I am a South Indian OR am I?

Socially when you meet people, very often they end up asking – So where are you from? In most occasions the answer is simple – You name your hometown and the conversation continues.

In my case, the scenario is slightly different.
Here’s how –

XYZ – Your surname is Rao, are you Kannadiga?
Me – No
XYZ – Oh, then Telegu is it?
Me – Well, Yes and No
XYZ (Surprised) – Yes and No, what is that supposed to mean?
Me – See, my father is from Vishakhapatnam and my mother is originally from Orissa
XYZ – Oh so you are a mix of Andhra and Orissa. So do you speak Telegu and Oriya at home?
Me – Well, No....see my grandfather settled in Delhi so my father grew up there and my maternal grandparents settled in Nagpur and my mom was born and brought up there
XYZ – Oh ok
Me – And there is more...Both my brother and me were born and brought up in Delhi
XYZ – Ah, that means you are a Delhite?
Me – But now I live in Mumbai
XYZ – So you are a mix of Delhi and Mumbai?
Me – Ughh...maybe but I am a Rao...

And usually, by the end of the conversation both me and the person I am talking to are left a bit confused.

This is because in spite of being a Rao, I don’t speak or understand Telegu. My mother tongue happens to be Oriya but again, I can’t speak the language and barely understand it. I was born and brought up in Delhi so the only languages I learnt in school were Hindi, English and at home, we spoke the same.

When relatives came over, we were supposed to impress them with a couple of words from our native language. Mom used to tell us how to greet them in a certain way but this was limited to some once in two year visits. Mom, we speak Hindi and English...stop forcing this on us....we would say and soon Telegu and Oriya flew out of the window.

Food again was territorial so I grew up on chole bhature, halwa, aloo poori, maa ki dal, butter chicken, naan, aloo/paneer/gobi/onion or even namak paratha, gol gappe and dahi bhalla. My taste buds weren’t accustomed to idli vada, sambar, rasam or dosa except some rare occasions (which were far and few)

We lived in Delhi where most of my neighbours were Punjabis (I’ve practically grown up in their houses) so celebrating Navratri, Lohri and making annual trips to Vaishno Devi became a norm. In fact I can’t recollect a single memory of celebrating South Indian festivals with such fan fare.

Thus, the question – “Where are you from” always leaves me puzzled.

Till very recently, I used to evade the question and say – I am hybrid. I am a mix of lot of things and it’s a long story so let’s just leave it at that. But some curious buggers wanted to solve this mystery and kept bombarding me with their – How, Why, But, What etc.

So finally, I caved in. Now whenever I am asked, I say – I am a South Indian and the conversation continues to other worldly matters.

Even though, I have never lived in South India, must have visited the place max 5 times so far, don’t eat South Indian food at home, don’t speak any South Indian languages, don’t follow South Indian customs and traditions but for convenience sake, I am a South Indian.

Or, am I?

Sunny Ki Sansani - The 90's

The other day while channel surfing I came across the song YAARA O YAARA from a movie called JEET. Any ardent bollywood fans out there who remember this movie?? It had Sunny Deol, Karishma Kapoor and Salman Khan.

What struck me was the picturisation of the song – here we had a great looking girl in some garish outfits and an awful hairdo swaying her hips to a masala song at the favourite Hindi cinema location – Switzerland. The guy on the other hand, was Sunny Paaji. Now what to say....the man can’t dance to save his life. The definition of two left feet seems terribly meek compared to what he was doing in that song.

I couldn’t stop laughing. In fact I was sympathising with what the choreographer must have gone through during the shoot “Sunny ji, aise haath hilaiye...nahi nahi...legs nahi...haath hilana hai” or “Sunny ji, thoda apna waist move kijiye...nahi nahi full body nahi move karni hai” or “Sunny ji thoda romantic expression dijiye...nahi nahi itna gusse mein nahi” and after an exasperating rehearsal would have given up and said “Sunny ji, aap aisa feel kijiye ki aap cheenti maar rahe hai...full force ke saath” and Sunny would have said “haan this suits my action hero image too...I’ll do it”. Poor Karishma had no choice but to follow suit.

So in the entire song, we see Sunny only killing ants (forcefully hitting the ground so that even if the poor ants had an afterlife, they wouldn’t survive to see it). The second step is him using his hands in the air as if he is about to punch someone. While Karishma on her part, is the saving grace who manages some groovy moves to keep the song alive (much to the choreographer and directors relief, I bet!)

Nevertheless, the song was incredibly popular. It was a chart buster when it released and the movie was a super hit courtesy the action packed performance from our junior garam dharam Sunny Paaji. I for one, had gone to a theatre to watch it...all awestruck with Salman (ok at the age I was smitten by his charm and magnetism over Sunny’s heroic abilities)

But the point of this entire note is to bring back some memories of what Hindi movies were all about. They weren’t as classy, tasteful, sensible or realistic as they are today but they had this unbelievable charm, a larger than life aura, a this-is-too-good-to-be-true feel in them. Think about it, where else will we see Salman wearing a pink suit with a green shirt or Sunny Paaji screaming “Laashein beechan doonga” or Karishma wearing a tent like skirt with a choli? Gone are those days guys! The golden days where Bollywood was full on paisa vasool, where the protagonist was a hero who could take on 10 goons in 1 shot, where the heroine danced with 300 extras in the background, where the villain looked truly evil or when we as kids got inspired by movies and bought "jumma chumma frocks" or "the COOL locket worn by Shahrukh in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" ...aaahhh the alluring magic of Hindi cinema!

And while I was retrospecting, the next song that came on the channel was HUN HUNA RE HUN HUNA, HUN HUNA RE HUN HUNA from a Kajol and Vikas Bhalla starrer. Obviously, I stayed on to watch the 90's dance moves and wondered if Kajol would ever get back to doing a song like this. What do you think?