28 Comments
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Arvind's avatar

This made me chuckle. As a native kannadiga who moved away years ago, I can proudly say on a rare occasion of traffic altercation the choicest of Kannada abuse words flowed effortlessly from my mouth. Some things you just don't forget. There was no need for coherent sentences. Just a volley of unrelated swear words. Somewhere, my Kannadiga ancestors are secretly proud of me. My Hyderabadi wife is still mad at me.

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Ayush's avatar

Haha! Thanks for reading, Arvind :)

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Srinivas Chandrashekaran's avatar

Understand the non Kannada feeling. Though I am also a first generation immigrant to Karnataka, my “local” Kannada is good. Somehow understood early while a kid that this brings me closer to my Kannada friends than anything else. Growing up in Mysore also helped which is more Kannada than bangalore. Busy still I feel I should have been more Kannada, should have had Kannada as the first language instead of Hindi. I would have been more comfortable than now..

The juxtaposition with Karna is an interesting thought. Will dive deeper into it to see how close the two are.. great writing, as always.

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Ayush's avatar

Thank you for sharing your experience, Shrini. A Mysore upbringing would have been very different in this respect. Glad you liked it and thanks for reading!

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Rohan Banerjee's avatar

Terrific! Loved the segue from road rage to Mahabharata.

Sorry you had to deal with that unpleasantness. Unnecessary honking is an epidemic on Indian roads. I share your hatred for it and have often thought I should stock my car with eggs that I can chuck at the offenders.

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Ayush's avatar

Thank you, Rohan!

I find that just as it is nice to come across people who share things we like, sometimes it's even better to share hatreds :D

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Rohan Banerjee's avatar

Hahaha. Indeed!

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PUNIT R's avatar

Escaping with broken Kannada: Two slaps from local goons. Tying this to Karna, Priceless

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Ayush's avatar

Thank you Punit!

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Apoorva's avatar

Whoa. This was POWERFUL. damn. A bengalurean writing this makes it all the more real. Im sure this is my plight too although its my second language and evidently english is the first

This made me think a lot. Very thought provoking. Sorry you had to go through the whole ordeal.

Absolutely loved your perspective on karnas curse

The ending line, will stay with me forever

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Ayush's avatar

Thank you, Apoorva, glad you liked it :)

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Sanket's avatar

Sorry, you had go through that Ayush.

And I keep learning so much from you :)

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Ayush's avatar

Thank you Sanket! And glad you liked it :)

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Not The Wife Material's avatar

👌🏽 super

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Ayush's avatar

Thank you!

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Maanav's avatar

So, so good.

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Ayush's avatar

Thanks so much, Maanav!

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Dipali Taneja's avatar

Brilliantly written!

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Ayush's avatar

Thank you for reading Dipali!

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SUDHA RAO's avatar

Loved the way you turned a personal experience into a deep rabbit hole of Karna Psychology

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Ayush's avatar

Thank you!

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Binu Sivan's avatar

Uff Ayush! I am really sorry that you had such a difficult experience, but you have turned it into gold with that analysis.

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Ayush's avatar

Thank you Binu!

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Kyatobhi's avatar

Well written Ayush, I could sense my own inability of fighting or retort to raise when you described the situation and confrontation.

And loved the analogy. I had erased that Shalya was the charioteer bit and now after you mention it, it all makes sense. The possible snide remarks to Karna and all.

There are so many sub-plots in Mahabharata and what-ifs. We can almost draw a moral for any situation from it.

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Ayush's avatar

True! And thank you for reading. Glad you liked it :)

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Prerna's avatar

Did you flip the bird in kannada though? :D

Ayush, I loved the leap of faith and narrative and the layers of meaning in that analogy (would love to expand but I have been up since 5 am and am only on my first cup of tea!).

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Ayush's avatar

Haha!

I'm glad you liked the analogy, Prerna. Part of me wondered whether it would make sense. Would love to hear any other thoughts and feedback you have about it.

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Apoorva's avatar

Whoa. This was POWERFUL. damn. A bengalurean writing this makes it all the more real. Im sure this is my plight too although its my second language and evidently english is the first

This made me think a lot. Very thought provoking. Sorry you had to go through the whole ordeal.

Absolutely loved your perspective on karnas curse

The ending line, will stay with me forever

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