The Common Misconceptions About South Indians

I am a south Indian.

It has been over 22 years since I was born and still, I haven't been able to decipher why we are stereotyped so much. It sure is beyond my comprehension. We, South Indians, as a fraternity have always contributed a lot to the massive jokes and puns, the famous Rajnikanth jokes, our accent, our dressing style and the metaphors. I mean, seriously, what have we done? Let us take a closer look at the most common misconceptions. (Pun Intended)

When we say South India, it means the entire South India. South India does not just have Tamilnadu. It has Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamilnadu. And we do not just converse in Tamil, you see, we have other languages like Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam as well. Whoever said we have a huge mother tongue influence (aka MTI) on our accent really needs a reality check. Not everyone down here has an MTI, okay? We happen to speak perfectly normal English and some of us have embraced the big daddy stages of TED Talks, INK Talks, and have reached the pinnacles of oration and stuff. And even if we have an accent, what is the big deal? The basic point here is people are able to decipher our speech and that is all that matters, isn’t it? Hello people, is anyone listening?

Idli happens to be very famous here but no, we don’t eat it every day. We do have rotis, puris, poha, and the continental breakfast as well. And oh, please do spare us the trauma. We do eat normal food like the normal people, you know. Do you find it strange that we, South Indians try out all the cuisines and Hyderabad, Bangalore happens to be one of the very, very few metropolitans that have a wide range of restaurants with different cuisines and some unheard of? We have mojitos, cocktails, and mocktails as well. Being a South Indian does not mean we are just confined to coconut water only. I know, what a shame!

We have these really weird surnames, I get it. My surname happens to be very North Indian-ish but I am a South Indian, and what is it with that expression of shock on your face? Ever since I joined school, I had a tough time explaining my peers that I am a South Indian. Whenever people say, “Aila! You speak such fluent Telugu”, I lose it, and I put on a poker face and retort, “Yes, astonishing, right? We are in the age where people need to take a crash course for speaking fluently in their Mother Tongue.” Cut us some slack, people. We don't just have the Swamis, Jagarlamudis, Murthis, Menons and the like, we do have the occasional twisted surnames too (Like mine). Have you ever come across the phrase “What’s in a name?” If you have, please do stand by it. If you haven't, please learn it. Oh, thank you very much for doing us the favour! *Tears of joy*

South Indian women have better things to do than applying hair oil and putting on jasmine flowers. No, really. South Indian women are very ambitious, creative, and no, they do not watch soap operas all the time. In fact, we of the people, do not watch the K-serials at all (Are they even being aired anymore?). We happen to watch Suits, How I Met Your Mother, Game of Thrones, The Big Bang Theory, Community, House etc. And we do understand the difference between rock music and pop music. Also, we definitely know the difference between American Literature and English Literature. Yes, we do!

South Indian women are dark and ugly! Say what? I mean, really? Dark and ugly? You, stereotypes could have done a lot better here. South Indians are unconventionally beautiful. I mean, whatever happened to Vidya Balan, Deepika Padukone, Vijayanthimala, Sridevi, Hema Malini, and Rekha etc. Ironically, the world’s most beautiful woman (Once upon a time but still), Aishwarya Rai happens to be a South Indian. We really need to get over the fair-skinned-women-are-the-prettiest fad. It is high time.

South Indian movies are pointless! Exactly, and that is the very reason the scripts of our movies are bought for some billions and remade into brand new movies every single year. Movie directors like Maniratnam, Jandhyala, and Bapu have created a niche for themselves in Indian Cinema, and are worshipped internationally. South India surely has some of the best technicians, and no, no, our music does not happen to be the Carnatic music only. Our music just has a strong influence of classical music and it happens to be soothing. Do think twice before judging our music because we have A.R. Rahman, Ilayaraja and the latest fad, Anirudh Ravichandran.

Yes, we are conservative and narrow-minded, but stereotyping us makes others narrow minded as well. Oops, isn't it?

We are obsessed with Engineering! For once, you have hit the bull’s eye. We are obsessed with Engineering and it just does not end here, we are supposed to do our masters from an Ivy League university. In few cases, we do our Ph.D. from the Ivy Leagues. That is when our education is complete. (Am I rubbing it in? *Sadistic grin*)

On a serious note, it would be wonderful if we stop stereotyping each other and love our country instead of our regions. South India, North India, East India, West India, and phew, Central India come together to be known as India. No country is perfect, ours isn’t either. But we can leave out our petty differences behind. Isn’t it?

DISCLAIMER: This is just a funny dig at our system, and we, South Indians do not hold any grudge against anyone. Ah, we love the attention we get. Yes, we love the element of drama in our lives.