Chirikkatha Malayalee

Watching the in-house audience of Malayalam reality shows I sometimes wonder, why are they there? Majority of them are motionless and still with a blank look, as if they are attending a holy mass in some alien language. I sincerely feel the TV men should outsource viewers from Chennai OR Mumbai, but no Malayalees, please!
You know, we Malayalees seriously think there is a tax if we are loud. You can watch a Malayalam TV program where audience sitting numb over the VJ or a celebrity on stage deliver a word or two in a lighter tone. You know we Malayalees find something wrong in every thing. That is why we blog, tweet and hate Ranjitha Haridas’ Manglish. We Malayalees can not stand another Malayalee speaking Queens toungue, OR atleast we think, can’t Ranjitha pronounce the way we Malayalees speak, why imitate the Queen. Rubbish. You know, Deedi, I mean usha Uthup, literally inflame the audience of Kolkotta and \
umbai, but you know her efforts to induce the Malayalee audience miserably failed her.
A few decade back Comedian Mehmood depicted the face of an average malayalee. His mimic of a Malayalee resembled someone after biting ‘khatta imli” Nammude Valan puliye… That was not the television era, so it was a clip in the “Illustrated Weekly of India”. A hurt Malayalee, I could not control my anger on Mehmood on that. I do not know when and what incident provoked Mehmood to create such a mime. But I knew in my heart of heart, and have personal experience too that Malayalees at random see it as a risk to smile at an acquaintance for some fear.
On a recent visit to Kerala, I happened to pass through a house of one of my childhood friend, a classmate for decade. He (not smiling) stayed put in his Muttam and chatted,— Enna Undu Vishesham, Enna Vanne, Enna Pokunne, blah! blah! over ! — with me from his court yard, but there was no gesture to invite me home. On the other hand, whenever, even an acquaintance visit Delhi, I have not hesitated to receive them and be a reasonable host.
An old friend of mine carry Mehmood’s mime face, that of a imli eating Malayalee. He is a miser at home, not only for money but for smile too. He strongly believed, his friendly deal with his only son would spoil the child. It was so! The boy longed for love, care and understating from his father, but it was not so. He lost his only child. How? What happened? It’s OK, it’s a tragedy.