The language of Chennai
Two aspects of the city will never suffer renaming. One is the Buckingham canal and the other is the local language. Both are considered beyond the pale. And so are nobody’s business. Madras bhashai will never become Chennai bhashai. That is fine. But looking down on it will never do, for it is the language of the city.
Madras bhashai probably came into existence even before the British. It very likely began with the Portuguese, when their language mixed with the Tamil and Telugu that already flourished here. It is interesting to note that the initial business transactions of the city were conducted in Portuguese before English took over. The dubashes probably made Madras bhashai the lingua franca. The diary of Anand Ranga Pillai is replete with words from Telugu, Tamil, English , French, Urdu and Sanskrit. The correspondence of Pachaiappa Mudaliar uses words that would readily fit in to Madras Bhashai.
Because Madras or Chennai came into existence with commerce as the prime motive speed was of the essence. Grammar and using the language pure went out of the window. What mattered was getting your point across. Madras bhashai fulfilled all of that. It is pithy, colourful, and conveys its meaning in a jiffy. It is also a language that is ever growing. Chances are that the Dubashes will not understand Lalaku Lol Dappi Ma but they will appreciate it’s sentiment. Made popular in localities where multiple communities co-existed, it was recognised first by theatre albeit in a derogatory fashion and later by cinema. Litterateurs looked down upon it.
Like all serious publications The Hindu too did not take cognizance of Madras bhashai till quite late. There is a letter dating to 1981 regarding linguistic development – “Let us examine the slang Tamil that is spoken in and around Madras city under the name Madras bhashai. A close look at this spoken language would reveal that several words have either been mutilated or rounded off resulting in total alienation from the standard parent ones. For example a primary school teacher in Madras city would be writing kazhuthai (donkey) on the blackboard and also pronounce it religiously. But both the teacher and the wards would be pronouncing the word as kaide for all practical purposes once they are away from the classrooms. Here one might argue that the language is a compulsive admixture of different phonetic variations drawn from the districts. But it is quite unbelievable and strange that a loan Sanskrit word kashmalam meaning dirt has somehow found a pride of place with predominant usage in Madras bhashai.”
From that first appearance Madras bhashai grew in The Hindu as well. In 1999 we find Sudhish Kamath and Saptarishi Bhattacharya writing about how the words take birth in campuses . “Apart from the usual machan and machi what is refreshingly different about the slang these days is the creativity employed in coining them. Enthu cutlets, no it is not got anything to do with food, is a term used to refer to students who are well, enthusiastic by nature. Some use enthu pattani only that is the Tamil version of the term. While Peter is used to refer to guys who talk only in English, Sean of Sean Connery, the James Bond hero is today someone who is trying to look smart. The usage for Sean is always with put – he is putting a Sean, trying to put Sean and so on. Tamil slang used by some colleges run into pages thanks to the Madras bhashai influences. Most of them are swear or curse words.
The Tamil film industry is a major contributor. What started as mumbo jumbo introduced for the sake of comedy by film directors is today well in use. They are actually multidimensional words. Jillako and gilma are exclamations that can be used to convey anything. They can also be used anywhere before, after or in between a sentence.”
By 2013 The Hindu has become a warm champion of Madras bhashai. “It amuses. It elicits laughter. But there is no taking away the Madras bhashai from the city,” the paper reports. It then goes on to list several words and also the portrayals of Madras bhashai on the silver screen.
Madras Bhashai has taken hold in The Hindu!
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