Top Hundred Words that describe South India

[Rsachi]

Today's Economic Times' Brand Equity talks of the need to do more intelligent advertising to cater to South India, which is quite simply the better half of Bharat in terms of IQ, education, tradition, culture, stability and economic progress.
So I was thinking, what are the ten -no, let's make it a dozen- words of South India's vocabulary which every Indian ought to know and understand well? Some are obvious and beyond dispute, but others are only my suggestions. More and better choices welcome!

1. Amma
2. Saar
3. Raagam
4. Tani
5. Malli
6. Gopuram
7. Ayyo
8. Besh
9. Payasam
10. Upma
11. Muruga
12. Balaji

PS I have not listed some obvious ones which have nationwide coinage like idli, sambar, dose, vada, Rahman, etc.

[vasanthakokilam]

You have a good list to start with.
I think 'summa'/'chumma' is a contender for inclusion.

Hope Coovam does not get in the list
---
May be this brand generation can be culled from this list. What do each SI state bring to mind for people from other SI states?

[Rsachi]

Love Chumma, Summa. What a flavour it has.
But Chumma means a kiss to some bearded gents like Amitabh.

[varsha]

Words I had difficult in grappling with , as a youngster from a neighbouring state - forget a north indian one

1.En Raaaasa - And the breaking of knuckles
2.Daaeaaay !!!! Difficult to get the right intonation --often with the bit that went Arivugetta naaye
3.Chinna veedu - I have some horror stories about my trying to find small apartments
4.Thanni - What a difference between Kudikka and Adikka
5. Voodu - Again while searching for houses in kancheepuram
6. Soru - have never been able to digest it in the context Soru Podu or Soru Oothu
7, Enna ... Kindala
8. Paaaaavam
9. purusa enna panra - during all my sabbaticals - i am going through another one now
10.Pillayar Koil - God save anyone searching for an address with this as a part of the address
Not to speak of the difficulty I have while buying plantains - Pazham - That ultimate give away

[rajumds]

OK ya

[Rsachi]

Varsha,
Chinna veedu, I was told, is the privilege of those with many pseudonyms.

Yes, soru, tanni, etc. make me say paavam.

But I must emphasise that the original intent of this topic was not to exchange our humorous cross-references but to educate the big Indian names from Amitabh to Chetan and Rahul to dubious Gautams about the twelve words they should know well before alighting anywhere in the South of Vindhyas. Or we will dump them in Palk Straits and they will break their heads on Ramar Setu.

[Rsachi]

Ok, Varsha, Harimau, and others will surely think up so many that we may have to expand this to 100 words. I will get done some cartoons to explain each one once we finalise the list and then we can publish an A2 chart like 'paramapadasopanapatamu'.

[varsha]

Well
We will have it your way
1,Mysore Palace
2.Bangalore Gardens - big ones like lalbagh etc as well a culture of gardening in the smallest of homes .
3.Kodambakkam- Film Lab technologies
4.Fish - Curry of Kerala
5.Andhra Avakai
6.Railway Ticket Examiner - one never gets to see him as the train crosses vindhyas on the way north
7.Darshini tiffin centres of Bangalore
8.Clean temples - and great free meals
9.Margazhi Music festival
10.Kancheepuram /Mysore Silk

[cienu]

Pavadai Chokka....

[Sundara Rajan]

"summa" should top the list ! Comes in handy on many occasions. In the late 1940's my English professor Fr. Sequeira of St. Joseph's college would say that "summa" must be included in the Oxford English dictionary for its universal application !

[PUNARVASU]

PiLLaiyAr, kOlam, mArgazhi kOlam with the 'parangippoo' on it, vattha kuzhambu.

[aaaaabbbbb]

Mysore silk
Mysore mallige
MasAle dOse
brinjals of Yiranagere
NanjanagUdu rasabALe{?}
Ganjam Jewellers
Mysore cigurubutti betel leaves.
Mysore agarabatti
pAdari flowers and paccatene leaves[?]
hidakavare [split avarekayi seeds]

Still surviving{?}

[Rsachi]

Keep them coming! These are like Oscar nominations!

[badari]

@ aaaabbbb: Thanks for reminding me of my school days.. all these names are very close to me as i come from nanjanagUDu

[sridhar_ranga]

Where exactly do we cross the Vindhyas, say if traveling by train from Delhi to the south? The next time I get a chance, I would like to look out for the famed mountains from the window of a train / plane.

Do Maharashtra and Orissa qualify as south Indian states if Vindhyas are the 'border' that separate north from south?

