Pondatti- Just saw this so this might be a little late since Nivla didnt get picked. But no need to get worked up.. I was referring to the WSJ article where it said that the 10 finalists who people are virtually voting for were picked by a committee (of which Ms Mukherjee is a part) or some such at Doritos.

I agree with you completely. Nobody has issues when their friends call them “Eda” or “Edi”. I was talking about addressing complete strangers and perhaps wasn’t clear enough.

Peace

Pennu = Girl

Ingottu = Here

Vaa = come

Well, that’s the simple bit. Edi is similar to “thu” in Hindi, in the feminine form. Elders usually address little kids as Edi (female) and Eda (male). It was also common/normal to address your wife as Edi in certain parts of Kerala; wives calling their husbands Eda would be very rude. However, in this day and age, it’s usually the name/pet-name rather than Edi. Unless, both partners are real comfortable with calling each other Eda and Edi; then it’s all good. Having said all this, I must point out that there are many couples who are fine with the Husband calling the Wife Edi even now; also, for what it’s worth, the guys are usually older than the women in these cases. It’s a cultural thing; therefore, to each, his/her own, I guess.

The truth is, if our boy Nivla walked into the Mattancherry Bar, ordered a drink, turned around to spot a cute-mallu-thing, and said,”Edi penne, ingottu vaadi”, he’d probably get whacked on the head with a Kingfisher bottle, or something as hard.

For a Punjabi woman who hopes to learn Malayalum one day, can someone please translate?

But their VP of marketing is one Ms Ann Mukerjee. Im wondering if this had anything to do with their being selected as finalists and also being prominently displayed in this WSJ article.

Right. Mukherjee stuffed the virtual ballot box. I thought finalists were determined by voting on My Space. Maybe she had something to do with WSJ, but do we always have to come up with an alternate explanation for how someone desi achieved something?

Interesting how wives sometimes address their husbands as “chetta.” Granted, it’s a sign of respect, but wow.

speaking of ‘edi penne ingottu vadi’, just remembered the other quintessential line from the often fleeting sex scene in mallu movies ..

Husband (in an effort to get some): “edi penne ingottu vadi” Wife (feigning shyness, trying to break away from his grasps but eyes glinting coquettishly): “venda chetta, arengilum kaanum”

A couple of seconds of coercion and they both lie backwards on to the bed smiling Camera pans away to the whirring white godrej ceiling fan. Pleasing music cued as the next scene brings daybreak. (no midnight snack?? hmmm…?)

sorry for the derailment, but couldnt resist

isn’t one girl wearing a sari coorgi style?

I’m pretty sure she isn’t wearing the sari “Coorgi-style”….I doubt that would be fashion-appropriate for the house party scene. If you watch the rest of the video, she’s wearing leggings, a spaghetti-top, and a typical sari wrapped tube-top style around her body and fashionably knotted on the side. Pretty original, if you ask me. You should find out her name and call it a (Insert name here)-style sari. And then invest in her clothing line…Those are the kind of stylishly-Indian threads I would like to see on the racks at my local mall.