#BeginRant
What is the problem with some of my friends who laugh at their state being called what it is called in Marathi? For example, we call Kerala ‘Keral’ (pronounced ‘Kay-razh’ with the ‘zh’ sound being ‘ळ’ for those who know the Marathi script) or Tamil Nadu ‘Tamizh Naad’. We call Kannada (the language) ‘Kannad’, for example. Why is that a subject of mockery? If a Frenchman were to talk of l’Inde or Londres when he means India and London respectively, we think it sexy. If an Englishman were to say Germany instead of Deutschland, we accept it and move on. If India and Bharat and Hindustan are used interchangeably, we don’t bat an eye-lid. Then why just for Marathi?
I do not think Marathi-speakers take any objection when you call ‘Pune’ (pronounced ‘पुणे’) ‘Pu-nay’ or even ‘Poona’. Do I take umbrage when you pronounce my last name as ‘Gaad-gill’ instead of ‘गाडगीळ’? I understand that in your language or dialect or accent, this is how it is said, and you mean no offence. Why then, single out Marathi-speakers?
So, the next time we say ‘Kannad’ or ‘Keral’ or ‘Taamil Naad’, we are speaking in our lingo. You don’t like it? Fuck right off. Then fuck off again. And then keep on fucking off. Until you completely fuck off. And then fuck off some more.
#EndRant
P.S: Maharashtra is part of South India. Just because it is popularly seen as ‘West’ more than ‘South’ in recent history does not make it so. This region was under the Vijaynagar Empire, spoke Telugu long before Marathi, and was always considered part of ‘Dakkhan‘ (‘Deccan’, as the Brits pronounced it), which is how the Moguls pronounced ‘Daskhin‘. We consider the Narmada, Godavari, Cuaveri, and Krishna to be ‘our’ rivers as much as Ganga and Yamuna, which were decidedly North Indian as per Marathi standards. The Maratha Empire may have gone Eastwards & Northwards and looted but rarely settled (with the exception of Jhasi, Indore, and Gwalior, all of which, when considering the ‘borders’ then, were not as ‘North’ as it seems now), in the West (Gujarat) and South (Tanjavur), there were actual Maratha rulers who settled and were considered native. Also, there are many Marathi erstwhile ‘riyasats’ all the way deep into Karnataka and even in TN. So, to be honest (and geographically and historically accurate), Marathi-speakers are South Indians. That is why the names we have for the southern states and their languages are acceptable and cannot & should not be mocked.
