need for 12 more teams.

The teams are formed with greatest arealism. each area will have its team, with each associated with the historical importance of that area. the teams formed so far are:

1)SSN Frugals(Sadashiv-Shanivar-Narayan Frugals): Arguably the stingiest team in thw whole competition. they wont spend a single rupee of other players, but nurture everyone and especially all the 'vatrat' youngsters staying in these Peths. The team assumes itself to be extremely old, dating back from the days of the peshwe, and has an image of bajirao on its crest. Its home matches are to be played on Sir Parshurambhau Maidan.(I AM A FAN OF THIS TEAM)

2) Mandai Makads: This is the richest team in the tournament so far. Its been backed by local Mandals such as Dagdu Halwai,Babu Genu& Mandai. They are although without a ground as of yet, and if the situation persists, we hear they are going to use the mahatma phule mandai as their ground- making them the only team with a closed roof stadium.

3) Hadapsar Hippos: This team is extremely atheletic, and with tremendous skills. However, very little is known about them.

4)Kothrud Kutras: This is a newly formed team, with its board members and players consisting of people who have moved out from other teams, especially from the SSN frugals, and so, share the habit of not spending, but encouraging youngsters. Their home games are played at the most elevated point in Pune- The plateau on Hanuman Tekdi.

5) Parvati Popats: They are again an historically important team, with headquarters situated on the kacheri at parvati. here only you can find the famous paati- hi kacheri ahe- aat pahanyasarkha kahi nahi- jata yeta dokavu naka..Their homeground is the Fulora Midan near Relax. they are one of the least favourites to win the competition.

6)Deccan Dukkars: Based at the Deccan Gymkhana, this club is the most professional of all the clubs in PPL, and so are the favourites to win it. Backed by the gymkhana, they however do tend to tap up players from other teams. But never the less, the quality is there. They play their matches at Deccan gymkhana club.

7) Fergussonian Firangs: The team consists of puneri people who talk in english just because they think they are good at it. they are however pathetic, and the team is just like that.:P its based in fergusson college, and also plays its matches on the college ground. The team is sposered by hotelling barons Vaishali, and so players get free food after practice.

8)Ganeshkhind Gorillas: The team consists of residents from areas like aundh, baner etc, and people who go to convents like loyala and KV. again, its a not at all a popular team amongst punekars, as it is considered to be from "outside". they play their matches at the NCL ground.

Two additional teams have also registered:
9) Khadak Maal Laners: They are based near the swargate region, and so will play their matches at the Hirabaug grund(nehru stadium)

10) Kasba Kavalas: the team entry is uncertain as they do not yet have a ground, and so can be barred from playing.

Other teams are yet to be formed. Once the 20 teams are in place, preparations will begin in full swing, and punekars will have a time of their lives on a weekend evening, enjoying loads and loads of cricket, and supporting their local teams, for the Inaugural PPL. lets all join the venture and make it a big success.

Wreck and Run

We all know that Americans have a really weird way of pronouncing and spelling. They are always at loggerheads with what is conventional. I often wonder why. But I never reach to a particular answer.

But, knowingly or unknowingly, they sometimes do add “colour” to the language. Just take this example- they spell colour(oxford word) as color, which sounds similar to things like collar, colon and what not. Again, they spell sulphur as Sulfur. Thank god they don’t call it seal-fur! But Americans being Americans, you simply cannot be sure what they’ll come up with.

Take a current worldwide situation under the perspective. The fertile and once prosperous regions of the Euphrates- Tigris plains, so wonderfully and fondly called as Sumeria, Babylonia, Mesopotamia, Assyria, and Persia . At the time of their zenith, the world was in awe of those cultures. Technological advances, agriculture, fertility, all signs of prosperity. The region then came under the rule of the Ottoman Turks, and was flourishing again. Baghdad was a centre for learning, and a very important one too. Numerous references are made about it in ancient literature. Well, after that, like most other nations, the British occupied the region, and renamed it as Iraq and Iran.

That’s the OK part. Americans now, feeling threatened by these two nations, are almost on the verge of warring with them. They have already invaded and destroyed Iraq, and have one eye on Iran. Yes the situation there is bad and the governments may be extremists. But still… why I’m blabbering all this is that the Americans are creating a major Linguistic Parody here.

Iraq (eeraak) and Iran (Iraan) to the whole world are pronounced as I-wreck and I-ran respectively (well, by most of the the American citizens).Now now… is it really a coincidence that it clearly highlight the American Middle east Policy!! More speculation for skeptics!!! The Wreck- and Run policy it seems! They have indeed wrecked Iraq, and are now running after Iran! I wonder how they say “Tehran”? They-ran probably? Or “Baghdad” as Bug-Dad?

Deep within, I feel totally secure as our Constitution has adopted “INDIA” as the formal name in international affairs. Just imagine if we used BHARAT. I mean, I’m still 100 percent for using it, but only not in front of Americans. Otherwise they will pronounce it like Borat. I don’t want my country to be pronounced in a similar way to an idiosyncratic brat!

But yea, definitely, Americans with their distinct lack of linguistic skills (Remember, they don’t have their own language, but have stolen it from England) and an even more distinct and unconventionally weird way of pronunciation are making the funnier side of me tickle…