K Chandrasekhar Rao’s Telangana slang is a superhit

Hyderabad: Telangana slangs like Arey...yendi ra bhai... Chala pareshan lo kanapaduthunavu (What happened brother....you look quite tense); Yemanna... bagunnava... (Hi man...how are you) etc. are not mocked any more.

The lingo, which was once looked down upon and described as a dialect and not a language by the Telugus of the Andhra region, is now spoken by everyone.

It’s become so fashionable that 2014 saw even newspapers using the lingo, which is a mix of Telangana Telugu and Hyderabadi Urdu.

The language, over the years, has been popularised by TRS head and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao during the 14-year struggle for a separate Telangana. His caustic comments against rivals in the typical Telangana accent became instant hits.

One remembers an angry Mr Rao’s counterpunch to actor Pawan Kalyan’s comments against him at a public meeting in Warangal. “Yenta dhairyam undi...wadu oka cinema actor. Naku artham kadu...wadu yemi Cinema actor o.... naku artham kadu...wani cinema nenu chuda ledu...wadu ninna Warangal lo...Telangana gadda meedha nilchoni ...arre KCR ne tatha teesta antada....oka chitkeyeste...veyyi tunkala eithadu. (How dare he criticise me? That fellow is an actor. I don’t understand what kind of actor he is. I never saw his movies.Yesterday at Warangal, on Telangana soil, that fellow says, KCR I will bash you up. If I signal he will be cut into thousand pieces),” Mr Rao had said.

“For Andhraities, a language spoken in the two-and-a half districts of Krishna, Guntur and parts of Godavari districts are considered Telugu. The language spoken in 10 districts of Telangana is considered just dialects,” said poet and singer Desapati Srinivas.

There is also a huge demand now for books on Telangana dialects. Some Newspapers even carry commonly used Telangana words with English meanings. The popularity of the Telangana and Hyderabadi slang can be seen in Telugu movies too. This year, thus, saw TS-slang finally coming of age.

“Even Andhraities mix Urdu words like tahsildar, arji, darkhaas etc. yet they consider their language as superior, which is not true.

Telangana Telugu is a sweet language and simple,” he added.

Admitting that the Telangana slang was different in the 10 districts, he said that the government was taking steps to ensure a common Telangana language using dialects of all the 10 districts in the near future.

The popularity of the Telangana and Hyderabadi slang can be seen in Telugu movies too. It has caught like wildfire ever since the formation of Telangana. Even before bifurcation, movies like Happy Days and Jai Bolo Telangana, which were laced with the T-accent, were hits; too not to mention the famed Hyderabadi lingo film Hyderabadi Nawabs and Angrez.

There is also a huge demand now for books on Telangana dialects. Some newspapers even carry commonly used Telangana words with English meanings for the benefit of people, like mabbu (clouds), mutthemantha (in small quantity), panam manchiga ledu (I am now well), erkana (do you know), nirudu (last year), patangi (kite) and thovva (path), to name a few.

This year, thus saw the T-slang finally coming of age.