A rather irritating experience
V met this rather interesting(?) person sometime back and has been wanting to rant about the whole interview experience! The interview part was fine but after that there was some discussions which left V mad! Normally V is not the kind of person to associate certain characteristics just coz the person was born somewhere. And by that I mean the usual North Indian/South Indian invisible divide. Both V and R have lots of North Indian friends and are never let the geographic location play a role in choosing friends. Ofcourse they have had heated North India vs. South India discussions with friends.
This person whom V met was a Punjabi and I would call him middle-aged probably in his mid 40's, quite a well-known name in his chosen profession which involves a lot of talking, information gathering and quick reflexes. And with that let us move on to what V found irritating during her discussion with Mr.X.
Mr.X : So where in India are you from?
V : From Tamil Nadu.
Mr.X : Oh from Madras! I am from Punjab
(This is where V starts getting worked up. Afterall Madras is not the only place in TN. But yeah she does understand many highly-educated people are weak in Geography and lets it go)
Mr.X : So what do you speak? Madrasi?
(The next nail on the coffin. This man who acts so knowledgeable does not even know the languages spoken in India!)
V (with a saccharine smile, and a little more loud than usual) : No I speak Tamil. And there is no language called Madrasi (you moron she wanted to add)
Mr.X : Are you sure? (WTF?) I thought people in South India spoke Madrasi!
V (slowly counting 10) : I am quite sure Sir!
Mr.X : So tell me what states are near Tamil Nadu?
V (with a so-you-don't-know-Indian-Geography smile) : Well sir, they are Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh
Mr.X: So what languages do they speak there? Do they all speak the same language?
V (looking at her watch and cursing herself for getting caught teaching Social Studies to Mr.Know-it-all) : blah blah blah
Mr.X: I thought they spoke Karrrrrrnatak in Karnataka
V: Sir! The language is called Kannada.
Mr.X: Kannat no Kannad right?
V: Kannada or Kannadam
Mr.X: Whatever (with a who-cares-shrug)
(V is reaching her boiling point by now)
Mr.X : So tell me are Tamil people misers?
(V shocked and her mouth open)
Mr X: You know not wanting to spend money like the Malayalees.
V: Sir that is a very general statement and I cannot comment on that
Mr.X: No! No! See Gujaratis spend on gold and others spend on dharu and clothes but I have seen Malayalee nurses wearing clothes that I wore in 50's and it was the fashion then
V (Crap! how did I end up thinking I'll enjoy being here) : Sir dressing is a matter of personal choice and preference
Mr.X : I know I know so tell me about Tamil people spending habits
V (Carefully) : Tamil people spend money on Kanchipuram silk sarees and gold jewellery
(V tries to give subtle hints about leaving and Mr.X is not bothered at all)
Mr.X: So tell me about Tamil movies. Is Rajini the superstar there still?
V: Rajini is the Big B of Tamil film industry and ofcourse there are other actors
Mr.X : There is no Sharuk Khan in Tamil
V: There are lots of young heros, who are smart and handsome and some even know to draw a line between acting and overacting
(Mr.X doesn't catch the sarcasm dripping in V's voice)
Mr.X : You know I saw a Taamil movie the other day and I thought I could be the hero
(V looking at his pot belly and for some weird reason thinks of him as the next VTR)
V: Sir! like any film industry there are good and bad in Tamil films and you should know which movies to watch
Mr. X: But how will I know that?
(V has reached her patience limits and keeps quiet)
Mr.X: You know and the heroine, was a little plump.. after a little thought she was like you. You could act in movies
V - (thanks for pointing out I am fat dumb-ass) Sir, Sridevi is a Tamilian, Rekha is a Tamilian
Mr.X : No Rekha is not Tamil. and Sridevi no way!
(V is past caring now and lets it go)
Mr.X: So you know, I was travelling and I met two South Indians, one was Tamil and another Kanad or something and they did not know Dilip Kumar. The great and he is better than any actor on earth
(V wanted to scream, you Mr. who does'nt know your motherland's geography and languages and you want to talk about Dilip Kumar? but she just smiled) - Sir, I need to go now. It was a pleasure meeting you. I'll contact you through email regarding the things we discussed.
A few days later she sent a sorry I am busy mail and let it go.
What pissed of V is that Mr.X was totally ignorant about India's geography but being the expert he is on Bollywood expects everyone to know about Bollywood. And to V, more than Bollywood, India is defined by its culture, heritage, history and people. Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood and all other woods are a part of India but they are more recent and are not considered history..
