'Adi Thadi Pullise' and other exasperated Palagattan exclamations!

Author's Note: This morning I woke up to a flooded mail box...both on Facebook and on my email. That this humble blog would evoke such a passionate following and response defies a modest Palagattan's imagination. I wish to reiterate to all followers, known and unknown, seen and unseen, felt and unfelt, that all your words/expressions/idioms will be taken up. And clarified. Keep your comments and queries coming. You can post them on Facebook, on the blog itself or mail me at avis@imagequity.in.

I would also like to celebrate this blog's first commenter and follower, also its first opinion-maker, a non-Palagattan, Aniruddh Sankaran. Regretfully, I had omitted his name while raising a toast to other followers. Without his first comment, we wouldn't be where we are today__as a blog, as a bunch of boisterous, zoozoo-like Palagattans! Thanks, Sir!!

Palagattans are real fun when they are exasperated__with someone, something or just with themselves!!

'Adi Thadi Pullise': Bawling and brawling kids are any (Palagattan) mother's nightmare. But the Palagattan mom vents her fury on her spouse. And the most common exasperation, in such circumstances, is: "Onnum kekkanda ketela? Adi Thadi Pullise akkum inge." "Don't ask me. There's a brawl on over here and the police have to be called." 'Pullise' is Palagattan for 'police'. And 'adi thadi' refers to the brawl, what with the kids coming to blows. The expression found its origins, perhaps, from the highly unionized, militant student politics environment in Kerala. Colleges and schools in the state were often closed because of clashes between student groups. Considering that Palakkad, where the meek peace-loving Palagattans originate from, is in Kerala, it is possible that the expression was borrowed by Palagattan moms who found it difficult to control their broods. However, in today's instant gratification, SMS generation, while ATP__'adi thadi pullise'__may serve the purpose of communicating the situation on hand but can never whip up the passion conveyed by the full-throated cry of desparation.

'Maar Adichakkanam': This is a Tamizh and Tamizh culture inspired Palagattan usage. In Tamizh culture and among some Tamizh families, it is a practice for womenfolk__mother, sister, wife, sisters-in-law, grandmother__ to beat their chests ('maar' in Tamizh) when a male member passes away. It signifies a hopeless situation of grief when the women wail mournfully. 'Maar Adichakkarthu' is the act of beating one's chest in Tamizh. However, exasperated Palagattans use the expression 'maar adichakkanam' __ 'now, I must beat my chest'__in the context of their having to deal with a situation that is devoid of any intellect, professionalism or discipline. 'Intha aasari vanthutuillai. Avanodu aallugalodu ini naan maar adichakkanam!'. 'The carpenter has not shown up. Now, I need to sweat over his people to get the job done'. Simply put, 'Maar Adichakkanam' is Palagattan for 'having to painfully, mournfully, labor over' something or someone.

'Chandi Vaaya Moodindu Irrukka Chollu': 'Chandi' means the bum in Palagattan. And 'vaay' means mouth. 'Moodindu Irrukka Chollu' means 'tell someome to keep 'it' closed'. In chaste Palagattan, 'chandi vaaya moodindu irrukka chollu' means, asking someone not to act too smart and keep his or her trap shut. While there may be a temptation to interpret 'chandi vaay' as 'the mouth of the bum', one must give credit to Palagattans, as extolled in earlier posts, for being non-vulgar people. The inference here is purely to keeping the mouth and the exit shut__which means, don't act smart, just shut up and sit tight! A typical usage would be when a Palagattan father is exasperated with his son's academic performance and is still having to consider letting him go for playing cricket at the state level. The father is then firmly wont to declare to his wife: "Ooh! Pinne? Adutha Sachin Tendulkarnu nennaippo? Onnum venda. Chandi Vaaya Moodindu Irrukka chollu" "Oh! My, my!! Is he dreaming of being the next Sachin Tendulkar? No need. Tell him not to act too smart and to shut up and sit tight (and, implied, study!)!"

Critical Note: Even the 'ooh!' mentioned above is exclusively Palagattan. And coupled with 'Pinne' which actually means 'what next?', it becomes a doubly lethal Palagattan exclamation: "Ooh! Pinne?" "Oh! What's next?" And is used to chide someone and let them know that you don't buy their argument or gag or story!

