Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Aargh-apella!

Friday, the 20th could well have been the 13th.

"Hey, let's go listen to Stanford University's acapella group perform today", said a friend. "Aye thu come ya, It will be fun, and besides how bad can it be? They're only performing for 45 minutes." "Oh them?", I said, googling furiously. They were called Raagapella, I discovered. Stanford university's South Asian focussed all-male acapella group. Oho. They'd been selected as part of Stanford's eight acapella groups through a gruellingly intense audition process. Achacha. They only got 3 hours of sleep a night, because of all the practices, the article said. Mchxl mchxl. "Uyyo cammaaan I say" I hollered back into the phone at the friend, and off we went.

We reached the Alliance Française half an hour early, hoping to catch seats in what we thought would be a packed house. The group was performing as part of the Fête de la Musique, a free music evening showcasing musical talent from all over the country and beyond.

The show was running about an hour late as usual. Which was cool because it gave us time to check out the group that was playing before them: a talented but fairly pedestrian jazz-fusion group, with a cherubic dude on the western drums, a slightly apologetic looking Indian percussionist and a lost bass-guitarist. My brain switched off the moment the apologetic percussionist switched on his laptop and played an ersatz background score for them to drum over. A couple of well executed, intricate konnukol interludes and bland guitar riffs (all at an earsplittingly high decibel level) later, they left. Hopefully straight to the shower that they'd forgotten to take before coming on stage.

A hush fell over the audience. About ten men, identically clad in red zari-kurtas walked in and took their positions on stage. "Ah, there they are", sighed the friend and settled into her seat, looking forward to a fabulous hour ahead. The lead kurta fluttered down from on stage. "Hi how are you guys doin'?" (Oooerr. Ah well they've been in the US for a while, I suppose the NRI twang is forgiveable.) "We're Raaegapeylla", he said, launching into a long winded explanation of the type of music they were into. A few "raaeguhs" and "taaeluhs" into his speech, and I had zoned out. I even missed the part where he explained why girls in particular were supposed to like their music. I was taking bites out of the seat in front of me by then.

Finally, they began. Lead kurta blew into a pitch pipe, pumped his arm up and down with the skill of a Saidapet housewife at 4am, and the group began to hum a low 3-note chord. The pitch pipe hadn't helped. They were flat. Kurta after kurta fluttered down to the mike and sang a line each (flat), before taking their places back with the red mass of gyrating hips on stage, still on the same chord (flat). We looked at each other. "Probably not warmed up", we reassured each other, and waited for the next song.

A scientist type slithered down to the mike next, his longish hair in straggly wisps around a standard issue wide-eyed NRI leer. "Hope you guys are doin' just fab tonight. We're now gonna do a modal (dai!) piece for you guys in a Raega and its based on a shlogum." (Ah. Tamil-ABCD. Hmm.) "We've also tried to mix in a John Denver number" (Aiyo! Poor fellow what he did to you I say?). "But first, Im gonna do you an aalaa-banai" (Uh huh, definitely Tamil).

The visions in red went "Pum-pum-pum-PUMMM" for about 40 seconds, which I later figured was supposed to have been the sound of a tanpura (left out in the rain for 40 days and 40 nights presumably). A billy goat bleated out from somewhere. The Alliance caretaker jumped up with his stick to chase it away, but sat down suspiciously when he realized that the sound was coming from on stage. It was long haired scientist type. He had closed his eyes and was doing his aalaa-banai. It was - ooh, you guessed? Flat. He'd suddenly shudder from head to toe and go a-a-a-a-a-a-a, presumably to placate the djinn that had jumped into his pajamas before the concert. Finally, he left. The Chinese (north-east-indian?) member of the group came down to sing his line: A deep bass growl emerged from his dimunitive figure. Not half bad! Pretty darned good even. Unfortunately his elaborate churidar had slid down over his feet and made him look like a handsomish Yoda. "Song sung, I nicely have", I thought I heard him murmur before he flapped back upstage.

