Blog entry #22
Ventriloquism | Viceroy | 'Vera level' | Vani
Ventriloquism
I had attended a magic and ventriloquism workshop in grade 7 in Mumbai. My dummy was called Chimpu. I only performed twice ever, and Dad wrote the scripts for both shows. Even today, when I visit home in Bangalore, I skim through the shelf that not only contains my ventriloquist dummy and my magic kit, but also the memories created by them.
Viceroy
This is the name of the in-campus restaurant in BITS Hyderabad. If we didn’t have the time to go out to Bits n Bytes or some place far for someone’s treat, this was the nearest place for one. There is a juice guy near Viceroy, for super-mini-treats too. During fest times, Viceroy was also the go-to place for Food Wars!
'Vera level'
The literal meaning being "next level", it’s a phrase used sarcastically most of the times. A few of the times, it’s also used while exclaiming how great something is. If someone blundered on top of a mistake they already committed, or if there’s already a problem, say at work, with one issue, and something adds fuel to the fire, exacerbating the problem, a common remark you’ll hear among Chennai-ites is "Vera level." Be a super nerd, or a grammar Nazi, and you’ll hear that a lot being said to you (been there!)
Vani
In Bangalore, there was a lady Kalaivani - my aunt’s maid. I used to chat with her when I was about six years old. She would talk to me in Tamil, and all I could muster at the time was "Aama" (yes) or "Illai" (no). I used to call her Vani Akka for a long time, until one day she revealed to me: "Everyone else calls me Kalai, your aunt is the only person who calls me Vani." Whenever I look into my aunt’s kitchen, I am reminded of her, since that’s where I remember talking to her most of the times.
Ventriloquism was my initial choice for V- (dropped it later). It reminds me of Richie Rich story- where his Butler Cadbury is a Ventriloquist.
ReplyDeleteAnd to tell you- one "Kalaivani" I know of- is my friend Yazhini's sister :)