Andhra Pradesh

Wrangle over idiom

The remarks of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy against the former Chief Minister and TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu in the Assembly were interpreted in different ways by different television channels on Monday.

While the Telugu channels were able to show the utterings of Dr. Reddy which outside the House or in Rayalaseema parlance cannot be termed unparliamentary, the translation by English TV channels was incorrect. What Dr. Reddy said was that Mr. Naidu would regret why he emerged from his mother’s womb and that he would `wash him’. But the English channels said that Dr. Reddy heaped insult and threatened to `wipe him (Mr. Naidu) out’ to the amusement of viewers familiar with the Telugu idiom.

Harry Potter mania gripped the city in such a way that several kids bunked schools and went for `first day first show’ when it was released in the city on Friday at a premier theatre. Cashing in on the Potter fever, the management of the theatre also made provision for advance booking.

The excitement also prevailed at a couple of leading bookstores, which sold the latest Harry Potter book with the offer of several goodies. Those who watched preferred to be engrossed in heated discussions with their friends on various characters.

Tests have become the order of the day. Right from admission to school to top courses, an entrance test has become mandatory.

Thanks to some intervention by courts, the obnoxious entrance for admission to kindergarten had been done away with. The other day, an examination was conducted for archakas (priests in temples). It was held on the lines of other board examinations.

The questions papers were kept in a police station, brought before the examination began and opened according to the procedure.

After the examination, bundle of answer sheets were kept again in the police station.

A day later, a person would accompany the answer sheets to deposit them at the Endowments Commissioner’s office in Hyderabad.

The practical and oral examination in conducting rituals was conducted by a panel of scholars.

After all the labour, those who pass the test are qualified for seeking a job as priest in a temple just as a degree or post-graduation certificate does for other jobs.

Times have become really competitive.

Prabhakkar Sharma, Santosh Patnaik and G.V.Prasada Sarma

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