டப்பா டான்ஸ் ஆடிடுச்சு!!!!

If you've seen any English cartoon translated into a regional language that you understand, you'll know where I'm getting to. Not just the cartoons! Films... adverts... anything! It's hilarious! But I should say it sometimes sounds awesome! Imagine Jackie Chan saying, "டப்பா டான்ஸ்ஆடிடும் ". And somehow, I've grown attached to this phrase these days....

So, the next time my mother gives me chores and I find myself aching all over, I'll say, "Mummy.... my டப்பா டான்ஸ் ஆடிடுச்சு!" Or.... if some random person was to irritate me, "Oy! Don't you dare tread on my nerves, buster! இல்லைனா உன்னோட டப்பா டான்ஸ் ஆடிடும்!" LOL.... You'll never hear these wonderful awesome epic phrases anywhere else but in நம்ம சென்னை!


Super! Ne? ;)

Pssssst: For the first time (that I can remember), I'm actually typing rather than the usual Ctrl+X - Ctrl+V in Tamil for a Blog! Awesome! :D And how's the jackie pic? That's what you get when you have too much time in your hands and Photoshop CS3! ROFL

My newfound love...

Yes... I am smitten, my dearest people! And before you start dreaming of the author running around in green pastures with some stunning male specimen of the human species, let me make myself very clear. The new found love that I speak of is Tamil Sangam literature. I am aware that I know nothing whatsoever about the magnificence that is Tamil... Why, it *almost* rivals Sanskrit in lucidity, beauty and antiquity!

Just as I start to believe that Tamil has finally hit the dust, thanks to the amount of butchering the people in Chennai have subjected it to, I am showed glimpses of what it used to be and how many mind blowing, things were back in the days of the ancient Tamil emperors!

And amidst the numerous wonderful works that still have no parallel in literature, I found the Ettuthokai (எட்டுத்தொகை) to be really interesting. It is a part of the oldest surviving Tamil Poetry, Pathinenmaelkanakku (பதினெண்மேல்கணக்கு). It was probably compiled during the last Sangam period...say about 300 B.C.E.

Ettuthokai contains seven anthologies(and hence the name). They are

• Ainkurunuru(ஐங்குறுநூறு)
• Akananuru(அகநானூறு)
• Purananuru(புறநானூறு)
• Kaliththokai(கலித்தொகை)
• Kurunthokai(குறுந்தொகை)
• Natrinai(நற்றிணை)
• Paripaadal(பரிபாடல்)
• Pathitrupatthu(பதிற்றுப்பத்து)

You can bet that I shall be writing on this topic more often now! But I would also like to sound the necessary disclaimer ne! =D
I'm just beginning to study on these anthologies and I am not even assuming expertise in any of the works I've mentioned! Heck! I feel so humbled and enlightened when I see how simply yet powerfully, the people of ages past, were able to convey the most subtle and tangible of things... something that after eras upon eras of 'development', we're unable to emulate... atleast not to that scale of magnificence.

P.S. I'm aware my GATE exam is advancing like the menacing army of the great Rajendhra Chola the First! Yikies.... ciao for now, ne!