Long-haired scientist type came back down and went "tae kit ta tah, ta laengu takka tah." for 2 minutes, accompanied by a voice-percussionist member of the group. I had finished chewing the chair in front of me, and was gnawing pensively on my friend's obligingly offered shoulder by then. My cell phone buzzed. It was a distress message from Missy M, whom I had also invited to watch the spectacle: "Headache. Pain. Must go. Will talk. Later. Water. Room service."

I couldn't take any more either. I left quietly after the song was over, and cried into my pillow all night.

Stanford Raagapella. I have two words to say to you: "What the...?!!"
OK three: "Fbbbthhhbbpp".

Acknowledgements: Mem (for offering gnawable shoulder), Subz (for scarring us for life), Apps (for being long suffering and stoic)

Placatory disclaimer: Don't get all hot under the collar boys, you weren't so bad. Just tune up a bit and you'll be fine.

78 comments:

Mathangi said...

Hayoo hayyooo..... romba thamaashaa ezhudirukkeL!

In these December seasons katcheris, there are a clan of maamis who make requests for "Mani Iyer Notes" forgetting that there are a million other beautiful Carnatic compositions that are yet to be explored enough. Why? Simply because it is Western-sounding music.

Rama rama! Acapella kukka pilla idellam cheriyillai!

Anonymous said...

Zimbly ve Indian peoples sit through awwwll theeese rubbish phoreign mooosicals I say,

I zimbly walk out if I think the show/speaker is not worth my time/presence. I vish more Indian peoples would do le meme!

Anonymous said...

LOL LOL LOL (Folks in the office - yes you may assume that I am having a nervous breakdown from approaching deadlines)!

Loved the bit about the caretaker chasing away the goat.

Keep them coming:-)))

mem said...

muwahahahaha
i am loving it...and im the grouchy one is it?

Nandini Vishwanath said...

LMAO!

mem said...

stanford boys da...siging in tamizh.... yooo ess poi kuda nama kalacharon marakale paar.. so what if lil twaang and flatness is there...yuu ess boys...singing in tam...aiyooo my mother would have loved

Pettai Maami said...

aDaana va? ille aaBheri ya??

Perakath said...

Hehe I saw these guys at Opus a couple of days later... their annoying enthusiasm wasn't helped by the incredibly uncomfortable ground-level seating!

Winners of the US Collegiate *South Asian* Acapella Championships or something, they were. They gave us the lines about women, too.

At least I had alcohol to tide me through, though...

maxdavinci said...

I heard them on yootoob, feels mixing gulabjamun in oorgay/avakay

Anonymous said...

Raagabella?
Laughabella?

Anonymous said...

ouch. Did you miss the front seat in your credits? Also I think me a tube-light, but what's the funda behind Saidapet maami at naalu mani?

Prats said...

Pete rap?? not happened aa???


Aiyyoo....paavam seat...and what a name raagapella..fusion ...

I'm sure the video clips would have been very super for us I say...
Sumne one tv show you could have watched no...Saas bhi kabhi bahu thiiiiiiiiii????

playbyrules said...

LOL.Alliance Francaise fancy event?

Pri said...

bwahahahahahaha. ayyo paapa. im glad i wasnt there. im an uncontrollable giggler. also why u go watch shows at the alliance gonecase i say? they're always faltu no? [this is assuming u havent performed there] also leddis were also wearing same to same uniform aa? matching maroon colour ksic silk seeres with zari border they could have put off no?

p.s. that bakery is still there aa? they always had yummy overpriced thindis.

Karan said...

Tell the above woman that I think the bakery is super reasonable. Don't you? Unless she thought all prices were in dollars.

Ask her to go try Mocha, she'll know what overpriced is.

Did you have a quiche there at least? And coffee is also nice. And brownie if they ever have left.

Next time go for Bangalore Habba, nice performances. Except the fashion shows. Reached there for Strings once and fashion sow was going on still. The chicks there couldn't fill into sari's only. And in the end the Mysore Maharaja came off wearing sari like dhoti with white coat. Like Daler Mehandi and Govinda's father he looked. Only Prasad Bidappa clapped I think. And maybe the porkis.

There was Sufi performance also by some other Paki dudes. And the Bihari dudes. Then together. Awesome it was. Ghazals.

What would you have ever performed at Alliance? You sing/dance and all also aa?

