Bengaluru is about 2000 kms away from Kolkata ,and Most of the places in West Bengal are about 1500 Kms away from Lucknow,nerve center of Hindi heartland in Sprawling and populous State of Uttar Pradesh which has boundaries common with many pure Hindi speaking states.
Daily usage of words in
Kannada ,Bengali and Hindi are strikingly similar and pronunciation makes a
pronounced difference .
A crash course on these
words gave me the wisdom which was scripted by an eminent journalist Surya
Prakash on a booklet gifted to guests by him on occasion of his son Ujjawal’s marriage
with Kayleigh in city of gardens recently.Alas ! Now, it is turning into the city of Terrific traffic jams like those witnessed in Bangkok in early eighties and nineties..
In a paragon of crisp advisory
on daily etiquettes in Karnataka, the handy booklet gives an insight in state’s
inside life besides throwing light on the Kannada language intimate links with
Bengali,spoken by people in far flunged North Eastern region and Hindi.
Before diving into
details,which are copyright of the Bridegroom’s father, that it ( booklet) reminded
me of still popular practice of reading “Sheara” ,a long printed poem generally
composed jointly by all family members together to
reminisce memories of the Bride in parents house and bestowing blessings to her
on the marriage day.It is read after welcoming the Barat ( wedding party).
But it was a Sheara with a
difference.The writer who now heads one of the biggest TV and Radio networks in the world-Prasar Bharati wrote that Karnatkans worry about their friendes and relatives all the time and constantly keep asking each other if they had their Coffee, tiffin or meal. This is known as "THE OOTA AAYTHAA SYNDROME".It goes like this :
When your neighbor sees you first thing in
the morning,he does not say “Namaskar,How are you”. He asks “coffee Aaythaa “(have
had your morning tumbler of coffee). You say “AAYTHOO’’( yes,I have had ).
This is a standard form of greeting from 6 a.m
to 9 a.m.
After 9 a.m. ,the question put
to you changes. If your neighbor spots you at that hour, he will ask “THINDEE
AAYTHAA?”( Have you had your tiffin) you respond by saying “AAYTHOO”.
From 12 noon till 3pm,the
form of greeting changes yet again. From now on,the moment they see you,
Friendes,neighbours ,acquaintances and even colleagues in office will ask “OOTAA
AAYTHAA?”( Have you had your Lunch?) . You say AAYTHOO.
From 3 p.m .onwards,its once again COFEE AAYTHAA
and from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.the query will be THINDEE AAYTHAA? Needless to say from
8pm to midnight,any karanatakan who sees you will open the conversation with “OOTA
AAYTHAA?’’(have you had your Dinner?).
In no other state do people display such
concern regarding your food and beverage intake
throughout the day. But please don’t’ take these queries seriously and literally and start saying “No,I
have not had my meal. What are you going to do about it ?”.
It is impolite to respond in
the negative, Always say AATHOO to all such queries,even if you have been
starving since the day before or you are dying for a cup of hot coffee .
In the Book let, the writer
gave a list of 200 selected words which were Shuddh Hindi words, which are also
Shuddh Kannada words and Shuddh Bengali words.
Some of those words were
---AARAMBH(HINDI),AARAMBHA(KANNADA) and AORAMBH (Bengali); ABHIPRAY
(H),ABHIPRAYA (K),AOBHIPRAY (B); ADHIKAR (H),ADHIKARA (K),ODHIKAR (
B);ADHIK(H),ADHIKA (K),ODHIK ( B); APRADH(H),APRADHA (K),OPRADHA(B);DUKH(H)DUKHAA(K),DHUKHO(B).
The 25 page booklet is full
of words,but I can’t write the entire list as there is no scope of steamy hot
filter coffee.I have the gifted sparkling fliter, powder coffee two steel cups,cashew
nuts and namkeen pouches ,but I have lost the another booklet, penned nicely by
the same journalist for the occasion,somewhere in my handbag while catching
flight back to the New Delhi.
But it has not diminished felicity of the holiday after grueling days in the National Capital where aroma of Filter coffee is missing to whet my appetite for the same.I have allowed my hopes to get guide book on the filter to wax as I am an incorrigible optimist.
Pictures : Coverage & Back page of the Booklet
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