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TELUGU OF EAST OF ANDHRA #5
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Telugu Pandits in classes:
Telugu pandit has a great sense of humor and presence of mind. In
our 8th grade, we had a classmate called "Abdul Kalam". He was 5 feet 9
inches tall then. He studied the 8th grade only for 3 consecutive years.
Kalam used to sit in the last row (back bencher). Usually the Telugu
classes were held after the lunch break on alternate days. Abdul Kalam
never used to attend the class regularly and suddenly he used to appear on
special days. One day...............
Telugu Pandit: (2 min. after the class suddenly changed his accent)
orE gumTaloo! legamDira'! (everybody got up)
enakki tiragamDira'!
(Telugu pandit walked down to the last row and stood behind
Abdul Kalam.)
inaspekTaru ga'roccina'rra'. mokkamDi.
ETamDii? kala'maga'roo. ETila'ga dayasEsina'ru?
appuDappuDu ila'ga visit lu vEsi ma' class pavitram
seyyamDi. miiru vastE ma'kemtO a'namdam.
one student: kala'm ga'Dni inaspekTor amTa'rEmamDii ma'shTa'roo?
Telugu pandit: niiku teliidura'? viiDu inaspekTor ta'ta la'mTi va'Du.
inaspekTor ga'ru pratii rOju ra'ru kadara' school ki.
samvatsara'niki okasa'rE vasta'ru. ala'gE mana kala'm
ga'ru kooDa'.
ii pa'li numDii kala'mga'roo! miiru mumdu mii
kamba'riga'Di cEta ma'ku kaburu pampitE, mEmu ka'Pii,
tiPinii ready cEsi vumcuta'm. cakkaga' tamaru
dobbitinavaccu.
one student: ma'shTa'roo! va'Diki tiPinu amTE ella'mTi tiPinamDii?
Telugu pandit: ayyaru hoTElu numDi vullidOse, Utappam illa'mTivira'.
one student: lEdamDii. va'Diki Utappam, giitappam naccavamDii.
va'Diki kaima amTE ca'la' ishTamamDii.
Abdul Kalam: hEmTii bE! niikoo nOroo sarga' lEdEmTii Oy?
goobal guyy mangalav. kabaDda'r BOsiDiikE.
Telugu pandit: orE! a'pamDi! evaDra' ma'shTaru ikkaDa.
mumdE ceppa'nu inaspekTor ga'riki gouravam iyyamani.
The real class begins now.
Telugu pandit: orE gunTaloo! ii rOju sama'samulagurimci maLLa'
maTla'Duda'm. kala'm ga'roo! ikkaDunna jana'lamdarlO
tamariki vya'karaNamlO pravEsamekkuva. mii puna'di gata
mooDELLa numDii gaTTi paDutOmdi.
dvamdva sama'samamTE EmiTO ceppura'.
Abdul Kalam: (Stands up. Silent for a minute.)
dvamdya samOsa'mamDii?
Telugu pandit: sama'samamDii kala'm ga'roo. samOsa'la miida mii manassu
maLLina'di. dvamdva ra' na'yana'. dvamdya ka'du. imka'
nayam. imkEmii analEdu dvamdya baduluga'.
Abdul Kalam: O adamDii!
Telugu pandit: ETi soosina'vura'? ekkaDa? sa'yira'ju koTTulOna'?
soosimdi soosinaTTu seppura'.
Abdul Kalam: dvamdva sama'syamamTE.......(Scratches head)
okE debbhaki remDoo panul seyyaDamamDii.
Telugu pandit: abba'! Em seppina'ramDii cinnayya kala'm ga'ru.
a' abdul tiisEsi ii "cinnayya" birudu tagilimcukOra'.
vya'karaNam sarikottadi ra'sEsina'vura'.
ila'ga nuvvu Telugu sadivitE enimidO kaLa'sulO
enimidamtastula mEDa kaDta'vura' a'Kariki.
seyyi paTTu.
-------pAlana
PS: We had 4 Telugu pandits in the Maharajah's Boys' High School of
Parlakimedi during 1960-968. One was late Sri Maruvada Mukhalinga
Sastry, for shortcut "MM Sastry" or "MMM" (MM Mastergaru). He was
really funny and like all other Ubhayabhasha Telugu Pandits, this
MM Mastergaru had a dual meaning for each word. As his name implies,
he was from Sri Mukhalingam (the famous Siva Temple village on the banks
of Vamsadhara (the City of one less to Million Siva Lingas). Sri
Mukhalingam produced very famous pandits. There was another famous
Telugu pandit working in the Maharajah's Girls' High School and his
name was also Maruvada Mukhalinga Sastry. He was also from Sri
Mukhalingam. This pandit was a body builder and he was called Sandow
Mastergaru as he killed a Tiger - One day he was sleeping on a nulaka
mamcam outside and a Tiger walked in from the nearby hills in
Parlakimedi. He faught with the Tiger and killed him. This is true
folks! The board of secondary education sent Telugu exam papers to
this Sandow mastergaru addressed to Maruvada Mukhalinga Sastry (the right
person). The papers ended up in the hands of MMM. Finally the board
came to know and called both Sastrys. They both went. The Sandow
mastergaru knew English and MMM did not. They tried to communicate with
MMM in Oriya and English. The persons in the board office did not know
Telugu. Our MMM was shivering and started talking to them in Sanskrit.
Finally they left him. The Telugu pandit in this conversation was MMM.
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POSTED TO NURTURE TELUGU CULTURE AND LITERATURE IN THE NORTH AMERICA.
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PARANANDI LAKSHMI NARASIMHAM
CAS
COLUMBUS
OH 43202
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed above are not those of the CAS.
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