MANDAYAM IYENGAR LINGO
VENGRAI PARTHASARATHY
I can claim to know a little about Mandyams having chosen a Mandayam as Sahadharmini.
Is it Mandyam or Mandayam?.For a moment I shall leave it for them to call themselves to be this or that.
I thank Mr.M.C.Venkatesh, a Mandayam stalwart, who has offered the following amendmentsto my understanding
1) The Mandayam Iyengars protest against being noted as Bengaluru “Iyengar and not as Mandayams especially when referring to cookery term
In Mandayams the word is actually spelt ThaLigai as “ Thaliye (There is no “g”as Thaligai in Mandayam Tamil!)
1) The Mandayam Iyengar are not Bengaluru Iyengars—-but correctly as Mandya-Iyengars)
2) To tell some one to “Breathe hard” some Mandayam men say: “Usira vidu, usira vidu”Actually they do not say (Usiru ‘oodu’ not ‘vidu’ which is a Tamilian word)– It does sound a bit morbid because in Tamil it means “giving up one’s life:
3) We say Madapalli and Kannambhde for payasam
4) malag chathumbhdu for milagu sathamudhu as Tamilians of Chennai say)
5) We say Thaliye for thaligai (No g in Mandayam Tamil)
6) Chathambhdu for Rasam
7) Puliyore for Puliyodharai
8) Karimbhdhae for Karamadhu
9) Thoyal, for thogayal In Mandayams the word is actually spelt as “ Thaliye (There is no “g”as Thaligai in our Mandayam Tamil0
10) Akkaraadisil for Akkaravadisal
11) Habbam for Pandigai
12) Mandayams speak Karnataka language all the time but when you ask themfor the mother tongue, they will say ‘Tamil’ sleepishly.!
TheMandayam diet is also well balanced. On Ekadasi, ‘fasting’ is followed and on Dwadasi day, the menu will be medicated without triggering the acidity. Tamarind is not used on Dwadashi and the “paaranai thaligai” is Mor Kozhambu (mor kolumbu), Poricha sathumudhu, Aathikeerai karamudhu, nellikkai thayir pachadi and soon. Generally, the diet is complete only with thayir saadham, which has a cooling effect on stomach.(After a heavy meal – Vethle Pakku)
You can depend on the mandayams to butcher and mangle any language–Tamil in particular
Here is something to tickle your funny bone:) The Mandayam Iyengars (Origin: Mandya) have a lingo which is a sort of hybrid.One instance:
For “Breathe hard” I have heard a Mandayam man say: “Usira vidu, usira vidu”– something which has a morbid connotation for a Madrasi Iyengar!
But the best slant is that M.C.Venky does not
mind owning the expression but only protest against vidu instead of oodu