'Oru Ezhavum Theriyathu': This is Palagattan for (the guy) 'knows jack-shit about something' or is used to say that 'someone knows nothing'. The beauty__and poetry__in the Palagattan language comes alive in this usage. 'Ezhavum' means not just nothing but 'precious little'. It is in its usage that the meaning assumes shape and significance. A septuagenarian Palagattan who is well trained in the Vedic chants, viz., 'Rudram and Chamakam', may comment of a young teenage Palagattan lad, training to be a priest, dismissively: "Chuppukuttyku oru ezhavum theriyarthillai. Athaan vadhiyaar kanda kanda kuttigalai-ellam anupivekkarar". "Chuppukutty knows precious little. Our priest (vaadhayar) Senor Athaan, is sending kids over these days."

Followers and champions of this blog are luckier than poor Chuppukutty. If you have senior Palagattans in your family and with your knowledge of Palagattan having gone up by light years in the last three weeks, the 'oru ezhavum theriyarthillai' exclamation may never be applied on you!!!

Praise be to the blog! Long live the blog!!!

'Ambadayaan', 'Aathukaari', 'Shaddagar' , 'Kozhunthan' and 'Naathanaar'

First: A note of apology to followers commenting on this blog...especially Priya, Vaani (my wife!), Vijay and Chittur Venkat (Rema).....due to my rather poor understanding of how blogs work, and my mediocre ambitions of just having fun with this blog, I never expected to see your comments and hence missed them. It was only today that I saw them and was delighted. Bowled over. Bheiysh! Bheiysh!! Romba Pramadham.

Today, we will explore Palagattan relationships.

'Ambadayaan' is Palagattan for husband. And usually senior Palagattan 'paatimaas' (grandmas) or 'paatas' (grandpas) ask young brides in the family about their husbands by addressing them as 'ambadayaans'. "Onnodu amabadayaan vanthurkane illoyo?" "Your husband has come, hasn't he?" In the good old Palagattan traditions, men would not visit their wives' families so often. This, I deduced much later in life, had to do with the ego quotient that menfolk had in a Palagattan community. Therefore, the senior Palagattan's query was always loaded and led to snide or sarcastic remarks by other members of the girl's (wife's) family__though never, ever in front of her own 'ambadayaan'.

And 'aathukaari' is the wife. The usage of this word is more liberal. Anyone can refer to anyone's wife and enquire of her welfare calling her so-and-so's 'aathukaari'. 'Aam' in Palagattan is home. A slight variation of this word is 'aathu', which also means home in Palagattan. So, 'aathukaari' is home-maker in Palagattan, typically, someone's wife. "Naan rendu small vishirukkennu enodu aathakaariku theriyadhu ketela?" "My wife doesn't know that I have had a couple of smalls (drinks!). Ok?". The reference to smalls/small drinks is a misnomer. Palagattans have a genetic linkage__joined at the hip (actually, at the hic!)__with Malayalis. An average Malayali or Malayalataan (for a Palagattan) will refer to having several drinks (perhaps, a full bottle of 12 60ml measures) as a couple of 'smalls'. And so a Palagattan man, who is adventurous and is not the sort who fears his wife, will swing (visharthu) a couple of drinks, bottoms up, but never openly acknowledge it to the wife.

These words are distinctly different from those meaning the same in Tamizh. Husband in Tamizh is 'veetukaran' or 'purushan'. And wife in Tamizh is 'veetukaari' or 'pondati'.

Another distinct Palagattan word is for the wife's sister's husband who is a brother-in-law in the manner of deducing a relationship. Palagattan men relate to their wives' sisters' husbands as 'shaddagars'. This word is uniquely Palagattan. And educated, inventive Palagattans have come up with the word 'co-brother' to mean 'shaddagar' in English. Purists believe the word 'co-brother' is a very Indian Palagattan usage; it does not exist in ANY English dictionary. "My co-brother, you know my 'shaddagar', my wife's sister's husband, he is an accomplished Violinist," is a declaration that will not surprise any ordinary Palagattan. Non-Palagattans are normally foxed with any reference to a 'co-brother'!!!

'Kozhunthan' is the way a wife will refer to her husband's younger brother in Palagattan. In Tamizh this relation would be a 'machinan' and in Hindi 'devar'. "Enga aathulla, ennodu kozhunthan aathukaarikkuthan ella mariyadai". "In our home, my brother-in-law's wife gets all the respect (and attention)."