Oh, you should also come for Fireflies event - Pipal Tree. I'll inform you when it is on this year.

shobs said...

Nightmares of all the horrid times I've had @ Alliance are buzzing in head.

Before you even think of saying anything nasty, the best time was has when we were on stage :-)]

But by and large, Alliance and their free-kotre-phynol stuff has always given me a bad headache.

Poor thing I say sleep sleep.

Anonymous said...

lo huccha , yentha kachda concert lo idu. Cartoon sakKaaThaGide. Baaayz from Stanford putting youtube videos, and they very headache inducingu.
Please some peoples give them tickets for Mys- Blr trainu. By the time Maddur stn reaching, one yr tuition and board for Stanford getting in bhikshe. ok may be not that much, but at least bus fare on line 522 rapid VTA bus to Palo Alto will be guaranteed.

Why this naansense fellows are simp-simply singing useless saangu. Enghlish saangu of DaRaKu is only being best, I say. Ok commenters let us all get together in red saaris and jubbas and sing together now -- "Love me or Ate me, Kiss me or Kill me lalalalala" .

Anonymous said...

puttamma-navre, hang-heng ree DaRaKu avara innondh classic marth-ri?

"Aaperation thagd racket"
dindh
"Eef yu come today..it's too yerly..eef yu come tomaaro..it's too late..pliss keep the taaym..tick..tick..tick..tick..daaarleeng!"

Hintha haad iro concert haakthaar andhr naa rokka kott nodtheen-ree, yaak, nun hudgoor-noo karkoNd bartheeni!

Prashant said...

I hope this one U.S. Indian a capella group hasn't made you lose faith in all of them. Penn Masala, from the University of Pennsylvania, is very very good. You can check them out at www.pennmasala.com.

NRIs are pretty awesome on the whole. 8-)

Bikerdude said...

Abba sleep and get up means 20 comments- what lovelies you are I say :)

Ambujam: Seriyillaiyonno, please tell your expat sons not do such things in future ok? ok ma bye :) Gaaa ma ga ri ga pa ri ga saaa (pls ask maami clan to contact me for "note" notes)

ahumanbean: Same to same I also did off. But I gave the poor things a chance for a while until I could bear no more.

anu, nandini vishwanath: heh heh thanks :)

mem: No ma, full lovely you are. What full sighted off one of those boysaa? Then their purpose has been achieved I say.

pettai maami: I think he said Thwijavandhi (Dwijavanti) though I was too busy being airsick to remember for sure.

perakath: Oho venue to venue they went and sang same thingsa? Sad boss. Hope they werent as flat though (Happens to the best of choirs sometimes, I have to admit)

maxdavinci: heheh shudder :)

maami:Heheh Maanga-bella only :P

arunk: Oh yeah, thank you front seat for providing nutrition during times of need :P

By the way - 4am was when the chennai corporation used to release water into the pipes (atleast in the '90s in Saidapet and T Nagar). And it was in such short supply that the only way to get to it was to use a hand pump to siphon it out of the pipes. Saidapet maamis had bulging biceps by the time they turned 30. Lovely healthy morning ritual it was (is?).

Bikerdude said...

prats: Seriously boss. The same type of jhig-mig kurtas only they also wore (minus the pancake makeup thankfully)

playbyrules: Corr-RECT!

pri: Aye no men, some of the best shows happen there. Though the free kotre phenoylu kudithini type shows like these are usually faltu. And fool, it is all male choir. For you only they sang apparently though youre sitting like gumaangu in Houston. Papa fellows. Es es bakery still available and not at all overpriced. Yaav oor ree? Haan Houston no? Ok.

karen: Told pa, come let us do disco dancing. Yes I have thulped everything in cafe. Only thing is they will galvanize everything in microwave and give if you dont beat them up and tell them to cease and desist. Gaaahahaha abt fashion show :) :) Haan yes I sing (no dance thankfully). Many several shows I have performed in aforementioned venue. Luckily seats have not been chewed as I have issued Rs 4.50 to all audience members to buy and eat kadle puri before concert.