Well whatever! Just needed to rant
This person whom V met was a Punjabi and I would call him middle-aged probably in his mid 40's, quite a well-known name in his chosen profession which involves a lot of talking, information gathering and quick reflexes. And with that let us move on to what V found irritating during her discussion with Mr.X.
Mr.X : So where in India are you from?
V : From Tamil Nadu.
Mr.X : Oh from Madras! I am from Punjab
(This is where V starts getting worked up. Afterall Madras is not the only place in TN. But yeah she does understand many highly-educated people are weak in Geography and lets it go)
Mr.X : So what do you speak? Madrasi?
(The next nail on the coffin. This man who acts so knowledgeable does not even know the languages spoken in India!)
V (with a saccharine smile, and a little more loud than usual) : No I speak Tamil. And there is no language called Madrasi (you moron she wanted to add)
Mr.X : Are you sure? (WTF?) I thought people in South India spoke Madrasi!
V (slowly counting 10) : I am quite sure Sir!
Mr.X : So tell me what states are near Tamil Nadu?
V (with a so-you-don't-know-Indian-Geography smile) : Well sir, they are Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh
Mr.X: So what languages do they speak there? Do they all speak the same language?
V (looking at her watch and cursing herself for getting caught teaching Social Studies to Mr.Know-it-all) : blah blah blah
Mr.X: I thought they spoke Karrrrrrnatak in Karnataka
V: Sir! The language is called Kannada.
Mr.X: Kannat no Kannad right?
V: Kannada or Kannadam
Mr.X: Whatever (with a who-cares-shrug)
(V is reaching her boiling point by now)
Mr.X : So tell me are Tamil people misers?
(V shocked and her mouth open)
Mr X: You know not wanting to spend money like the Malayalees.
V: Sir that is a very general statement and I cannot comment on that
Mr.X: No! No! See Gujaratis spend on gold and others spend on dharu and clothes but I have seen Malayalee nurses wearing clothes that I wore in 50's and it was the fashion then
V (Crap! how did I end up thinking I'll enjoy being here) : Sir dressing is a matter of personal choice and preference
Mr.X : I know I know so tell me about Tamil people spending habits
V (Carefully) : Tamil people spend money on Kanchipuram silk sarees and gold jewellery
(V tries to give subtle hints about leaving and Mr.X is not bothered at all)
Mr.X: So tell me about Tamil movies. Is Rajini the superstar there still?
V: Rajini is the Big B of Tamil film industry and ofcourse there are other actors
Mr.X : There is no Sharuk Khan in Tamil
V: There are lots of young heros, who are smart and handsome and some even know to draw a line between acting and overacting
(Mr.X doesn't catch the sarcasm dripping in V's voice)
Mr.X : You know I saw a Taamil movie the other day and I thought I could be the hero
(V looking at his pot belly and for some weird reason thinks of him as the next VTR)
V: Sir! like any film industry there are good and bad in Tamil films and you should know which movies to watch
Mr. X: But how will I know that?
(V has reached her patience limits and keeps quiet)
Mr.X: You know and the heroine, was a little plump.. after a little thought she was like you. You could act in movies
V - (thanks for pointing out I am fat dumb-ass) Sir, Sridevi is a Tamilian, Rekha is a Tamilian
Mr.X : No Rekha is not Tamil. and Sridevi no way!
(V is past caring now and lets it go)
Mr.X: So you know, I was travelling and I met two South Indians, one was Tamil and another Kanad or something and they did not know Dilip Kumar. The great and he is better than any actor on earth
(V wanted to scream, you Mr. who does'nt know your motherland's geography and languages and you want to talk about Dilip Kumar? but she just smiled) - Sir, I need to go now. It was a pleasure meeting you. I'll contact you through email regarding the things we discussed.
A few days later she sent a sorry I am busy mail and let it go.
What pissed of V is that Mr.X was totally ignorant about India's geography but being the expert he is on Bollywood expects everyone to know about Bollywood. And to V, more than Bollywood, India is defined by its culture, heritage, history and people. Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood and all other woods are a part of India but they are more recent and are not considered history..
Well whatever! Just needed to rant
3 Comments:
Oh..that rant could have been from me too ! I am interacting with quite a few culture dumb morons who think and speak exactly like Mr. X ! And especially after they are a couple of drinks down, it is appalling !
He he. In my 7 years in Delhi, I have enacted this conversation a million times :)
http://krishashok.wordpress.com/2007/06/21/madrasi-machi/
It really irritates me to see people being so ignorant and just make their opinions without bothering to research something more.. well we just got to live with it I guess!
Kavi good luck! I guess u need it along with loads of patience
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