Sunday, November 09, 2014
why not south indian?
nothing wrong with the term south indian i would say, all over bangalore
you get something called north indian food... it's just geography and
in my head, never sounded like anything more or less than that. i too
was a bit huh when i saw "north indian restaurant"... then stopped
bothering. we all know who we are, if it's important that others should
too, just say who you are and be done with it. till i was 27, i had no
idea that there was a place called mangalore. then at no 3 new tc
colony, jamshedpur, then bihar now jharkhand, i met three wonderful
families, my neighbours, who all said they were from this mysterious
place called mangalore. i was sure they meant bangalore and i was
hearing wrong. soon i came to know of the konkan coast, its wonderful
food... that it stretches if i am not wrong, along maharashtra and
karnataka. mr shenoy spoke turu/tulu and was gsb, as in gaur saraswat
brahmin, i believe this community had come from kashmir to bengal and
then moved west to mangalore. mr and mrs rao were saraswat brahmins,
minus the gaur. and the lobos were catholic, though mrs lobo said they
were brahmin christians. everyone was mangalorean but. okay. i scrunched
my brow and tried to figure out and understand everything. finally i
just fell for the people and all the colour they brought to my life,
their fabulous food, friendship, utter love. years since i met most of
them, but yes, they gave me mangalore, mangalore fish curry, prawn
ghashi, and told me there's much more to the country i belonged to than i
knew... which i had anyway never doubted.
some day i will try and find out why the whole area north of the vindhyas is one amorphous something called north india... and is a bengali a north indian or east indian and where should we say bihar is or jharkhand, north, east, north toward east... what? and what exactly is calcutta saree for that matter. more than 500 and something princely states and large tracts of land called british india came together to become the land that i think of as mine, there's bound to be at least 500 if not more different cultures, ways, sub cultures, who knows what, and so many faiths languages ways of eating partying, everything. heck, there are at least 107 ways of wearing a saree... and even the dosa, so many ways of saying it and every taluk seems to have a different recipe, nothing is generic... all of it is specific, particular; there's just so much to know and get a bit gobsmacked by. i often hear myself say, the south has four main states and languages... and then as i am rattling off what i think i know, i remember coorg and how that is a completely different language and in fact a fascinating culture with the best otti and bambooshoot curry... i am sure the north canarese will arch their eyebrows too if they hear anything about just four major languages of the south... and i bet not too many from the south know much about the assamese or the khasis or garos or the difference between mooga, endi and pattu or...
my friend's coffee estate in coorg now has loads of workers from the north east. i again think of how vague that sounds, but i am more worried that despite having grown up in assam, well there till at least age nine at a stretch, i have no idea what a khasi or garo delicacy is... better go do something about that. i had to ramble. if you read, thanks.
some day i will try and find out why the whole area north of the vindhyas is one amorphous something called north india... and is a bengali a north indian or east indian and where should we say bihar is or jharkhand, north, east, north toward east... what? and what exactly is calcutta saree for that matter. more than 500 and something princely states and large tracts of land called british india came together to become the land that i think of as mine, there's bound to be at least 500 if not more different cultures, ways, sub cultures, who knows what, and so many faiths languages ways of eating partying, everything. heck, there are at least 107 ways of wearing a saree... and even the dosa, so many ways of saying it and every taluk seems to have a different recipe, nothing is generic... all of it is specific, particular; there's just so much to know and get a bit gobsmacked by. i often hear myself say, the south has four main states and languages... and then as i am rattling off what i think i know, i remember coorg and how that is a completely different language and in fact a fascinating culture with the best otti and bambooshoot curry... i am sure the north canarese will arch their eyebrows too if they hear anything about just four major languages of the south... and i bet not too many from the south know much about the assamese or the khasis or garos or the difference between mooga, endi and pattu or...
my friend's coffee estate in coorg now has loads of workers from the north east. i again think of how vague that sounds, but i am more worried that despite having grown up in assam, well there till at least age nine at a stretch, i have no idea what a khasi or garo delicacy is... better go do something about that. i had to ramble. if you read, thanks.
Labels: a dream called india, brahmin christian, diversity, gsb, india, mangalore, north indian, south indian