The husband's sister is referred to as 'naathanaar' by the wife. I have never been able to understand this. Or maybe, I am too naive. 'Naatham' in Tamzih means 'stink' and 'naar' in Tamizh refers to the strands of coir from a coconut shell or a rope. So, 'naathanaar' literally means a 'stinking rope'. Perhaps, that is an apt way to define the relationship a wife has with the husband's sister in Palagattan? "Ennodu naathanaar oru adangapiradi akkum." "My husband's sister is uncontrollable."

Palagattan is a great language. The nuances in its usage, as extolled by this blog, will make many a follower proficient. So, keep following and keep commenting....

'Asugam', 'Sookherdu', 'Degha-ubadhruvam', 'Pani'....all Palagattan ailing states!

When a Palagattan has fever, he/she has 'pani'. 'Pani' (pronounced like half the word in 'pani-ni') actually means 'dew' in Tamizh and when pronounced with an exaggerated 'n', means 'work' in Malayalam. But Palagattans attribute most common fevers to come from expsoure to early morning dew. And so, they generalize and say, someone has 'pani' when that someone is beginning to run a higher temperature. Some Palagattans also call fever 'joram'. However, no Palagattan, ever will use the Tamizh word 'kaachal' to describe a feverish state.

When sick, Palagattans have 'asugam'. Which literally means unwell in English--'sugam' in Malayalam means 'doing well', so, 'a-sugam' means 'unwell'. But it must be understood that 'asugam' pertains to a non-so-serious state of ailment. Like a common cold ('jaladosham' or 'cheerappu'-discussed in an earlier post) or a viral fever. The Tamizh usage will be 'odambukku vandurkku' or 'odambu seriya illai' both implying an not-so-serious ailment.

A continued state of 'asugam', diagnosed further as a disease like malaria, typhoid or asthma, is referred to as 'sookherdu' (pronounced 'sookedu'). The other usage of 'sookherdu' is when someone in the family or circle of influence dissents on a decision or shows abnormal tendencies of loony behavior. In such cases, 'sookherdu' refers to 'discomfort' or 'what's wrong with (that person)?'. In Tamizh, we will understand a person's diseased state as 'noi'.

Senior Palagattans, often times purists, use the word 'degha-ubadhruvam' to describe the condition of their health/bodies. 'Degham' in Malayalam means body and 'ubadhruvam' in Malayalam means trouble. Palagattans who are fit as a fiddle even after they are well past their 70s can be heard using this word to affirm that their bodies are not troubling them at all. Alas, there is no Tamizh equivalent that this author can immediately think off for this rare, Palagattan gem!

Typical usages of these words/expressions:

'Pani': "Aye! Avanai paduthathey. Pani akkum!" "Hey, don't disturb him. He's got fever."
'Asugam': "Avanodu asugam marave mattengarthu" "He continues to ail." though literally it would be "His ailment doesn't seem to change (sic!-go away!!)".
'Sookherdu': "Enna kandravi sookherdo theriayallai" "Can't diagnose what his goddammed disease is all about!"
'Sookherdu': In the other context, discussed above, Palagattans would say: "Avannukku oru sookherdu undu kettiya? Poramai akkum". "He has a problem. He's jealous".
'Degha-ubadhruvam': "Deivanugraham irrukkarthunaala ennakku degha-ubadhruvam onnum illai!!" "By God's grace my body doesn't trouble me (at all)!".

Here's wishing all Palagattans good health so that 'pani', 'asugam', 'sookherdu' and 'degha-ubadhruvam' are expunged from their lives and just remain academic terms on this blog!!!

'Shevandi Koththa', 'Thendi', 'Mundachi' and other Palagattan expressions!

The response to the list of expressions Palagattans love to use posted yesterday has been outstanding.

This blog's follower Ranjani Raghavan, a fellow Palagattan, has won Day 1 of The Official Palagattans Expressions Challenge announced yesterday. The author lists Ms.Raghavan's picks and adds value by elucidating on their origins and usage.

'Thallupolli' : Borrowed from the original Malayalam. This refers to someone who is a vagabond, an useless fellow. "Avana? Thallupolli akkum. Onnathukkum kollathu." "Him? He's such an useless fellow!"

