Jai Ho - The ‘ 1 Million’ Dollar Word


John: These days I find Mabeline a little mobama-ish!!

Philip: True; may be ‘cos she managed to stroll out of her Zombie Bank.
John: Oh..!
Jai Ho; Jai Ho!!! So, what is she up to now? But I heard she was fired for sexting?!

Philip: She has started her own Cuddies company with the help of her Phelpsian boy friend!


“Huh... What has happened to Mabeline?”


If you were not able to make sense out of John’s and Philip’s conversation, I say – you are not updated. It’s hi time you bring in changes to your dialogues by welcoming the newest words added to the dictionary recently.

Interestingly, last month, there was a race between words to be the one millionth word to be added to the English dictionary. Amongst 73 participants, the most popular contenders for the competition were Jai Ho, Mobama, Web 2.0, Slumdog, Phelpsian, Cuddies, Sexting and Zombie-Bank.

Wanna know what each of them means?

Jai Ho! - Victory to You / Accomplishment

Mobama - Relates to the fashion sense of the US First Lady
Web 2.0 - Next generation of World Wide Web products and services
Phelpsian - Triumph of Michael Phelps at the Beijing Olympics
Zombie Banks - Banks that would be dead if not for government intervention
Cuddies - Ladies' underwear
Slum dog - Comment upon those residing in the slums of India
Sexting Sending email or text messages with sexual content

…and if you think somebody is being partial in ranking the words, you are mistaken. The words are chosen based on a variety of statistics including the number of occurrences on the internet, in global print and range of other places it is used throughout the world.

However, the word that found its place at the one millionth place is Web 2.0 by winning the highest score in all the specified categories. But, we Indians who believe ‘1’ is the sacred number, can proudly say Jai Ho is the one millionth first word in dictionary.

Me – The Passenger


College days are not only about attending and bunking classes, writing and skipping exams, learning and not learning, spending and sharing …and finally passing out! The journey starts from when you bid good bye to your old friends and bump into new friends in a newer place.

I was lucky enough to spend five years after school in two totally different places. The course I opted for was different, the climate was different, the food was different, friends were different …and I was deeply in love with all the differences! Coimbatore was then a brand new chapter in my life! I was in a class where I had just ten classmates. There was no last bench; hence in the middle of boring lectures, I had no option to sleep or hide myself behind the tallest boy and play cross-knots. In two years I was taught varied subjects. For the first time I realized, if forcefully it’s a pain even to watch movies. I even attended classes in canteen. I met film stars and celebrities every other month. Sometimes, juniors became our teachers. I never skipped to answer even a single question in any of the semester exams; I could write pages even on things I never ever heard of! I had fun, loads of fun!


Memories of my Coimbatore days are also linked to train journeys. Long journeys in passenger trains used to be a blissful experience. Air-conditioned coach was never even an alternative. The screaming porters in baggy trousers, the sweaty chaiwallahs, the countless vendors and rushing fellow travelers were all part of the pleasant journey back home. Like a child I used to stick my face against the open window to see the rest of the train winding its way through tunnels and paddy fields. When it rains, I let myself get wet, until the irritated person sitting next to me asks to put the shutter down!

Every time I reach home, I had diverse kinds of stories to share with my mom and friends. My decisions to travel were usually taken in just few seconds. Likewise, one Saturday morning, while I was brushing my teeth, I decided to take the next train and go home. Quickly I got inside a pair of unwashed jeans and a crumbled T-shirt, left a note for my roommate who was fast asleep and bribed another friend (promising a sumptuous breakfast from Aryas) for a drop till the railway station.

When I reached there, I jumped off the bike, waved good bye to my friend, rushed to the ticket counter, grabbed a 40-rupees ticket to Kannur and rushed to the platform. I appreciated myself for reaching the station 15 minutes in advance. Stanchly I got inside the train, listening to the railway “akka” who was repeatedly announcing that ‘my’ train was waiting on Platform no 2. While I was eagerly waiting for a cup of coffee
, I met one of my college mates also in the same coach. While exchanging hi-hello notes, he said he was going to Thirunnelveli. Mouth wide open, I said, “Oh My God… Get off the train quickly!! This doesn’t go to Thirunnelveli, this goes to Kannur”. He slapped back, “Oh My God... Get off the train quickly!! This doesn’t go to Kannur, this goes to Thirunnelveli”. It took few minutes for me to realize that I was on ‘Coimbatore-Nagarcoil’ train! With the help of the same sweet guy, I boarded the right train, which had almost started moving by then!

After that, during every train journey I remind myself how I missed an exciting trip to Nagarcoil!



4

You are being watched – 24X7!!


Since last two days, I am moving around with my head slightly tilted to the left!!! Ask me why?! ….cos apparently, the imagination sector on my (and your!!!) brain is to the right side. So reducing blood on the right (of my million dollar brain) will help me slow down the imagination gush!!!

Hold on; …before you think I have gone totally crazy!

After watching bits and pieces of a movie last week end, I got paranoid – Really paranoid about my privacy; …about my anonymity! It was a very creepy movie, where everyone was being traced on cameras - everywhere!! They were caught while they were in their bedrooms at home, while they were having confidential meetings in their office, while picking drinks for the evening from a super market, even while secretly romancing with their girl friends on the farthest beach - none of them were spared anywhere!! From then, I have been weaving my notions into an uncanny blanket of illusions.


Now, how do I explain my thought process?

I realize; it is in fact very difficult to express what it's like to have paranoid thoughts. They are absolutely bizarre. As absurd as they are, they have a tenacious hold which defies argument. They are thoughts which seem wedded to feelings of fanatical intensity, rather than to explanations.

Even now, when I type out this blog, I feel there is somebody watching my monitor! At home, I check behind the doors and under the cot; in office I check for hidden cameras in the walk ways and above my cube; in a shop, I am scared to use their trial rooms! In spite of knowing that somebody whom I even don’t know can read my email, index my blogs, track what I'm searching for and the sites I visit, I have no choice but to continue using gmail, yahoo or hotmail! Sadly I comprehend - nothing in life is private anymore!

Aren’t these genuine concerns? Whatever the moral rules are to justify these, everybody has a right to his/her privacy. At any given time we are taped by umpteen number of surveillance cameras. So, is the underlining fact that we are getting too paranoid that the world is following us everywhere?

Like somebody said, “Only the Paranoid Survive!” Hence I am glad - there is no reason for me to worry at all!


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