Tuesday, January 06, 2009

'Surangani' outbreak on passenger flights baffles Airlines, Aviation Ministry.

by Anand Ramachandran, who is shocked by the fact that Surangani is no longer sung on school and college excursions.




A strange epidemic which has whole groups of people travelling on airlines breaking out into spontaneous group renditions of 'Surangani', in true excursion style, has perplexed cabin crews of airlines all over the country.


“We've never seen anything like this. After we've been flying for a few minutes, they all just start clapping rhythmically and sing 'Surangani'. It's amazing!”, said a stewardess from Kingfisher, softly muttering “maalu maalu maalu, suranganika maalu” under her breath.



People on a Kingfisher airlines flight joyfully break into a rendition of Surangani, ad-libbing lyrics inspired by the pretty girl dancing in the aisles.


“It's quite strange. The scene is exactly the same, regardless of the flight, passengers, or route. Apart from the clapping and discordant singing, there are other staples – different people trying to 'lead' with their own favourite verse, some passengers who don't know the lyrics 'winging it' by singing the 'maalu maalu maalu' part really loud, and a couple of others who are too posh to sing along , but who just clap.”, explained Naresh Goyal, chairman of Jet Airways, making his debut on Son of Bosey. “It could also be due to the startling similarity between the layout of a passenger aircraft cabin and a tourist bus.”, he added thoughtfully, retsraining himself from scratching his non-existent beard, or anyone else's, for that matter.


Scientists have immediately linked this behaviour to a similar phenomenon that will be familiar to anyone who has been on any bus or van excursion in Tamil Nadu – where otherwise diverse groups of people (students, IT professionals, families, it doesn't matter) inexplicably begin clapping and singing Surangani after about twenty minutes on the road, ignoring the many thousands of other available songs that can be sung badly off-key.


“We're not sure why it always comes down to Surangani. Perhaps it's the catchy tune? Perhaps the fact that an imaginative (and dirty) mind can easily make up verses on the fly? Perhaps 'Nessun Dorma' is not quite within the vocal range of most excursion-goers?”, pondered a scientist, speaking on behalf of the Group for Advanced Analysis of Nonsense and Absurdity (GAANA).



A typical Surangani attack experienced by a group of youngsters travelling by bus to Tiger Cave (or possibly Buhari Blue Lagoon, it's impossible to tell for sure.)


“Perhaps it is because thousands of people who otherwise travel by bus and van are now taking to the skies, thanks to my dynamic initiatives in lowering the costs of flying.”, said Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, taking the opportunity to gain some mileage for himself. “And you must admit, I have one of the cooler names among politicians. Much better than dweebs like P.Chidambaram, P.R. Das Munshi and the late Ghani Khan Chaudhary.”, added Mr.Patel with a debonair wink, before trotting off to play Gears of War 2 with Minister of Shipping and Road Transport T.R.Baalu.


“Heh, gotta love Surangani. I remember one bit about 'Kiss kudutha kaas kuduppa Queen Mary's Ponnu . . . “, trailed off wildlife photographer S.U.Saravanakumar, trying hard to remember the exact words.


“Wait, wait! I know one! er . . wait . . it ends with 'Pachchamolagaa pottu thinna kaaram kaaram!”, said an excited Aravind Murali, forgetting the lyrics as usual.


“Suraangani is actually a Sinhalese 'baila' song about a man buying fish for a girl.”, said an authoritative Vishwanathan Srinivasan, demonstrating his knowledge of Sri Lanka. “ Sri Lanka is also home to the water monitor lizard, known locally as Gabragoyan.”, he added, in an Arun Lal-like departure from the relevant topic.


“While I must agree that Surangani is undoubtedly the chart topper, we must not ignore the popularity of other perennial favourites such as 'Veetukku veetukku vaasapadi', 'Nara naraa', and 'Jigujikkan Jigujikkaan Jikka' (sung to the tune of Nandavanaththil oru aandi)”, said famous gaana expert Sarath Dorbala, creator of several popular ditties himself. He soon excused himself, after delighting the crowd by softly muttering “Kamaluukum Rajanikkum Sandai . . . “ under his breath.


While the Surangani epidemic rages on unabated, there has fortunately been no similar outbreak of the forgotten Bappi Lahiri classic “Lovers. Nightlovers.” or that song in which Bali Brahmabhatt emerges from a helicopter. There must be a God.

44 comments:

Anonymous said...

"kamalukkum rajnikkum sandai"..hmm..appuram? :-)
atleast tell the name of the affected party because of the sandai, no? :-)

Anand Ramachandran's Evil Twin said...

Anonymous - If you don't know that, ask a friend who grew up in the eighties and early nineties. Hint - Sridevi.

Narendra shenoy said...

I know and love this song! It's the one you can make dysfunctional lyrics like


If you want to meet me darling
Do not come at one
In fact do not come at all
Unless your HIV bloodtest's done

If you want to meet me darling
You must be very kind
Or extremely poor of eyesight
Or out of your f**ing mind

If you want to meet me darling
You had better know I'm gay
And unless you're a transvestite
I think you should run away

Love the expression on people's faces!