'Nozhaneri': A busybody-cum-compulsive conspirator. This is an exclusive Palagattan word. In a harmless context, this is used to describe precocious children who enter a just-married Palagattan couple's (bed)room and insist on raiding the chest of drawers which may contain private belongings like contraceptives or love notes or such! When applied to adults, the reference is to a family member or distantly related wheeler-dealer who took someone for a ride. "Nozhaneri, nozhaneri. Avanai nambathe kettaya?" "He's a nonzhaneri. Don't trust him, Ok?"

'Thendi': Another Malayalam word. Used by Palagattans to describe someone who is loitering around aimlessly in life. Had the Farhan Akhtar movie 'Lakshya' been based on a Palagattan's story, Hrithik Roshan may have been dubbed a 'thendi' by his screen father, Boman Irani. "Thendi, onnaku enna da theriyum, panathodu velai?" "Hey, you, who loiters aimlessly, how would you know the value of money?"

'Mundachi': This may rate as the harshest of all Palagattan expressions. While it means widow, Palagattans being the highly sensitive (sic!) species that they are, never use it to describe actual widows. On the other hand, they use it on really close family members like a mother, sister, mother-in-law, first (female) cousin or daughter-in-law. This is bizzarre. Because calling a married woman or an unmarried girl a widow is against any norm of decorum or decency. That too respectable Palagattan women being the targets? But strange are the ways of the Palagattan world. "Mundachi! Chumma irru!!". "Widow! Shut Up!!"

Author's Choicest Picks Continued....

'Shevandi Koththa': In English, this refers to an undertaker who runs a crematorium or cemetry. But the better way to understand the import of this Palagattan usage is to relate to its Tamizh synonym 'vettiyan', one who burns corpses in a Hindu crematorium. 'Shevandi Koththa', in Palagattan, is used to describe someone who is an inveterate trouble maker, or one who, in a modern day context, is referred to as a pain in the arse. Usually, very old (and senile) Palagattans use the word to describe teenagers who are prone to practical/destructive mischief.
"Kallu kodichutu, vandi ottindo vandhurkaan, shevandi koththa!" "You drove drunk, you undertaker." As is evident, one more time, English can never help the Palagattan lingo's cause.

'Nakkaa-poraan': This is the author's favorite. Trans-literated it goes, 'one who is about to lick'. The origin of this word is from the act of relishing a Palagattan feast ('ellai pott-ta saddhi!'). Most Palagattans, in the pre-modern days would eat from a banana leaf daily. After the entire meal service was over, often with a serving of rice and buttermilk, the residual buttermilk dripping from the right palm and draining down the right arm down to the right elbow, had to be licked. This act was called 'nakkarthu' (licking!). And a person who was at the just-about-to-lick moment was called 'nakkaa-poraan'. Even today, respectable and self-respecting Palagattans indulge in this public display of licking to demonstrate how much satiated they are and how much they relished a 'saddhi' at a family event or festival. But 'nakkaa-poraan', in usage, has come to describe someone who is cheap and behaves in an atrocious manner in public. "Atho, nakkaa-poraan. Pathale kashtama irrukku." "There's a cheapo. Can't stand it".

'Gooja-thooki': Another Palagattan gem. In the good old days when most Palagattans, without exception, were accomplished Carnatic vocalists, they used to be accompanied by an assistant who carried their 'goojas' or flasks containing hot water or filter 'kaapi'. One who carries anything is called a 'thooki' in colloquial Malayalam. Hence the one carrying the 'gooja' was called 'gooja-thooki'. This person, practically, was the Palagattan vocalist's shadow or personal assistant, who would comply with every one of his master's wishes/commands. Over the years, the Palagattan vocalists' population has dwindled, but the 'gooja-thooki' reference has stayed on to describe anyone who is subservient to another. In Tamizh, the word describing a 'gooja-thooki' is 'jalra' and in Hindi, they call such a person a 'chamcha'. Interestingly, all normal references to 'gooja-thookis' is to male Palagattans. "Avan, seriyana gooja-thooki (v)akkum. Ellathukkum aamaam cholluvaan." "He's subservient. Will say yes to everything."

More expressions are welcome please. A more serious follower of this blog remarked offline that this blog was doing yoeman service to the next generation of Palagattans by preserving the rich legacy of the clan's lingo. So, please wear your thinking caps, consult senior Palagattans in your families and write in your expressions. The DVDs and T-shirts are on the way.....

