"I am like my mother. I stereotype. Its faster." - Ryan Bingham, Up in the Air.
I often have discussions with colleagues on how established stereotypes are not accurate, but a lot of fun! How the jokes about silly Sardars are completely fictitious as are the ones about lazy Bengalis. South Indians are no more hard-working than West Indians and Tam Brahm conservatism is a thing of the past.
A colleague asserts that stereotypes are a good generalising tool. My own point of view is that much as I want to believe that Bengalis are very intelligent people, it is not really possible for regions or races to share a few general traits.
This got brilliantly disproved when I subscribed to a new service on my phone - Radio Mirchi on Airtel. By calling 59830, you can hear any Radio Mirchi station on your phone. Needless to say, I opted for "Its hot" in a Kolkata sing-song instead of the Delhi bravado.
But how can two stations of the same radio channel be different - when they are playing almost the same songs, using the same jingles and even the same ads?
Simple. The contest questions, which have prizes like CDs, meal vouchers, discount coupons.
Typical questions in Delhi are like, "What is the name of the Akshay Kumar film, directed by Sajid Khan and starring Deepika Padukone?"
Yesterday's question in Mirchi Kolkata was "What is the chemical formula of Glucose?" OMFG! I was so tickled that I was laughing all by myself in the car.
And just in case, you thought Calcutta was full of geeky nerds who know the answer pat, they gave three choices to make it easier.
A. C6H9OH
B. C6H12O6
C. C6H9O6
Come on, Delhi. Tell me the correct answer. One Costa Coffee voucher going.
Calcutta - don't bother with this shit. Check this out, instead.
I often have discussions with colleagues on how established stereotypes are not accurate, but a lot of fun! How the jokes about silly Sardars are completely fictitious as are the ones about lazy Bengalis. South Indians are no more hard-working than West Indians and Tam Brahm conservatism is a thing of the past.
A colleague asserts that stereotypes are a good generalising tool. My own point of view is that much as I want to believe that Bengalis are very intelligent people, it is not really possible for regions or races to share a few general traits.
This got brilliantly disproved when I subscribed to a new service on my phone - Radio Mirchi on Airtel. By calling 59830, you can hear any Radio Mirchi station on your phone. Needless to say, I opted for "Its hot" in a Kolkata sing-song instead of the Delhi bravado.
But how can two stations of the same radio channel be different - when they are playing almost the same songs, using the same jingles and even the same ads?
Simple. The contest questions, which have prizes like CDs, meal vouchers, discount coupons.
Typical questions in Delhi are like, "What is the name of the Akshay Kumar film, directed by Sajid Khan and starring Deepika Padukone?"
Yesterday's question in Mirchi Kolkata was "What is the chemical formula of Glucose?" OMFG! I was so tickled that I was laughing all by myself in the car.
And just in case, you thought Calcutta was full of geeky nerds who know the answer pat, they gave three choices to make it easier.
A. C6H9OH
B. C6H12O6
C. C6H9O6
Come on, Delhi. Tell me the correct answer. One Costa Coffee voucher going.
Calcutta - don't bother with this shit. Check this out, instead.
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