It was good to see people from all walks of life coming under one roof for the NDTV and CNN IBN
awards, respectively. The awards were given to those people who have
made significant contributions in their respective fields. Credits must
be given to these news organizations which put its objectivity at stake
to award the personalities, as they may be accused for favouritism in
the future. But it is the duty of the press to appreciate ‘good work’
that is being done in the society. Good job, guys.
However, I felt that was not enough. Since our population increases faster than our fuel prices, there is a large section of the society that gets neglected. Only those who feature in the news all along the year, gets these awards in the year end. What about aam aadmi and all? We just vote and watch who gets the award? The mainstream media does not take this into account.
So, being a practicing journalist in my own right, I have decided to appreciate all the people who had an impact during the past year. But because of my limited resources and the fact that my parents won’t let me stay out after 11:00 PM (yeah, it’s worse than Bangalore), I have only taken my hometown folks into consideration and the awards shall be exclusive to them. So here we go:
SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR: GAUDHAM
In his Khaki half-trousers (often held tight by his red thread-arnakairu), nine-year old Gaudham is a delight to watch when he flings the Pambaram. There’s virtually no one from my street or the neighbourhood street who could beat Gaudham in Pambaram. Challengers with great hopes and ambitions of defeating him and become the Pambaram Champ have often retreated with their broken hearts and tops. Sometimes they even get their legs drilled by Gaudham’s killer top.
A key to excel in a sport is Dedication, Practice and Passion. And Gaudham has all the three in him to make him a prospect of India’s Olympic dreams. And that previous statement was no exaggeration as he bunks the noon-session of his school seven days a week to practice the sport.
Apart from earning his opponents’ tops as his prize, he has also reaped greater rewards like Thaen mittai, Kuchi mittai, Kadala mittai from his fellow interstreet players. I’m no Pambaram historian but I’d bet my Pambaram to say that he has the highest number of Kadala Mittais won as the Man of the Match award.
But
roses don’t come without thorns (just like how pambaram doesn’t come
without nails). Gaudham has endured name-calls from several
serial-watching aunties who are typically non-sports enthusiasts and
hate it when the outside noise interrupts the serial actress’ eyes-u
fulla tear-u dialogues. “Un veetu kitta edam illa? (Don’t you have space
next to your home?)” they ask young Gaudham. And sadly, the match has
to be relocated to another venue which is also has a proximity to
another serial-watching aunty. But these guys, along with their Champion
never give up as they keep changing venues until there is no
serial-watching aunty to yell at them. But that happens once in an aadi
ammavaasai.
Yet, Gaudham braves all these obstacles in his destination towards becoming the greatest Pambaram-spinner of all time. I would’ve said he’s already the greatest if Captain hadn’t spun the top on Sukanya’s ahem, belly in Chinna Kounder. Nevertheless, since Captain has now become a full-time politician, Gaudham now has the best chance to overtake the Gaptun.
He’s our Sportsperson of the Year 2011.
SOCIAL ACTIVIST OF THE YEAR: THE TJ
TJ or Town bus Jockeys are the ones who sacrifice their phone’s (read: insanely loud China mobiles) battery to provide free music for his fellow passengers in the town bus. He usually retreats to the last row of the bus and switches on his speaker-phone that would put any loudspeaker to shame.
Of course, you might question the significance of this person, as he’s only trying to listen to his favourite songs. No. There are people in the bus who cannot afford to sit because somebody else had put their kerchief or towel or plastic cover or their kid to reserve their seats. And our guy’s the one who provides that much needed de-stressing (very rarely distressing) music to those unfortunate people.
Also, this guy is also the symbol of our cultural diversity. The music he plays doesn’t pertain to a particular language. Sometimes it is the radio-station; sometimes, retro-Rafi; sometimes Rajinikanth songs (the local TJ). Even the occasional Malayalam, Bhojpuri, Kannada and god-knows-what language songs are played. Yet no one has any dissent towards our guy (or at least they don’t show it).
You
might ask: “Where’s the social activity in this? The dude’s just
blaring loud music from his phone” But I beg to differ. He does seem to
have a social awareness for why else would he not buy an earphone when
he could buy China phone.
And this very thought of him makes him our Social Activist of the Year 2011.
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR: KOVAI’S ‘KUDI’MAGAN
This guy is genuinely hilarious. No kidding. Sample this: He gets into a town bus in Gandhipuram. Two stops later, when the conductor asks him “Enga ponum? (Where do you want to go?)”, comes his epic reply “Dubai”.
Be it wobbling in the middle of the road; taking a nap right in front of your legs when you try to walk on the footpath; swearing someone aloud, he gives scant respect for what others might think about him. Genuine entertainers are people who express their natural self and don’t bother about the morality and ethics that bounds one’s absolute freedom. And our guy is a prototype for that.
It’s not just with the reeling-around antics. Start a conversation with him and he makes you ponder over with philosophies of higher level (er, unless he get too high that you must understand gibberish to comprehend him). He quotes Socrates, Rosseau, Shakespeare, Thiruvalluvar, and Gandhi precisely that would make one wonder if TASMAC sarakku is the source of world-wisdom.