Praise Be To The Blog!

Dear Blog Followers,

Your overwhelming response is humbling. Although you are in different parts of the world, Austin (TX), Chennai, a private follower in Chicago, one on Cenotaph Road who thinks this blog is cooler than accounting and another one in London, with some more scattered across the United States, your ambitions for this blog__to survive and unite the Palagattan world__are honorable.

Here's a sampling of some of your comments:

Aaaah! Exceptional. My Singapore Thatha's FAVORITE (and may have heard it from my maternal thatha too) -Theethrandi! excellnt post.
Please enter me for the T Shirt. I will gladly take either ! am Palagattan OR I love Nandurnis Or I Hate Mushudus... by the way, where is my MMKR DVD? :)
Kala Malini
AUSTIN, TX

you have so many fans! - all full of 'thraani'... all waiting to celebrate and enjoy!

wish to enroll for the quiz. any entrance fee? Or is it free on submission of Palagattan proof?
Ranjani Raghavan
Chennai

you MUST discuss "thalaki-naal" (previous day) on the blog...please! need to know the origins of this one...
Aniruddh Sanakaran
Chennai

Like your blog. Good work. This set me thinking on the other variant of Tamizh - Chennai Tamizh; not the expletives, but the normal diction.
V S Sambandam
London

Your blogs are very enjoyable and we have passed on to
many of our relatives. Keep up the good work and please do keep us entertained.You're writing in a very dignified way that makes us all very proud to be Palagattans !!!!! Thanks !
Rema & Venkat.
USA

Author's Note:
These overwhelming comments have made me realize that a blog gets as good as its followers want it to. I want to assure all of you that this blog is non-idealistic, non-racist and is non-biased. It just is successful because all of you love Palagattan stuff, are soaked in it and like some good-natured humor. So, keep contributing your ideas, suggestions and keep spreading word of the blog to the Palagattan and non-Palagattan worlds.

A simple exercise to reaffirm this blog's popularity, supremacy, monopoly:

1. Go to Google Images and Search for 'Palagattan'
2. Go to Google and Search for 'Palagattan'
3. Raise a toast to this blog and its Plogger!

Now, that some eulogizing has happened....let me get on to some serious blogging!

'Theetharandi', 'Parakavatti', 'Nandurni' and several other exclusive Palagattan expressions!

This list is going to be long, colorful, enlightening, awakening and informative. If it amuses and arouses the reader, it surely is an intended bonus__outcome!!

Palagattans have their own bouquet of brickbats (sic!)__words and expressions they use to call people names. The author attempts to list most of the choicest that are known to him. Readers are welcome to write in with the ones they know/remember but which may not find immediate mention here. And the author promises to publish a sequel to this post, with full credit to contributors.

Disclaimer: Palagattans are a sober lot. Rarely will you find a Palagattan expression vulgar or crude in meaning__though they may come perilously close to sounding lewd and impolite.

'Theetharandi': This is Palagattan for an inconsequential person, a bloke basically, who dares to offer an opinion about a Palagattan, his/her family or home. The real meaning comes out in the usage. "Evanu oru theetharandi, avan chollarthai ellam kanakku kootathe, ketiya?" "Don't take into account (read: take to heart) what some bloke has to say". As is evident, the Palagattan usage is what packs a punch and brings the expression alive. In the English translation, the pungent essence of the expression clearly evaporates.

'Parakavatti': In Palagattan, refers to someone who is greedy about food__primarily snacks, sweets that are served in others' homes/festivals/events__like a wedding, 'seemantham' or 'gruhapravesham'. "Chi, paravatti madhiri chapadathe. Avallam enna nanaichuppa?" "Don't behave greedy. Take it easy with the food on offer. What will the others think (of you/us)?" This expression is used to chide someone who is within the family or within a close circle of infleunce.

'Nandurni': A terribly, horribly mischevious child that is hard to keep in one place. "Seriyaana nandurni akkum. Oru edathula okkarathey?" "Outrageously mischievious. Doesn't sit in a place." Interestingly, Palagattans use this expression only in the case of kids, that too infants or toddlers. I wonder why though? Wouldn't next gen Palagattan girls, just married or to be, find their lovers to be 'nandurnis'? Well, at least, I used to be one, 20 years ago. And try hard remaining so even now!!!

