My South Indian Connection

I entered late in the class and looked for a place nearest to my friends when I find her sitting alone. I asked her if I can sit there. Her reply was a BIG no. She is waiting for her friend to come she said. After some days, the scene repeated again. This time she said I can sit with her. I saw she has put her bag between us. I asked her if she can put it somewhere else. “Is it uncomforting” she asked? “No, I feel it signifies that you want to keep distance from person sitting with you” I said. She obliged and here starts my friendship with Pavi.

We were just opposite (and it includes from being two opposite part of country too) and I think that was one thing that complemented our friendship. “Are you a south Indian” I asked her surprisingly one day to which she nodded. “But your name is very short and you speak awesome Marathi and flawless Hindi” I said. She told me that she was born and brought up in Pune and that is the reason behind her good command over Marathi and Hindi. And after that like a typical north Indian I asked “so you are from Chennai (thank god I didn’t say madras)” and that’s where she exploded,” You know being a south Indian doesn’t always mean that you are from Chennai, like being a north Indian won’t always mean that you are a Punjabi. There are four different states in south with different languages and culture. Can you name me all the four states along with their capital”? I told her that the farthest south I have ever travelled is Pune, after that she made me memorize all the four states along with their capital and the language spoken there. She asked me this question continuously till our last day in college just to make sure that I don’t forget it. At her place I drank my first filter coffee and through her Tiffin I knew various southern delicacies. Her mom was born in Chennai and her dad was from Karnataka and she picked Telegu by watching various south Indian channels, so officially, she knows six (7 including Hindi ;)) languages which include Kannada, Tamil, Telegu, Marathi, French and English. She was my one and only south Indian connection (though she always emphasizes that she is a Marathi) till I moved to Bangalore.

My first dinner in Bangalore was at Pavithra Restaurant. I immediately called her up and said “You know there are so many places here by your name (till Pune I always thought that her name is very unique) but with an extra “h” “.Ya they put an extra “h” with “t” everywhere she replied. I asked her what she meant by “they”. To which she replied South Indians (still emphasizing that she is a Marathi.) And I was telling her look who is talking ;).