Sumedha Raikar-Mhatre: What's the good word?

The Bombay High Court termed the Marathi word ghati as an offensive term one that can be ldquointerpreted as an insult by many across the staterdquo The famed British lexicographer J T Molesworth deconstructed it otherwise His compendium of Marathi words published in 1863 and now available in its tenth corrected edition 2013 characterises ghati or ghatval as ldquorelating to the Desh or country above the Sayhaacutedri hill rangerdquo This word was used by the Konkanis in Mumbai and Konkan to rebuke the gauche ways and country accent of those from the ghats As late as 2006 Navi Mumbai witnessed riots over ghati outsiders taking away jobs from the Agri and Koli settlersIllustrations Uday MohiteGhatirsquos dual identity is rooted in the KonkaniversusGhati friction and also in the migrantsvisavisMaharashtrian debate It is a homogenised reference for all locals as seen in books like Breathless In Bombay and Such A Long Journey The potential of ghati which the court has underlined has inspired us to craft a glossary of Marathi expressions that have gained colourful connotations in the mainstream public discourse mdash colloquialisms coopted in a Bollywood lexicon or simple words turned into loaded carriers of political agendaAmcha BollywoodAmong the terms which took the Bollywood route Ata Mazhi Satakli Now I have lost my temper from Singham tops the chart It was middleclass anger against smugglers and assassins of the Ajay Devgan scale Similar in stature stands Dushman ki Vaat Lavli Vanquished the enemy from the Hindi film Bajirao Mastani Bajirao also underwent a cultural makeover What once signified a bit of bombast and a philanderer now is a chiselled Maratha warrior in the league of Ranveer Singh Bajiraorsquos prestige upgrade corelates with Dajibarsquos downfall over a decade ago after the lavani Aika Dajiba projected the winking male lead mdash no longer a father figureMarathi street lingo gained a permanent gate pass in Hindi filmland at the beginning of the 21st century when Sanjay Dutt films embraced endearing cusswords mdash tapori bhidu yeda and shana Aayla formed vibrant semiphallic parlance in realistic screenplays featuring chawl or slum lifeBai politicsAiyyaa and agabai came into national consciousness when actresses Rani Mukerji and Priyanka Chopra used these sweetnothings to capture feminine wonderment Before Mukerjirsquos Hindi film Aiyyaa the effiminite guy in the vicinity or on celluloid was teased with AiyyaaBai lies at the core of many social exchanges owing to its textured history In the preIndependence era Bai denoted respect like in the case of Ahilyabai Holkar or Mogubai Kurdikar As Mumbai started shaping into a metropolis Bai metamorphosed into a workforce term either the bespectacled grammar teacher or the sariclad top servant Bai progressed in stature after the eighties when thespian Vijaya Mehta elevated her Bai status in experimental theatre and parallel cinema circles the Bai school of thought was advocated in her autobiography and numerous media interviews Bai got another boost in October 2015 when a MarathiHindi remix number on Youtube presented Shantabai as a sex siren As the audio track was superimposed onto steamy videos the Shantabai construct underwent an interesting cultural passageAs this columnist asked nondescript lyricist Sunil Londhe to look back at Shantabairsquos stardom he said he was embarrassed that Shantabai was seen as a ldquohot womanrdquo but happy that she wasnrsquot a maidCuisine WiseAs the misal pav served at a Dadar restaurant was named the worldrsquos tastiest vegetarian dish at Londonrsquos Foodie Hub Awards the misal became the face of Marathi cookery and entrepreneurship The vada pav crossed over as the Mumbai burgerBoth were marketed as iconic traditional dishes close to the Marathi selfimage But for Maharashtrians the vada and the misal operated in a different pedestrian context The vada a lowwage earnerrsquos quick dry meal was sought to be replaced by the more nourishing zunkabhakari The Shiv Senaled government in 1995 floated the R1 per plate zunka bhakar scheme to popularise the native delicacy The scheme was abandoned 2007 as the bhakari stalls started vending fastfood Years later the Sena launched the Shiv Wada scheme As they embraced the deepfried vada others joined the bandwagon and Nitesh Rane whose father Narayan Rane had defected to the Congress from the Sena launched the Swambhiman Selfrespect Wada Foodies could not understand whose respect was at stake and how the vada mitigated a political wrongdoing They concentrated on the insides of whichever vada they ateIcard pleaseJai Maharashtra is the statespecific slogan owing allegiance to the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement After the creation of the linguistic state in 1960 it became a rallying point for the Shiv Sena to raise issues of provincial concern aroundBut the Senarsquos intellectual property hold over the catchphrase was shortlived since rivals and allies on all sides of the political spectrum cashed in on its potency during the season called elections Just as Jai Maharashtra seeped deeper as a legitimate refrain Marathi Manoos and Amchi Mumbai gained currency Marathi Asmita became a mustmentionable in any written or verbal piece of communication on identity politics indigenous culture and linguistic pride Television channels Maayboli social musters Amhi Marathi Twitter groups Marathi Dhammal Marathi Mandali and Mi Marathiinscribed merchandise echoed the same sentiment Amchi Mumbai became a headline for English newspaper copy on urban governanceGheun TakIt translates simply into ldquotake itrdquo depending on what is up for grabs particularly prospects in a sports contest like the Usha Mumbai Gheun Tak Frisbee tournament or Gheun Tak Youth Carnival and Gheun Tak Selfie contest A funny offshoot is the Gheun Tak Shotglass sold under the tagline ldquoWhen your vodka is poured mdash donrsquot wait mdash Gheun Takrdquo Itrsquos an offer worth considering Sumedha RaikarMhatre is a culture columnist in search of the subtext