'Chapadachi': A non-stop Palagattan motormouth. Palagattans of all shapes and sizes usually qualify to be called so. Because motormouth and Palagattan are actually synonymous. But 'chapadachi' is the Gold Medallist in this Talkathon league. "Aval chapadachi akkum ketiya? Orruka thodangina, niruthave mattal." "She's a motormouth, who doesn't know when to stop".

'Vennai': Now, this is a rare Palagattan, who is not street smart, who is not a motormouth and is 'almost' (well, no Palagattan is ever one totally) a simpleton. Often the usage renders the meaning of 'vennai' to also imply a 'good for nothing' person. 'Vennai' in Malayalam and Tamizh means butter. Which by its physical nature is slippery and slimy. But the Palagattan 'vennai' does not mean that at all. As I said earlier, Palagattans don't sin with words. A typical usage will be. "Avan vennai. Avanala oru proyojanamum illai." "He's a vennai (can't find an English word to imply its meaning). He's of no use".

'Adangapiradi' (pronounced: 'adangaapradi'): A tempestuous, irrepressible, combative Palagattan woman. This word is borrowed from Malayalam. And is often used to describe someone who is difficult to control: either a new, city-bred daughter-in-law, or an angry, rebellious, teenaged daughter or a 'very, very, loud-mouthed, audacious, atrocious, egotistic mother-in-law'. While it connotes 'bitch', Palagattans, being who they are, will never admit to its crude canine interpretation. "Aval kitte unnum vechikathe, chollaren kettuko. Aval oru adangapiradi akkum." "Listen to me and don't have anything to do with that abrasive, arrogant, bitch! She is uncontrollable."

'Kurthamketavane': Another Malayalam-influenced expression. This is Palagattan for someone who has low moral values or is unscrupulous. Often, a display of erosion of moral values in a Palagattan's behavior, attracts this expression. "Kurthamketavane, nee pakkuthu aathu Alamelu kooda eishundutto vanthurkeya?" "O! Unscrupulous One!! I caught you smearing (sic!__the allusion is to being caught in a compromising position) yourself all over that woman Alamelu next door!" This expression, when used to describe a Palagattan woman displaying similar tendencies, manifests itself as 'kurthamketavale'.

'Mushudu': A grumpy, morose Palagattan. Interestingly, it is commonly used by Palagattan women on fellow Palagattan women. Although, honestly, the author's research reveals no such restriction imposed by the inventors of the Palagattan Tamizh lingo. The usage often applies to a Palagattan daughter calling her just-married brother's wife (the new daughter-in-law of the family) a 'mushudu'. A Palagattan daughter or mother-in-law may say of the new bride: "Mushudu paaru. Moonji thuki vechunduirrukka!". "She's sulking and so grumpy. She's pulling a long face". (Honestly 'moonji thuki vechunduirrukka' transliterates as 'lifting her face'!!!__which only proves that Palagattan Tamizh suffers phenomenal flavor-loss when translated.) Investigations by the researchers working on the lives of new Palagattan brides reveal that the grumpiness in most such women comes from an aftertaste of garlic post the first (night's) mooch (36 %), the husband's (if Palagattan) ugly, stinky belch (54 %) and the mother-in-law's insistence that the morning after begins at 4 am with a public (for women of the household) oil-bath ceremony (1o %)!!! Once settled__into the household__such a daughter-in-law returns the 'mushudu' compliment to describe her husband's sister, a.k.a 'naathanaar' (sister-in-law), in private within 2 years of marriage and always in public ever after!!!

Post-Script:

1. This post will be continued
2. Readers are invited to offer their list of favorite Palagattan name-calling expressions for inclusion
3. Those wanting to enter a quiz for Palagattan name-calling expressions and win exclusive 'I am Palagattan. I love Nandurnis' or 'I hate Mushudus' T-shirts, may please leave their names with the author.

'Thraani', 'Okkalikkaran' and 'Kadukarthu'

The reason this author did not write a post on this blog yesterday was because he did not have the 'thraani'.

'Thraani' is Palagattan for stamina. After a long day at work and at the gym, I just did not have the 'thraani' for blogging, that too in the sultriness of a May (agninakshatram) night in Chennai.

