Thursday, May 13, 2004
A farceur extraordinaire
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Every once in a while, I come across a tidbit on the web that mentions the name Ramesh Mahadevan, and I cannot help but revisit his writings. Who is Ramesh Mahadevan, you ask? Anyone who trolled Indian USENET newsgroups like soc.culture.indian in the 90s would find his name to be a familiar one. His howlarious insights into the confusion of being a ‘desi’ student in the US, brought to us via the fictional Ajay Palvayanteeswaran, a Kerala brahmin from IIT-Madras, have earned their place in cyber-literature. Here’s a list of all of his works.
It’s tough to pick any one of his writings and call it the best. But here’s one for a sample of his humor. This one covers passport troubles, the unstoppable burgeoning of desi-stores and a visit to the dentist.
Migration, Emigration and Transmigration
I was in Amsterdam a couple of months ago and somebody promptly picked my pocket a few hours after my arrival there and took my Indian passport. Panic-stricken, I located a police station — my first tourist sight in Amsterdam and lodged a complaint to a doughnut-eating policeman.
“Where did you lose it?” was his first dumb question.
Darn! How do I know? If I knew it exactly, I would have taken care not to lose it in the first place! I pointed my finger vaguely in the direction of the large window in the office.
“Red light district,” he wrote down.
By the way, the prostitutes in Amsterdam accept even travelers’ checks, I was told. Oops, I am digressing. Read more..
oh gosh what a maddeningly funny description. It took me nearly an hour to finish it as I spent around 55
minutes laughing on my chair while my cube mate looked on as if I have finally flipped. This is the most I have ever laughed to an article. This guy should be either writing novels or should in movies or both. Just Hilarious.
Thursday, May 13, 2004 @ 5:27 PM
Comic writing is not trivial! Genuine comedy without being vulgar or trivial is an art, and Ramesh seems to be a true artist. I think where a comic writer excels is if he can take everyday incidents and look at it in a way that tickles the bone ..Thats true genius. PG Wodehouse comes to mind too ..
Ofcourse its all the more enjoyable since so much of it one can directly relate to having been a part of similar incidents too..
I would think these posts were made some years ago..Being a more recent “experiencer” ( now why isnt that a word ? :) ..if howlarious is then so is this ! ) of the whole indian-in-usa-grad school-experience I would like to give my 0.02$ that things have not changed much ..The india store, the desi party etc are all still very much ubiquitous and pretty similar to how the author describes.Probably will remain so for a long time :)
Monday, May 17, 2004 @ 6:40 PM
It has been quite nostalgic reading through your postings. Fabulous yet simple style. I wish I had even an iota of your talents !!! Will look forwards to more of your postings. And, thanks for introducing me to this wonderful avenue for self expression. Best Wishes …
Wednesday, May 19, 2004 @ 2:21 AM
Well said Anirudh! Making people laugh is a skill few are blessed with, and Ramesh certainly is one of them. While comedic writing is a skill in itself, being able to write with humor on seemingly trivial incidents that people relate to, is what adds to the appeal of his work! Ajay Palvayanteeswaran now has his own place in my list of college buddies. :)
Thanks Gvenum, glad it had you laughing! On one of the websites that houses Ramesh’s writings, they ask that you make sure that none of your colleagues are within earshot, before you proceed to read. A reasonable word of caution, I think! :)
And thank you Maddy for your comments. Glad you decided to jump on the blogging bandwagon! Looking forward to more of your self_expressions..
Wednesday, May 19, 2004 @ 10:43 AM
Thanx to your blog, I came upon Ramesh Mahadevan, whom I’ve never heard of. Having read some of P.G.Wodehouse’s recently, cant but help, feel, Ramesh seems to be an P.G.Wodehouse, in an Indian avatar. Excellent stuff, and the humor rings home even more, considering its not written in P.G.W’s style of English, and English settings, but apna desi style. I hope to come back and read more of his work. - H.
Thursday, May 20, 2004 @ 11:32 AM
Hello, my first time here! I too am a big fan of Ramesh Mahadevan, and stumbled upon this blog as I googled for “Ramesh Mahadevan” in an attempt to find out more about the guy who wrote such amazing stuff.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005 @ 12:49 AM