Gugi: Aye what I say. Remember one "fateful" piano concert that we went to there? heh heh. Haan yes no full style- manni-ly you put tanpura and sat on stage once. Lovely I say.

putti: Heh heh good idea boss. Though theyll probably make only enough to eat dosa in maddur station. Heheh @ DRK :) Love the old boy.

10yearslate: Heheheh. Of course boss it is our cult song after all! Also, we demand a translation. I was going to attempt one, but decided yours were far more entertaining.

prashant: Ahem-correct pa, not generalizing. Will check out penn masala in a couple of weeks. I need this time to recover from Raagabellow :P And I agree, a few non-standard-issue NRIs are pretty awesome :)

Epiphany said...

LOL! The question is were you able to get ANYTHING free out of the show?

Abhipraya said...

That must've been some performance to make so miserable (and creative best :) Poor you! Hope you have recovered after putting them in their place in this post.

Reflections said...

Hilarious. Atleast they didnt put u to sleep:-P

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of the ad for naukri or someing of that sort. dancer marshalling a plane, butcher shaving beard ,so-on.

No point disrespecting a group which won 2 consecutive championships for your lack of interest in the genre of music.
And 20+ people agree with you without even being there.

But aah, they say blogging is all about expressing yourselves...

****sighs****

- anon *someone who used to like your blogs before, but totally fed up with negative perspectives on everything* mous

Idling in Top Gear said...

Funny post. Lol at the Yoda bit!

Re: Raagapella, it must have been their "B" team or they must've had a bad night. I saw them perform a few songs including "Vande Mataram"/"Thai Manne Vanakkam" here in the Bay area less than 2 months ago, and I thought they were very good. (I must confess that I have 0 music skills, I can't tell an A flat from a Double D, so I am not much of a critic.) The only thing I found funny about their performance here was that a White guy was the one that went "Vandeeeeeeee Mataram" in his deep voice! It was quite ironic.

Anonymous said...

oye! full to apologies i offered no... they sounded much better on youtube the one time i heard them...i am most upset abt ack. only for mem's shoulders and not me who sat beside u and offered heartfelt apologies .... hmph hmph... [sob sob in waterless chennai :(]... it was terrible indeed....

Bikerdude said...

epiphany: Yes a coupla laughs and some great company :)

abhipraya: Ah well the idea wasn't to put them in their place or anything. Just surprising that an award-winning group put on such a damp squib of a show. And now of course I have a couple of indignant (anonymous) brickbats to deal with. sigh.

reflections: You bet they didnt!

Idling in top gear: Must have been their off night, poor things. I think they sang Vande mataram, though in the blur, I don't quite remember.

subbammow: Heheh it was fun though, huh? :)

Bikerdude said...

anonymous : So Im a dancer marshalling a plane eh? ;) Quite a pretty picture that'll make for sure! Not sure about the validity of the comparison though. I've sung in choirs for most of my life (yup, and some a capella too) so I guess I'd know good from average, or indeed substandard. I won't bore you with the other genres of music that I'm into, but feel free to email if you'd like to and I'll tell you more.

That being said, let us not confuse issues here. It's great that Raagapella even exists. It gives the expat Indian student community a boost to see the music of their country packaged and presented the way it's been done through them. And those awards they won are well justified for that fact alone, if nothing else.

Unfortunately, we don't 'get' all that back home in India. All that my friends (part of the 20+ commenters that you mentioned) and I saw was a group of well turned out Indian guys with strange accents, that attempted to be innovative and glam, but put out a rather poor show at the end. And only because they didnt take care of the basics (of being in tune, and practicing enough). They have a lot of potential of course, but now is certainly not the time for them to lie back and rest on their laurels. A little tuning up and a LOT of practice will definitely get them up there for sure.

I dont write for The Hindu, so I usually don't mince words when I do concert reviews. I've blunted some of the sharp edges out now though, as I realized after re-reading them that they would cause more hurt than good. Sorry if the tongue-in-cheekness got you all fed up ma, here take chocolate :)

Anonymous said...

Dude,
That was very funny, seriously.

Anonymous said...

Anon**mous

I don't mind what you wrote, pleasant read, nice humor and a good read as always.Just a thought that it will be better if you add one or two positive things as well in the midst.