The Tamizh usage for stamina in a common context is 'sakthi'. So, Tamizh folks would normally say,"Odambulla sakthiye illai". "I have no stamina in me (my body)."

Purists believe that Palagattans borrowed 'thraani' __and embellished it__from the original Kannada 'thraana' which means stamina. Palagattans, however, claim just the opposite happened! Nevertheless, this is a word that is slowly becoming extinct in Palagattan homes. Most new gen Palagattans are substituting 'thraani' with words like 'energy' or even the colloquial Tamizh word 'thembu'. But in proper, pure Palagattan, an old, 80+ Palagattan grandmother would declare,"Vara vara, odambulla thraaniye illai". "Of late, I have no stamina in my body."

Such old Palagattan confessions from 'paatimaas' (grannies) fetch little or no sympathy from today's young and happening Palagattans. After all, the Palagattan men and women of the 30s and 40s displayed so much 'thraani' in their youth and middle age.

Consider this: most Palagattans who married in the early 1900s, 10s, 20s, 30s, 40s and, possibly, 50s, procreated with alarming alacrity. Rarely does a Palagattan family tree have less than eight siblings in each family branch a generation above today's 40+ Palagattan. My families__both paternal and maternal__had 11 siblings each. Which means both sets of my grandparents demonstrated indefatigable 'thraani' when it came to procreation. Siblings in such Palagattan families were born, at times, within 12 to 13 months of each other. Which made the Palagattan male of yore, a Mr.Macho, who needed no Viagara or artificial stimulants. While the Palagattan woman was possibly a great reveller in bed with greater 'thraani'. I say this not out of any disrespect but out of great admiration because most 'paatimaas' (grannies) outlived the 'paatas' (grandpas) and stayed beautiful (with their mookuthis and vairathodus), active and lived long, extra long lives. In fact, some of them continue to be active at 80+ even today. [Researchers have been unable to put their finger on what has caused the Palagattan race to limit their family size post the 1950s: education, inflation or global warn(m)ing!?]

So, young Palagattan adults of today, perhaps, have every right to question the validity of a 'zero-thraani' lament by a 'paatimaa' because they believe a lot of 'thraani' was handsomely invested in producing bi-sexual (co-ed?) cricket teams of 11+ people in each family. My own firm belief is that had Palagattans had a Gujju gene (read Lalit Modi-like), the IPL would have been launched as the Indian Palagattan League long, long ago. Probably in the previous century. And we would have had teams like 'Noorani Nandurnis', 'Kalapathi Kacherikaaras', 'Athipotta Ambis' and 'Kavuseri Kudumis'.

Having elucidated on 'thraani' in the context discussed above, it may pay to look at it from two more perspectives.

A Palagattan who develops a nauseating feeling and brings out food or throws up is referred to as indulging in 'okkalikkaran'. To be sure, it is a verb and not a noun. The actual act of throwing up in Palagattan, as in Tamizh, is called 'vaandhi' (vomit). But 'okkalikkaran' describes the manner in which the Palagattan throws up, loudly, indecently, impolitely. Sometimes, waking up the neighborhood. A poor Tamizh usage is 'komatindu varadhu'. Meaning 'it is all gurging (sic!) out'. Actually, let's state this: the Palagattan 'okkalikkaran' is non-pariel, without parallel. A Palagattan grandma could say,"Avana paaru. Eppidi okkalikkaran." "Look at him. God, the manner in which he is throwing up?". Chances are, after an hour of the Palagattan continuing to throw up, the grandma could state,"Paavum, odambulla thraaniye illai". "Poor guy, he hasn't any stamina left!".

Palagattans also have a special word to distinguish pain from ache. And it is often converse to the English synonyms. For instance, you say stomachache in English, while in Palagattan, you would say, 'vaayathu veli'. Or you say, headache in English and say 'thalai veli' in Palagattan. But in English you say painful legs, while in Palagattan you would say 'kaalu kadukarthu'. The word 'kadukarthu' is used only by Palagattans and only in the context of the lower limbs of the body__the legs or feet (both are 'kaalu'). Often times, a Palagattan's 'kaalu kadukarthu' wail may come from the lack of 'thraani' (stamina) in the body.

And, interestingly, 'kadukarthu' does not apply to other parts of the anatomy, for instance, the heart. Because, even for Palagattans, the heart must go on!!!