“KATEEEEEEE” (… and a Happy Sankranti too)
Posted on 15 Jan 2007 under Humour
No, that’s not a European/American name. That’s hindi for “got cut” (roughly). What’s the big deal? Sankranti is. Forget about the reason for the celebration of the festival… let’s jump directly into the celebration itself. What does this day mean to the average Indian (such as me)?
- Holiday(s) from work/college
- Flying a lot of kites
- Flying some more kites
- … and more kite-flying
- Some also have a special pooja and spend time with relatives
The idea behind kite-flying is (as said in the above link) to cut as many rival kites as possible (by cutting off their threads in the air by using your kite’s thread). The cutting, of course, is accompanied by taunts and screams of “Kateeeeeeee” (pronounced “cutty”), or just random screams of “EyDtttddtttt” (pronounced as written… may God bless all those of you who are trying to pronounce it the way I’ve written. Trust me, to scream like this you need to either be an expert or you need to have someone pinch your family jewels real hard). However, for the last 2 years, a new addition has taken place in the celebrations… that of using loud-speakers to play “music”. I can understand the excessive kite-flying (once your kite is in the air, it’s quite a lot of fun). I can understand (to a certain extent) the need to shout out like animals being hunted when you cut another kite’s thread off (some shouts can also be compared to the sounds one would assume a chef would make if he accidentally dropped his knife on his own toes). What I can’t understand is the need to make the entire neighbourhood listen to the music you’re listening to!
Remember my last ranty post about having to bear bad music? Well, imagine a similar scenario, except that now it’s right outside my house! So I’m inside my house, calmly playing Civilization IV on my PC while listening to songs that repeated say “Dumma Re Dumma Re Dumma Dumma Dum Dum” (yes, that’s the chorus of a real Telugu song. Gimme a couple of days and I’ll update this post with the name of the movie it’s from), and “Ninne Ninne Ninne Ninne Ninne” (Yes, that’s the chorus of another Telugu song. I’ll try to find out the name of that movie for you too).
Oh well… To all those of you who prefer not to complain and just enjoy the festival as/how you can, Happy Sankranti.
(6 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)
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Well, you should turn up your own music?
You know what I just realized, there’s a reason I love reading your articles. They have a certain Irony to them that’s why. I mean this post for example, it begins in a way that a reader (or mayb its just me) thinks that you actually enjoyed your day playing with kites. And in the end, i just realized you weren’t even playing.. you were playing a computer game.
Hello,
just wanted to say that your last poem was really amazing. I enjoyed reading it. Keep up the great work.
I did not know where else to reply(and too lazy to send a mail).
Cheers
yeah, the kateeeeeeee part of sankranti is so much fun… and like you, i absolutely detest those idiots who force me to listen to their nonsense crap songs…here’s another one that goes “aa ante amalapuram, b ante bichapuram… something something”
I’ve heard that one too.. I’ve never been able to figure out who’s singing that song… is it supposed to be a lady with a thick-ish voice? Is it supposed to be a kid? Is it a eunuch?
Well, I love music in general, and have lately begun exploring all forms of Indian music — from classical ragas to the latest Bollywood ditties. However, it is definitely not nice to impose one’s musical tastes on others. Around here the biggest problem in that line is people who pull up next to you in their cars with their windows wide open and their souped-up sound systems blasting your ears with hip-hop. Really can’t stand it. Seems that hearing unbidden music might be slightly more tolerable if I were watching a nice kite-fighting display rather than sitting in traffic!
Stephen, you’re right. Cars with souped-up sound systems driven by immature little punks is quite irritating. However, trust me, it’s not as irritating as having your neighbours have a “who can be louder” contest with loudspeakers on their roofs!
can someone please tell me what does ‘ninne’ mean in malayalam?
thanks