After reading again, i find it really funny now... Wat are those Stanford bast&#&^%# singing for anyway ;-)

kanglish is very 'namm shtylu', so never write for the hindu :). they only speak english ...

choco beda guru!!! car kodsu ...

Sidin said...

Howlarious. I am very liking your blog post. Laughing much and much.

longblackveil said...

Ja, ja. Boomsa gave off one-type intro to you the night of her Farewell Potty. She said you is Bugs' (Nagesh - a non standard supaar NRI!) frundship and that made me look at you with a benevolent, kindly, even maternal eye. Fantastic.
You make me larf, laddie. In a good way.

And look, Sidin's been here!
Funny Man 1, meet Funny Man 2. Vaav. How these humourous circles meet...

Anonymous said...

They should use that image as the album cover. :)

Sanchia said...

I am thrilled by the fact that you seem to have got them all into the picture. And I don't mean the goat, but rather the, er, er, Chinese? North Eastern? Nepali? guy!

Bikerdude said...

rambodoc: Thanks for dropping by :)

anonymous: aithappa, sleep, sleep :P

sidin: Ello saaarey. Muy dankes. Also being avid fan of your kind self I say.

longblackveil: Aaan hello mutual friendsaaandfavourites are all available means thats all. Where that nonsense boomsa is I say? Someone made off Biriyani out of her or what.

whichmain: Swami, you take off one lovely pic of them no with your magic camera and send. BTW, sadly your beautiful photo blog has been blocked at work :( :(

scribbler: Heh thanks. One slap I will get if they see off this means. PS: Are you chwyneeeeeeeese?

Somebody Else said...

Awww. That bad?

And why is AF's name being tainted here? I hear they do some great stuff. although all kewl and stud and Page3.

Anyway, it couldn't have been entirely worthless. You didn't spot any Page 3 types?

NO TOI types took fotoo?

Anonymous said...

ScooterKaran dah,

Phull respect to you dah - vy you spend sooo much words and time replying to the Anonimuss Fellow's negative comment was beyond moi. But den later I see that Anonimuss Fella has come back like vun obedient chy.

Back To You as my buddy Biriyani Addamms says wonly.

I also yam accused of being negative by many R NRI types - that wierd, beezarre, OTT species zimbly don't live through years of surviving Indina and our lokal bureaucarzy....no? So I zimbly say bluddy bollocks to them.

Anonymous said...

Somebuddy Else - AF is vun of the better cul-vul insts. here...and I have Behind The Scenes Tales of tantrum throwing phoreign artistes...bluddy bollocks some - not all - of them have bean. They give phull thalla vaallee to the hardworking AF cul staff

Shhhh....

Anita said...

oh my gawd!!...your blog is like therapy for me BD!...after work I read and whoosshhh...all the days mashups is gawnnu!!...

so u sing alsoo?!!!..what kind of singingu??...

Your commentors frends also very entertaining. It seems like you are rounding up all funny bloggers here.

:-)

Sumi said...

hahaha! very funny! ennathukku kashtapattundu paadi, tamizh pesi, aduthavalaiyum kashtapadithindu, hm hm , romba kashtam! But as u said, there is always room for improvement, and they may do better next time. u studyin in Stanford??? or just visited Stanford just like me, hehehe!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous avare: Biker dude na bitt bidi,paapa. ;-) Chikka vyassu. Nimm thara gyaani alla. Sabhyate, sanskriti kalisi kodi nammEllarigu. Raagapella kett huduguru alla ree. Swalpa practice maddiDre sooper concert kod bahudu allave?
Yella ABCD makkalu eevaga Tabla, bhangra, cricket kaliTha iddare. White kids also joining in these classes and very nicely performing. Berkeley bhangra competition nodi, bili makkalu chennagi aadiDhru.

Reposting becoz interwebs losted earlier comment.

Anonymous said...

what a lotta comments, on this fantastic piece. i, for one, have only pleasant memories of the alliance. pleasant lemon tarts (i think) and nice hot hot coffee in plastic cups. also, jangling silver bangles of pianist. (i expected her in a long black dress, maybe)

and one piece of advise, if i may: let barking anonymouses lie.