[rajeshnat]

Where exactly do we cross the Vindhyas, say if traveling by train from Delhi to the south? The next time I get a chance, I would like to look out for the famed mountains from the window of a train / plane.

Do Maharashtra and Orissa qualify as south Indian states if Vindhyas are the 'border' that separate north from south?

Vindhyas mountain range cuts somewhere in between Itarsi and Bhopal in MP. Maharashtra is certainly south to vindhyas. Vindhyas cuts across gujarat, mp and some portions of UP and ends there. If you draw an imaginary line even orissa falls south to it. Geographically vindhyas seperate the indo Gangetic plain and southern India.Thats it. Unfortunately down the line, few people have mapped southern india(referred south of vindhyas) with the 4 southern states, some think it is a north- south seperator etc and hence the confusion.

[rshankar]

vattha kuzhambu.

If you have vaTTa kuzhambu, how can suTTa appaLAm be far behind?
And how about my lifeline, filter coffee? navarAtri and golu are quintessentially South Indian...vAngi bAt, bagALA bAt, the very concept of tayir/tayir sAdam....not auspicious for women to cover their heads...
While dOsA may be pan-Indian these days, Uttappam is South Indian, still. And so is what is called sEvai/iDiappam. And stuff like aviyal and moLagUTTal/poricca kUTTu...
Banganapalli mangoes, Madanapalli dolls, tanjAvUr talaiyATTi dolls
Again, while bharatanATyam maybe pan-Indian, kucipuDi, kathakaLi, and mOhiniATTom remain uniquely South Indian...

[Rsachi]

Sridhar, Google Maps (much upgraded of late!) shows it at this point:


But practically, when you travel by train from Delhi to anywhere in the south, the large tracts of forests and hills which get boring so much that you fall asleep, to be woken up by calls to tepid tea, and find sundry folks get in and get off listlessly from your compartment, and when some sethjis secure their luggage with iron chains to the seat posts, is called Vindhyas. Made famous by Chambal dacoits in real life and movies. Crossed by a northerner called Agasthya who, pretty much like the half billion who followed him, decided the South was much better for food and women and rain and beaches and coconuts and tamarind and mangoes, settled down here. I believe, apart from teaching Aditya Hridaya to Rama, he told him also to make the South his new capital, but Valmiki had other plans.
There are some light skinned, light eyed folks who sport beards and turbans who are neither here nor there.
We won't talk of the others who are still making up their minds about how their state and language name should be spelt and sing and dance in Sanskrit sung to 'adapted' South Indian ragas. We get our own back by singing those same songs in heavy Carnatic idiom in harikathas and bhajans, danced to in Bharatnatyam style, too!

[Rsachi]

Ravi, valuable suggestions.
We will include all those words pronounceable by those who say "Subbulakshmi" and make us wince in pain. Uthappam is bad enough!

[PUNARVASU]

While on vattha kuzhambu and rasam, 'kalchatti and eeyachchombu.
Makkolam, done usually on gOkulAshtami day by people from tamilnADu.
MiLagAippoDi tad avian iDli.

[priyaram78]

Vanakkam, konjam konjam, kutti, kaapi, lungi, saari, pottu (bindi), saapaadu, and the famous kolaveri di !

[aaaaabbbbb]

badari Ji,
you might not have forgotten 'kaDakoLada kaDale' and 'ganjAm puri'
What about the 'line bazar phEDa' of hubbaLLI?
bandar laddu [bandar is machilipatnam]
'kAkinADA kAjA'
'pUtarEkulu' of Rajamahendaravaram
'karadantu' of belagAvi
'patroDe' of mangalore.
PUNARVASU Ji,
I have a kalchatti {may be 80-85 years old}
and I prepare rasam in that even now.

[PUNARVASU]

aaaaabbbb ji, I also have one, may be equally old as yours. But is so big theat if I prepare vattha kuzhambu for the two of us, I may have put stones in it like the crow in the fable. I have kept it for sentiment's sake. In fact my mother was using one in the USA also.

[Rsachi]

Can you folks notice that we are MOSTLY talking about food?

Remember this is free education and papaddom, papad, happala, appalam, vadam, etc. all are thoughtlessly popped into the mouths with loud crunchy noises.
So perhaps we need two levels...basic and advanced. Maybe charge for the advanced course.

Kalchetti..it is used in many parts of India! I saw ones sold by Assamese in Chitrakala crafts fair recently.

[thanjavooran]

Let me register my preferences though not relevent to this thread.
1 More koozhu in sliced form like halva
2 Thanjavoor Manikoondu Kadhambam and also Kumbakonam vetrilai with Panneer pugai ilai [ (Vannathi purushan) Dhobi's husband shop behind TJ junction ]
Thanjavooran
21 02 2013

[PUNARVASU]

Let me register my preferences though not relevent to this thread.
1 More koozhu in sliced form like halva.
Thanjavooran
21 02 2013

With the Thanjavur kuDamiLagAi. Brings back childhood memories.

