Bain and Boon of being a Palakkad-i
And for those who wonder who a Palakkad-i is, well we are people who hail from a village(Palakkad) in the south of the Indian peninsula that lies on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It was initially owned by the government of Tamil Nadu but now in the hands of Kerala. So my ancestors were Tamil but now we are successfully confused.
My friends often ask me which state am I from, and I vacillate between the two. C'mon guys its hard on me. Cut me some slack, I am a Palakkad-i born and brought up in the North which makes it even more eclectic. I grew up speaking a language that perhaps no-one other than a fellow Palakkad-i would understand. I have trouble understanding a perfectly pure Tamil movie or a Malayalam movie, or news readers, or people or songs. I never felt that void up until now when my interaction levels with neighbors from the east and west has increased in magnitude and there is a pressing need to be able to speak one pure language.
The good part though is something that is not tangible, it can only be felt. This discrepancy gets about this strange sense of pride and glory that personally I have not hand in. Its this "cool" factor in being "different", of meeting a fellow Palakkad-i and tilting the head sideways and nodding, a sense of mutual respect. But this, my friend would definitely not be acceptable to our dear neighbors who "with love" call us "pattathis" and "pattammars". I initially used to think it was something said out of "RESPEC -the ALI G way" to us. But sigh, its not so. The other good part is that we have assimilated the best of both worlds. The lighter skin tone, the best of food from both places, Avial for example, high intellectual and artistic quotient and of course a language that sounds ultra refined and sweet (to me).
So fellow Palakkadi's don't feel left out, we could soon start coming out with our own home production in movies, news and songs. Chery-aa? :)
And for those who wonder who a Palakkad-i is, well we are people who hail from a village(Palakkad) in the south of the Indian peninsula that lies on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It was initially owned by the government of Tamil Nadu but now in the hands of Kerala. So my ancestors were Tamil but now we are successfully confused.
My friends often ask me which state am I from, and I vacillate between the two. C'mon guys its hard on me. Cut me some slack, I am a Palakkad-i born and brought up in the North which makes it even more eclectic. I grew up speaking a language that perhaps no-one other than a fellow Palakkad-i would understand. I have trouble understanding a perfectly pure Tamil movie or a Malayalam movie, or news readers, or people or songs. I never felt that void up until now when my interaction levels with neighbors from the east and west has increased in magnitude and there is a pressing need to be able to speak one pure language.
The good part though is something that is not tangible, it can only be felt. This discrepancy gets about this strange sense of pride and glory that personally I have not hand in. Its this "cool" factor in being "different", of meeting a fellow Palakkad-i and tilting the head sideways and nodding, a sense of mutual respect. But this, my friend would definitely not be acceptable to our dear neighbors who "with love" call us "pattathis" and "pattammars". I initially used to think it was something said out of "RESPEC -the ALI G way" to us. But sigh, its not so. The other good part is that we have assimilated the best of both worlds. The lighter skin tone, the best of food from both places, Avial for example, high intellectual and artistic quotient and of course a language that sounds ultra refined and sweet (to me).
So fellow Palakkadi's don't feel left out, we could soon start coming out with our own home production in movies, news and songs. Chery-aa? :)
Comments
Jayesh,
Did she pay/threaten you for this comment? :D
Aakshi just pointed me to your blog. I really really like the way you write. I think I have read thru most of your posts here and I have to say, i will be watching and waiting for more!
-Sachlene