Lakshmi said...

first time here..that was a great review

Bikerdude said...

somebody elsu: I LOVE means full to LOVE the Alliance and all the shows it does. OK I have a vested (not poomex baniyan, sorry today is PJ day) interest in them, nevertheless the sheer variety and quality of the (kaas paying) concerts theyve hosted is fantastic! Yes most of the Alliance's concerts are kewl and stud and page 3. But-aadre naavu hange allveyyyy..? KIDDDING!! Before you write off one more dass-buss indignant retort. Sadya nim Rangashankara bagge yenu barililla (for the simple reason that Ive never managed to make the monster schlep across the seven seas to get there)

ahumanbean: Heheh obedient chy itseems :) Papa s/he had a point, and I also felt ond thara bad for launching off on them like that. Afterall they are a college choir no, only x amount of talent is possible there. Yen ri yeththina (bullock) farm saakkondiddeera? yella comment nallu adara bagge mention maadthiddeera (What sir, bullock farm domesticating you are or what? In all comments the aforementioned mention you are making?) Heheh. Oh yeah Ive experienced those tantrums first hand. Poor "Mister Joseph", the caretaker. He's got this permanently lobotomized expression now from years of dealing with irate performers. He ain't no saint himself though, that'un.

Anita, Lakshmi : Uyyo thanks ma :)

putti: Abba sadya, banni ma onakke obbavvavre, nanna defend maadokke. (come mother pestle- obbavva(historical karnataka lady heroine) to defend me) PS: Very sweet of you to do so ma. Please contact for tea and khara biscuit as token of appreciation!

anoushka: Gaahaha oh yeah that concert eh :) Anonymous has come back and kissed and made up so all is well! PS: Pls come to Blr quickly to eat all the aforementioned no?

Bikerdude said...

sumi: Aiyo ille ma, yenakkum stanfordkum romba dooram (Aiyo no ma for me and stnford large distance is there). I also visited once. Some random drunk girls came and asked friend and I to give piggy back ride near those statues. We have said mhahamha just one minute we will come back and disappeared off only.

Somebody Else said...

ess ess, we have heard. So what if we don't make the cool, clear cut to have attended any concerts. Unfaartunately, we don't *understand* music. The flat, sharp, wrongly-pitched variety, and all that. :(
So culchur and that type things we are bad at. At best we can watch streetplays in Gandhi Bazaar or Bsk BDA complex :P

Anyway, we have heard about the good kelasas Allianz(es) (do)es.(Not just in Bangalore, India, we hear).
And their movie collection/screening is supposed to be some urban treasure, we will attack once we take care of other malaises feeding on our time.

Oh the great divide again? Ranga Shankara can aalso be selectively stud, page3, kewl yadda yadda. We, however, have only seen nice basavangudi saaftwear type baais that talk in Kannada there. So we were saved the scars. Hogi Hogi Ranga Shankara ge. Nice only it is.

PS-What banian(Talking of PJs, Roopa kya pehnegi?) interests you have? What type music you have maestro-ed?

Anonymous said...

Vat ees theeese vested underwears .... I see today vun "unisex vest" advrrrtssmint.

Ayyao sssami - next you will see me wearing my unisex Y fronts...vhile I avait BikerKaran's next post vith the bated breath Isay

Sanchia said...

Bikerdude, you must come across the seven seas to Ranga Shankara. It is very nice indeed.

Furthermore, with reference to your question of the 26 June inst. "are you Chwynese?" It has been established by research scholars that there is a strong affinity between (Catholic) Goans and (Christian) Nagas, in matters of religion, hymns known, propensity to sing such hymns at random times of day or night, fondness for eating rice and anything that moves, and special fondness for pig, not to forget general breeziness and inclination towards frocks. To be a Goan is to be a form of Naga, and vice versa. Now as we all know Nagas are Chwynese, it follows that Goans are also Chwynese. Happy?

Sanchia said...

PS: Before anyone politically correct attacks me, the above theory was propounded by Naga research scholars.

Anonymous said...

Hilarious! Wud have livened things up considerably if they had really brought in the billy goat, no?

v said...

hahahaha....!!
that bad?? really?? did u pay for this?

