As you all know, WIMWI is the toughest B-school to get into, in Asia-Pacific (and as some might argue, even all over the world). Such a brand image attracts participants from every corner of India and Tamil Nadu is no exception. With a lot of coaching centres setting up shop in every nook and corner of Chennai, and the other Tier-II cities, the average CAT aspirant has an increased chance of making it to the hallowed portals of IIM-A (though the contribution from the coaching centre's part is absolutely negligible, in my opinion).
Students slog it out, day and night and clear CAT. And those who manage to keep their heads up, make it thru the GD & PI. And when the "Tam" (Tam - Tamil or Tamilian, depending on the context) guy does make it to IIM-Acads, he is not alone. Last year, about 40 ppl made it here. This time the figure is around 35. So, with about 15% of the total population, Tams are the largest ethnic community in WIMWI. And there is a separate informal 'association' (if I may call it that), named "WTF". No. Its not "What the f**k?". It stands for "WIMWI Tamil Fraternity". :)
Basically, there are two kinds of Tams. True Tams and Fraud Tams. Fraud Tams are the ones, who have never lived in TN, but speak Tam and are Tams by birth. And there is one more classification of Tams, based on their fluency in Hindi. Many of them have no clue (except the famous Hindi movie names), while the others are quite proficient in conversing in Hindi. But nothing to worry. The former group would not have too much of a trouble communicating with people, since everyone speaks English, and that you are not required to know much of Hindi, to survive outside the campus, since you rarely go out alone (if at all, you get the time!!).
Almost all the Gults (i.e, the Gultis) are quite fluent in Hindi. So when people converse within the campus, they almost always speak only in Hindi (except of course, when you need to put a CP in the class!!). So the Tam guy, with no clue about Hindi, would be reduced to a silent listener, gaping open-mouthed, trying to comprehend what is being communicated. And most of the Mallus also go through the same ordeal as these Tams. Only a handful of Mallus know Hindi here. Believe me, I have seen some people, who just act as if they understand whats going on, only to be humiliated by me, when I ask them to repeat what was just said!!! ;)
I was saved from all this, since I can understand Hindi quite well and somehow I can put forward my point to the other party. People say I have become quite proficient in Hindi now, though I still prefer to converse in English. I have started experimenting with Hindi lately, and hope to get better and better!!! Agar tujko ye samajh mein nahin aa raha hai, tho, tu zaroor Tam hi hai!!
And yeah, I have updated my Hindi vocabulary with all the expletives!!! ;)
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6 comments:
congratulations on your new-found hindi skills!
i believe knowledge of a language is always an asset. one may choose to never use it in day-to-day conversations, but the sheer joy of knowing the language, being able to speak it and understand it is immeasurable.
Hey Aks,
Thanks for ur comment!! It really is a grt feeling when u can communicate the same way as others around you do!!
It helps when a person is plotting behind your back he, not knowing you actually know the language and are able to avoid his now futile plans!
And you can always swear in the language not known to other people. it helps reduce your frustration and stress...
But no other language has sweet sounding curse words, which come up very easily to the mind and mouth, like Tamil does :D
Hey Bala,
Then I think you need to revisit Hindi curse words.
It all depends wat you spoke in ur college life(I believe that's where all this is important).
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