[rshankar]

Can you folks notice that we are MOSTLY talking about food?

Probably why type 2 diabetes is endemic to South India, where, by some accounts, 80% of the people may have diabetes or some form of dysglycemia!!

[Nick H]

Can you folks notice that we are MOSTLY talking about food?

Yes. It's like the English talk about the weather.

My wife spends four hours on the phone ...apparently discussing with each person what they ate today.

We visit an elderly widow, whom we help out with some things, once a month or so. The topic of conversation ---I'm told--- is what she ate since the last time we saw her.

Yes, Rsachi, I have noticed that "you folks" mostly talk about food

[vasanthakokilam]

Can you folks notice that we are MOSTLY talking about food?

Yup, quite befoodling

There is an internet saying 'every forum eventually becomes a list making forum'. For our forum it is 'Every list eventually becomes a food list'!

I think we had discussed this rare delicacy before. 'Pinju ParangikkAi koottu'. It is a bit on the sweeter side ( or a lot on the sweeter side depending on household ). Awesome.

[rshankar]

Yes, Rsachi, I have noticed that "you folks" mostly talk about food

There'd be no trouble at all, if all we did was talk (about food, that is)...unfortunately, we eat it too!

[Rsachi]

After a particularly happy, full meal at lunch, one Guruji told us the audience long back:
The Essence of Life or life-force is called Prana.
In the beginning of creation, Prana was in the AIR. People were therefore like divine beings.
Then came Krita Yuga, and Prana had to settle down into the bones ('astigata').
Then came Treta Yuga, and Prana had to settle down into the muscles ('mamsagata').
Then came Dwapara Yuga, and Prana had to settle down into the blood stream ('raktagata').
Finally, in this Kali Yuga, Prana has left our bodies and gone outside..it has become settled in food, or is annagata. Hence we eat often to survive.

Then they served high tea, which means coffee, pakodas, rava laddu and biscuits.

They warned us that dinner after the bhajan would be a light affair, for health reasons, and consist of Payasam, Bisibele Bhath and Bakala Bhath. People could then choose between ice cream and fruit salad.

Don't ask me what had been partaken of (see we don't say eat, we say we take only part of our food like that) at breakfast and lunch, the list is too long and will exceed 100 words.

[Rsachi]

Sorry, I had to get this off my chest.
A few years ago, I was visiting US. my near and dear ones wanted to show me something I hadn't seen before. They drove to the Pittsburgh temple.
They stated how it was the cultural and spiritual focal point for the million plus Indians living in America.
I even bought the CD of MSS concert held during inauguration.
From a distance, its gopuram, sounds of Nadaswaram, sights of saree-clad women, was inspiring.
We spent maybe all of 3 minutes in the upper deck, where the deities are installed and pujas take place.
We then hurried downstairs, and spent an hour eating prasadam. My hosts were outdoing each other explaining the divine benefits of eating a large helping of the various items on offer.
They pointed out how the Pittsburgh temple was a bastion of our culture, promoting the best of traditions and having the best prasadam spread day after day cooked in pure ghee and sold at everyday low prices.

And McDonald's think they will introduce their success formula in India!!!!!!!!

[VK RAMAN]

aDa Daa
Romba taan

[chalanata]

Word Literal Meaning Real Meaning
Assaul’ta Blows Careless
Pola Like Looks like
Methai Mattress upstairs
Chumma Just like that Meaning depends on the context
Paththambadhu 10-50 Many
Ticket vangitapdi Bought a ticket Died
Poyittaaru Gone Died
Eppa edukkiranga? When they are going to remove? When they are going to remove the dead body?
Thanni vandi Water cart Drunkard
Sooper Superlative Supreme
Adi vangiduchu Beaten Repaired and unusable
Veetukku Anippichuttanga Sent home Lost job
‘Nalla body’ya -- Tall and huge
Vachurukkappla Keeps Maintains a woman
Lover (lady) Lover Lady love
Actress -- Actor (lady)
Varatta? Shall I come? Shall I go?
Elai pottacha? Have they spread the leaf? Is lunch ready?
Ponnu Girl Daughter
Pombalai Girl Woman
Veetambalai House male Husband
Condemn ayiduchchu Objection Useless
Enakku naalu My day Refers to menstrual cycle
Undaayirukka Created Pregnant
Maasamaa irukku -- Pregnant