Anonymous said...

i get to comment after 52 peoples.hmpf.

rofl@billy goat.gyrating hips on stage...ahahaha...didnt you cat-call, whistle? :P :D

themartianscientist said...

I am LOVING all their hair styles:)

nerfherder said...

Aye macha imagine my fate da. I saw them at Alliance and then at Opus. Tragedy it was.

And they did pretty much the same set, including the introductory speeches. Ditto.

Except at Opus they were flatter.

Anonymous said...

Ooh damn , these were the same guys at opus , dressed in red kurtas?

We left opus after cocktails and starters... and later had egg fried rice in a stall by the road.

Those guys were worse than Bangalore traffic wen magical pass was being constructed.....

You sat thru the entire thing? lol...

Pettai Maami said...

aah...how did i miss it..the bikertoonu's hairstyles look like chappati maavu moulds.. :D ...couldnt resist commenting!!

Anonymous said...

BOSS DONT MINCE WORDS. INFACT YOU SHOULD STOP BEING A NICE BOY. SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS LOCK KEY BEING ON. I KNOW I LOOK LIKE A JACKASS TYPING IN CAPS. JUST A LITTLE LAZY TO TURN IT OFF NOW.

Anonymous said...

awww i missed checking out the guys too (like pettai maami). the lead resembles a bitu like Whoopie Goldberg no? and that stud (second from right),a desi MJ? :D

Anonymous said...

rofl;)
nice read putta.

Bikerdude said...

somebody yells: rangashankara is the new globe theatre ma. Just please invent one number teleporter quickly quickly to get me across seven seas there. Some carnatic appa ayyo type I will sing off now and then besides some guitar pitar and bass singing in choir and all.

ahumanbean: heheh adwrrrtssment :) gaaaaaaaahaha

scribbler: Oh you also aa? Ok ma onaaf this day I will come off to R'shankara and sit for 77 hours and go. Gehehehehehe about chwynese lozic. Excuse but goan girl that loves benglur, is fullto logical and says chwyneeeeese = Im thinking little bit soulmate situation is happening here. Wha'say men?

desigirl: Or if alliance caretaker went and did full lathi charge on stage. Gaaahaha. First there will be brain dead NRI conversation "Hi how're you doin'? Awwww so you're the caretaker? So do you take care of the Alliance every day? Awwww okay. So do you take care of the mikes tooo.. hey whats going on? Aieeeee "thwack thwack " "Aiyyo aiyo kaapaadiiiii" gaaaaaaahaha.

perplexed: Illa ma sadya (no mother thank god). Otherwise full chappal fly disshoom only. No not really but maybe Id have pretended to enjoy it and made pseud comments to the other attendees about how luvvlee it was :P

Bikerdude said...

kavita: No mouth was full unfortunately (with pieces of sponge from seat in front) :P

themartianscientist: Yellam inspired from namma family dot com :P

nerfherder: Aiyo papavey. What punya you did in previous janma to deserve this I say.

vasukilm: haan same to same. please contact nerfherder above and exchange notes (cc to me muhuhuhahahah) :) Illa pa I left off after billy goat number.

pettai maami: Aye what sappathi gippathi and all I say. Fashion Fatima :) Nee thaan andha jhili mili kurta ellaam design panniya? Heh heh :)

spot naga : heh heh abt caps. Too funny.

kavita: heh yes now that I think about it he does look like whoopie minus the dreadlocks, though the original, no thanks to my cartooning skills looked a bit different. Desi MJ is supposed to be chwyneeeeeese deep voiced person. Pls note slipped pajama over leg lending yodaesque quality to personality :)

anonymous: Aha thanks ma/pa. Yella anonymousesgalunu nin thara oll-olle commentsesgalu bidbarda?

Anonymous said...

Buttermilk, buttermilk, vannting buttermilk

Next post me vanting. Phast phast you please be putting next post wokay?

More, more, vanting more

Scribblers Inc said...

one word:Brilliant!!!!

Scribblers Inc.

Sanchia said...