More
often than not, his entertainment is mistaken for public-nuisance by
many and he often lands himself in trouble (read: Police station).
Despite all that, he is a fascinating experience as he expresses himself from the heart. And that makes him our *hic* Entertainer of the Year.
TRENDSETTER OF THE YEAR: ‘SOUP’ BOYS
I don’t think you need an explanation for the term ‘soup boys’. Just in case, for those fortunate/unfortunate souls who missed out ‘Kolaveri Di’, ‘soup boys’ are those guys who’s having a love failure.
And it doesn’t matter if they had a lover in the first place.
To become a soup boy is ridiculously easy. All you need to do is find a cute girl. Be friends with her for at least a month (with having no intention of being friends). And when you can’t hold those feelings for her (which is why you became friends with her in the first place), propose her. Of course, she will reject. Or will give you a try until she finds your corny forwards reach intolerable levels. OR, like in most cases, you needn’t do that proposing act at all. Just take a cue from her that she doesn’t fancy you.
Tada! You are a ‘Soup Boy’.
Now what? Regret. Grieve. Feel the pain. Let others know about it too. But how? FACEBOOK. Put up an update that would show how miserable your life had become these days. Wait. Er, with all that yummy lunch that mummy prepares for you; touch-screen phone; unlimited internet, life isn’t that miserable after all, no? No. It is. So go ahead and express that grief from your heart.
No grief? Don’t worry. Google for love-failure quotes. Pick the best one that will suit your intended misery (almost everything will) and share it on your wall. You shall get a decent number of ‘likes’ and comments that consoles you. Ah! That is just enough to make up your day. Revel in the momentary fame of the ‘likes’ you got for your status update from thinkexist.com or quotegarden.com or some random dude’s T-shirt.
This
idea of yours shall inspire your like-minded friends on Facebook and
subsequently create a Trend of sorts like it did in the past year.
“Bitch the girl. Take self-pity. Get more likes.” Truly, what an idea soup boys! You guys are our Trendsetters for this Year.
And, finally, the biggest award for this year…
COIMBATOREAN OF THE YEAR:
If you had made a New Year resolution last year and couldn’t stick to it all along…
If you got the money THAT party gave you and voted against them in the recent elections…
If you traversed along Mettupalayam road (at least once) braving all that life-threatening phobias…
If you talked about 'Kolaveri di' atleast once...
If you switched over from Aavin paal-packet to moped-milkman…
If you discussed and cussed about the insane raise in bus-fares, sitting inside the same bus…
If you went mad after that glorious day-night cricket match on April 2…
If you went mad once again after that 4-0 loss to England later this year…
If you waited for that hunderdth hundred and still waiting for it...
If you turned out in large numbers for the candle-light march against corruption and spiritedly voiced your protest against corruption… (Doesn’t matter you bribed 20 bucks to the traffic-cop on your way back home for not carrying your license)
If you experienced annus horribilis and rightly blamed it on fate, Manmohan Singh and all others, excluding you…
And, most importantly, if you had read this article (or whatever you may like to call it) without yawning/swearing/dissing and with atmost patience…
The Coimbatorean of the Year award goes to YOU.
However, I felt that was not enough. Since our population increases faster than our fuel prices, there is a large section of the society that gets neglected. Only those who feature in the news all along the year, gets these awards in the year end. What about aam aadmi and all? We just vote and watch who gets the award? The mainstream media does not take this into account.
So, being a practicing journalist in my own right, I have decided to appreciate all the people who had an impact during the past year. But because of my limited resources and the fact that my parents won’t let me stay out after 11:00 PM (yeah, it’s worse than Bangalore), I have only taken my hometown folks into consideration and the awards shall be exclusive to them. So here we go:
SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR: GAUDHAM
In his Khaki half-trousers (often held tight by his red thread-arnakairu), nine-year old Gaudham is a delight to watch when he flings the Pambaram. There’s virtually no one from my street or the neighbourhood street who could beat Gaudham in Pambaram. Challengers with great hopes and ambitions of defeating him and become the Pambaram Champ have often retreated with their broken hearts and tops. Sometimes they even get their legs drilled by Gaudham’s killer top.
A key to excel in a sport is Dedication, Practice and Passion. And Gaudham has all the three in him to make him a prospect of India’s Olympic dreams. And that previous statement was no exaggeration as he bunks the noon-session of his school seven days a week to practice the sport.
Apart from earning his opponents’ tops as his prize, he has also reaped greater rewards like Thaen mittai, Kuchi mittai, Kadala mittai from his fellow interstreet players. I’m no Pambaram historian but I’d bet my Pambaram to say that he has the highest number of Kadala Mittais won as the Man of the Match award.
 |
| The secret of Gaudham's energy |
Yet, Gaudham braves all these obstacles in his destination towards becoming the greatest Pambaram-spinner of all time. I would’ve said he’s already the greatest if Captain hadn’t spun the top on Sukanya’s ahem, belly in Chinna Kounder. Nevertheless, since Captain has now become a full-time politician, Gaudham now has the best chance to overtake the Gaptun.
