First let us talk about the alleged connection between Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Mossad. Digvijay Singh of the Congress (former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh) said that the RSS colluded with Mossad of Israel in many terror attacks including the one at Macca masjid in Hyderabad, Ajmer dargah, and the Samjhauta express. Digvijay Singh went on to implicate the CIA (of U.S.) for good measure.
I am surprised that the Israel government hasn’t responded strongly to that because Mossad is a government body. Mossad is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with Aman (military intelligence) and Shin Bet (internal security), but its director reports directly to the Prime Minister. As such, if the Mossad is implicated by a responsible person (Diggy is somebody in the Congress party – although I am not sure what exactly his position is) from India, one would expect an official protest from Israel. I haven’t seen any such in the papers: if I missed out something of that sort – I would be glad if you mail me (sankarar@gmail.com).
“And” the loser is…
On television these days, actually for quite some time, we hear ‘and’ a lot. First it was the Mumbai girls who pervade Tollywood (a word I hate), who would punctuate their broken Telugu with ‘and’. They can be excused because they probably don’t know that there exist, at least two words in Telugu for ‘and’: “inka” and “mariyu”.
There are some words for which there are no equivalent Telugu words: maybe scholars would know the Telugu words, but not commoners. Maybe lexicographers can create new words: it is really the job of the Telugu academy and the Official Language Commission to build the Telugu corpus. Be that as it may, words like ‘self-consciousness’, ‘psychotherapy’ and ‘extinction’ can pose difficulties for common speakers of Telugu, so one takes recourse to the use of English words while speaking Telugu.
But professionals – anchors and interviewers on television – have taken a cue from the Bombaybes of Tollywood (a word I hate) and started saying ‘and’ in their Telugu speech.
“And” the loser is – the Telugu language!
Seen in the papers
Two people fell from an MMTS train, and died. Can there be anything more tragic than that? “It’s their own fault,” Milo, the Mayor, Minderbender (Catch 22) would say. I will write about that book another day. It’s a promise.
But the question is not whose fault it is: as Marx said, the important thing is, to change the situation.
Another item that caught my eye was about a youth who got drunk with some friends, and went to see another friend and got drunk some more and finally ended up at another friend’s place and got drunk more and more. He died in drunken stupor: may his soul rest in peace.
A photograph published in the papers captures the telecom revolution that is hyped up so much these days. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and telecom minister Kapil Sibal are seen talking to each other – over cell phones.
That reminds me of an old joke: someone is talking very loudly on the phone. The guy in the next room sends his secretary to find out why this guy is yelling. The secretary goes back and reports that the guy is talking to London (from let us say, New York). The boss says: “Tell him to use the telephone”.
Cell phones have changed the very nature of communication: for the better? Or for the worse? is debatable.
Needs, comforts, and luxuries
One kilo onions, one liter petrol, and one bottle of beer – all cost Rs 65/- How’s that for irony! Of course one kilo onions would last (per person) for one month; a liter of petrol would last a day; and a bottle of beer would last until the next visit to the loo.
Have you heard of earworms?
Earworms is a new word in the dictionary – it means a song or tune that keeps ringing in your ears for days on end. The one buzzing in my head right now is:
Chiluka kshemama – Kuluka kushalama
This is one of those untranslatable lines; contact your nearest Telugu speaker for a liberal interpretation.
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