Eh, bikerdude, whaddya saying men! If my husband hears you are saying about soulmate situation and all, he will take this-this big pomflit and give you one tight one! I am a nice girl, you shameless fellow! Also, you assume too much--I am six months old in Bangalore and have sharply divided feelings about it. :D Love (sometimes), hate (sometimes).

I would raise my eyebrows at someone writing a blog about Bangalore who had not been to Ranga Shankara even once, not even to Anju's cafe!

Bikerdude said...

ahumanbean: aan coming coming

scribblers inc: Tanks men. y'all are different person from this scribbler aunty aa?

scribbler: Aiyo lady, Im saying soulmate from frunds fersfective I say. Though the "me 'ujjband, me 'ujjband" line completes the goan aunty picture. Kindly ask ujband to choose good quality pampleet for thwacking purposes. Fish curry afterds mus' be nice-nice, neh? Haan and sorry boss, but Rangashankara (and all this love hate divide nonsense) is for all you nouveau Bangaloreans. All us oldie goldies still go to Allan Francis (Alliance Francaise) cafe only. So kindly release eyebrows from top of forehead and eat poie. ok? oaaaakay.

Sanchia said...

Hmph (at the nouveau Bangalore-oldeau Bangalore line of thought). Your loss only it is! :P As for ujband -- poor thing, how we are throwing his name around! I will tell him to choose good pomfret, them we shall make frundship over it, you, him, me, and Mr Allan Francis.

Anonymous said...

i just loved the interchange between biker dude and scribbler lady. imagery of asterix and obelix and fish smacking. anyone remember the name of the fisher-person in asterix?

ps: dont think a pomfret used for thwacking purposes will make a nice curry, goan or otherwise

Anonymous said...

ahaha, yesh yesh forgot about the seat biting! what man you, MJ suffers from identity crisis.... sho eassht indians/chwyneeeeeese would work no? :D

@anoushka : Unhygienix!

Anonymous said...

ussh appa. bho chennagithu.
here i gather my neighbour whose in splits after i made him read this onnu and the other posts of yoursu, and a big round of chappale for you.
(nudging my neighbour)Aye clap man.
Claps...

Also sir i recommend this blog to all who need relief from there daily stress.

anonymous fans,
someone who read all ur blogs in 2 working days. no sleep at night sir after reading ur blogsu, what to do. oops u keep up the good work.

Bikerdude said...

scribbuller: Arre lovely commaan I say slurp

anoushka: second only to your back and forth with the same person on authenticity of irani bakeries in mumbai :P Yes we will make fish fingers instead come aan

kavita: Err.. yes, same to you :)

anonymousesu: Aiyo blush blush- yenri ishtella hogultheera . So nice aaf you I say :) matte banni. Solpa poshting frequency down aagide ee naduve but aadrunu. Also thanks to friend :)

Anonymous said...

LMAO, especially @ "..pumped his arm up and down with the skill of a Saidapet housewife at 4am..".

S said...

Hahaha!

Flat ABCD tamilians?? condolesences :)

Anonymous said...

I like the way your evil mind works! Maybe next time you can suggest that AF put up a show on stage with the characters comprising entirely of caretakers and billy goats. Wot a brilliant production that will be no?

Sanchia said...

1) I have seen a Koli fisherwoman thwack someone with a fish (might have been paaplet, but I didn't check, and I assume the cause was a lewd remark she did not care for). It was a distinctly life-changing experience (wish you were there!). After that I never even thought to complain if a Koli fisherwoman dripped fish-water down my back in the local train. Better quiet and fishy than strident and thwacked, I say.

I wonder if the fish was later sold...

2) Are we approaching record number of comments? And all for flat NRIs? Tchah!

Anonymous said...

scribbler are you a nice bombay gal? i think it was tina munim, in a movie from the seventies, that thwacked someone with a paaplet.....

what say we all aim to take the number of comments over 100. biker dude ki jai ho!!

Sanchia said...

anoushka, my heart is in Bombay, yes it is. As for the paaplet, I did not see Tina Munim wielding it in the seventies, but am delighted to find that life and art have been imitating each other in this way!

Pettai Maami said...

aargh aargh....they in chennai also

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/07/08/stories/2008070850090400.htm

:D
PM