He’s our Sportsperson of the Year 2011.
SOCIAL ACTIVIST OF THE YEAR: THE TJ
TJ or Town bus Jockeys are the ones who sacrifice their phone’s (read: insanely loud China mobiles) battery to provide free music for his fellow passengers in the town bus. He usually retreats to the last row of the bus and switches on his speaker-phone that would put any loudspeaker to shame.
Of course, you might question the significance of this person, as he’s only trying to listen to his favourite songs. No. There are people in the bus who cannot afford to sit because somebody else had put their kerchief or towel or plastic cover or their kid to reserve their seats. And our guy’s the one who provides that much needed de-stressing (very rarely distressing) music to those unfortunate people.
Also, this guy is also the symbol of our cultural diversity. The music he plays doesn’t pertain to a particular language. Sometimes it is the radio-station; sometimes, retro-Rafi; sometimes Rajinikanth songs (the local TJ). Even the occasional Malayalam, Bhojpuri, Kannada and god-knows-what language songs are played. Yet no one has any dissent towards our guy (or at least they don’t show it).
 |
| Nothing irritates more than a vuvuzela though |
And this very thought of him makes him our Social Activist of the Year 2011.
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR: KOVAI’S ‘KUDI’MAGAN
This guy is genuinely hilarious. No kidding. Sample this: He gets into a town bus in Gandhipuram. Two stops later, when the conductor asks him “Enga ponum? (Where do you want to go?)”, comes his epic reply “Dubai”.
Be it wobbling in the middle of the road; taking a nap right in front of your legs when you try to walk on the footpath; swearing someone aloud, he gives scant respect for what others might think about him. Genuine entertainers are people who express their natural self and don’t bother about the morality and ethics that bounds one’s absolute freedom. And our guy is a prototype for that.
It’s not just with the reeling-around antics. Start a conversation with him and he makes you ponder over with philosophies of higher level (er, unless he get too high that you must understand gibberish to comprehend him). He quotes Socrates, Rosseau, Shakespeare, Thiruvalluvar, and Gandhi precisely that would make one wonder if TASMAC sarakku is the source of world-wisdom.
 |
| Seeking Wisdom |
Despite all that, he is a fascinating experience as he expresses himself from the heart. And that makes him our *hic* Entertainer of the Year.
TRENDSETTER OF THE YEAR: ‘SOUP’ BOYS
I don’t think you need an explanation for the term ‘soup boys’. Just in case, for those fortunate/unfortunate souls who missed out ‘Kolaveri Di’, ‘soup boys’ are those guys who’s having a love failure.
And it doesn’t matter if they had a lover in the first place.
To become a soup boy is ridiculously easy. All you need to do is find a cute girl. Be friends with her for at least a month (with having no intention of being friends). And when you can’t hold those feelings for her (which is why you became friends with her in the first place), propose her. Of course, she will reject. Or will give you a try until she finds your corny forwards reach intolerable levels. OR, like in most cases, you needn’t do that proposing act at all. Just take a cue from her that she doesn’t fancy you.
Tada! You are a ‘Soup Boy’.
Now what? Regret. Grieve. Feel the pain. Let others know about it too. But how? FACEBOOK. Put up an update that would show how miserable your life had become these days. Wait. Er, with all that yummy lunch that mummy prepares for you; touch-screen phone; unlimited internet, life isn’t that miserable after all, no? No. It is. So go ahead and express that grief from your heart.
No grief? Don’t worry. Google for love-failure quotes. Pick the best one that will suit your intended misery (almost everything will) and share it on your wall. You shall get a decent number of ‘likes’ and comments that consoles you. Ah! That is just enough to make up your day. Revel in the momentary fame of the ‘likes’ you got for your status update from thinkexist.com or quotegarden.com or some random dude’s T-shirt.
 |
| Exactly! |
“Bitch the girl. Take self-pity. Get more likes.” Truly, what an idea soup boys! You guys are our Trendsetters for this Year.
And, finally, the biggest award for this year…
COIMBATOREAN OF THE YEAR:
If you had made a New Year resolution last year and couldn’t stick to it all along…
If you got the money THAT party gave you and voted against them in the recent elections…
If you traversed along Mettupalayam road (at least once) braving all that life-threatening phobias…
If you talked about 'Kolaveri di' atleast once...
If you switched over from Aavin paal-packet to moped-milkman…
If you discussed and cussed about the insane raise in bus-fares, sitting inside the same bus…
If you went mad after that glorious day-night cricket match on April 2…
If you went mad once again after that 4-0 loss to England later this year…
If you waited for that hunderdth hundred and still waiting for it...
If you turned out in large numbers for the candle-light march against corruption and spiritedly voiced your protest against corruption… (Doesn’t matter you bribed 20 bucks to the traffic-cop on your way back home for not carrying your license)
If you experienced annus horribilis and rightly blamed it on fate, Manmohan Singh and all others, excluding you…
And, most importantly, if you had read this article (or whatever you may like to call it) without yawning/swearing/dissing and with atmost patience…
The Coimbatorean of the Year award goes to YOU.
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