Hyderabadi and Gun Control

 A blue-blooded American was trying to make a Hyderabadi understand the Gun Laws of his great nation- and not succeeding. We will try and follow the conversation, for a bit.

Hyderabadi- Kya pareshaani hai bhai, yeh bandookaan..

American- You see, we have the right to defend ourselves.

Hyderabadi- Kya bolre miyaan, humareku nahi hai kya? Ek ungli uthaake dekho tum, kya haal hota malum padinga..

American- No, no, I mean we can carry a gun to defend ourselves.

Hyderabadi- Aisa? Phukat mein milta kya ye bandook aap logon ku?

American (proudly)- Of course not, man. We buy them at the nearest supermarket..

Hyderabadi- Paise deke apne aapku barbaad karre bolo na phir..

American- You call that barbaadi? What if a thief enters your house and opens fire when you catch him? Don't you want a gun to shoot him?

Hyderabadi- Kya baataan karre bhai, usku chappal phenkke martun na main.. dekhe mera chappal? Bandook apne pairon mein maar liye to, chupke to bi lene ke dene pad jaate na..

American- Oh my God! You are impossible. (Exits)

TV Serials That Withstand the Test of Time

 For me, Lucy, Little Wonder, The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Different Strokes, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie and lately Nero Wolfe that I saw on Youtube were some of the best in English. Friends and The Big Bang Theory were good too, of the more recent ones. Murder, She Wrote and Remington Steele were also good, among older ones. So was Three's Company.

In Hindi, Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Mahabharat, Hum Paanch, Tehkikaat, and Tu Tu Main Main come to mind readily. I missed some because I was in the U.S. when they ran on Indian T.V. Surabhi was a show about Indian culture that was hosted well by Renuka Shahane.

Thinking of Titles

Everything needs a title, and it's tough to think of one..for a film, a TV show, or for a position. In Tamil nadu, and Andhra/Telangana, every star has a title, I am told..the titles could be Superstar, Star of Stars, Never-before-seen-star, or any other bizarre set of words. The announcement when a monarch entered his court, whether it was Akbar in Mughal-e-Azam or Shivaji in his court, included their titles.

Naming something-your child, or the brand your company has conceived-has the same problem-namely, the name. And once you name someone or something, it's branded for a long, long time. Naming films would be an equally difficult job, I am guessing.

Trying to recall names of some popular shows we watched on American TV in the late eighties, the following come to mind- The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Hawaii Five-O, Miami Vice, Remington Steele, Murder, She Wrote, ..or those later, such as Friends, Castle, The Big Bang Theory, Game of Thrones, etc. one can see a pattern of using the names of places, characters (or real ones, as in Cosby's case), and sometimes, the subject- such as Family Ties starring Michael J. Fox, or Friends.

I personally prefer short titles- Rajni, for instance, or Mahabharat, but Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi was also a favourite TV show when it ran.