Narendra shenoy, in a misanthropic mood

Anonymous said...

ROFL! I totally forgot this song existed, now it is stuck in a loop in my head!
This plus that song from Amaran, man, I don't think there was any trip without either of this.
You crammed so much comedy gold in one article..Lahari and Bali, my goodness that song was gaudy. Harsh lighting, and hairstyles of both the parties. Wasn't this the staple of DD new year's eve program? Sharon Prabhakar too, holy smokes, nightmare!

Anonymous said...

I love you! I'd have your babies, but I'd laugh myself into a miscarriage.

Alan Smithee said...

The affected party is not Sridevi herself, but part of her anatomy that rhymes with sandai.

Nitin said...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! yet another classic - how does it even strike u to write abt these idiosyncracies!

Vadakkoot said...

am not from tamil nadu and don't know this song.. but enjoyed the post :)
can someone link me to this on youtube or something? i can understand tamil.. may be it would help me enjoy the post fully....

Ramesh Srivats said...

After all, they are on an air-bus.

The Mudd said...

in case i forgot to mention, that was only for the LIC verse... we hadn even got to the kamal rajni thing yet...

Anonymous said...

shit man, i always wondered what the hell this Surangini song was, and why i had never seen it on TV. Also how did everyone except me know this song ? how could they so simultaneously sing it , when i watched in awe and disgust for not knowing the lyrics.

F*** i can relate perfectly to your posts. you must be in your early thirties right ?

- Perplexed

Anand Ramachandran's Evil Twin said...

Anonymous Perplexed - closer to mid-thirties, mate.

Ramesh - anyone else tell you you're a dead ringer for Chef Samir Singla?

Everyone else - thanks for reading Son of Bosey.

Anonymous said...

Hilarious stuff!
btw, is the 'Nara Nara' song same as that 'Rangaraatinam' song? Man, that brings back memories of ragging! We had to perform some of these songs with "action". :)

Anand Ramachandran's Evil Twin said...

Manoj - Hahaha - Saidapettai Madhaanathile Rangaraatanam - oh man, the memories.

AR Hemant said...

I trust you fully to exceed yourself.

Gorfus Horribulus said...

hmmm... I wonder if there is a compendium of such stuff online anywhere... The search commences!

Ganesh said...

awesome!

any thoughts on http://www.behindwoods.com/features/Interviews/interview-5/director/vijaya-t-rajendar.html ?

Ramesh Srivats said...

Chef Samir Singla??? Whoiteees?

Btw, true to my facesake, I have cooked up a report on the trial of the Satyam Chairman. You can read it here... http://www.rameshsrivats.net/2009/01/satyam-chairman-on-trial.html

Anonymous said...

you always mention the names of non existent associations, what are you trying to say ?

Anand Ramachandran's Evil Twin said...

Anonymous - could you please repeat the question? ;)

Anonymous said...

If you think that surangani song is cool you are probably touching fifty!

Suuren D'sa said...

Oh that Journey!

From being one of the “passengers who don't know the lyrics 'winging it' by singing the 'maalu maalu maalu' part”, to be one of the “people trying to 'lead' with their own favourite verse”

You got me nostalgic mate!

Atho paaru lightu……

Chanakyaa said...

keezhiyumo keezhiyaadhooo......

i cant believe if kids dont sing it now...
at least i carry on the tradition here whilst doing pretty much everything and anything.............

haa good ole times....nice one anaand......

Anonymous said...

I was referring to things like Group for Advanced Analysis of Nonsense and Absurdity (GAANA). You have a group for everything in almost all posts. my question is : what exactly is the message / sarcasm there (if there is )?

Anand Ramachandran's Evil Twin said...

Anonymous : Oh, that!

The usage of numerous fictitious and irrelevant acronyms in our material is a manifestation of our strongly held belief that acronyms and abbreviations are inherently malicious devices used to obfuscate real meanings, to sugar-coat the dark disturbing realities, if you will. By satirizing them, we are, in our own little way, contributing towards bringing them down. Once and for all.

Anonymous said...

facesake.

hahahahahaha. superb.

Anonymous said...

It is for some reason fashionable to use acronyms. btw what the hell is that ROTFL that people, very ironically write ,in response to your posts ?

Anonymous said...

wateveritees... this post has certainly unleashed a suraangani outbreak on google reader shared feeds, gtalk status messages, blog posts, friendfeed yada yada... thanks folks for giving us flashes of flashbacks.
here's an old video of that song being performed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lUFTMXNzPM

Anonymous said...

oh please oh please rip apart urban poodle crorepati...I mean, slumdog millionaire

Ravages/CC said...

Another favourite Bus song is 'Naan siricha deepavali'

priya krishnan said...

hahahahahaha......LMAO!!!!

wat does maalu maalu mean anyway? I was definitely one of the people who used to "wing it" coz i had no clue why people wud sing this as soon as they get on a bus!!!

Anand Ramachandran's Evil Twin said...

Maalu Maalu, if I am correct, literally translates to 'Fish Fish'.

Anonymous said...

ok, im the original anon wanting to know the affected party in rajni-kamal. Just wanted to note that I was fully aware of the rhyming word which is affected but obviously, just wanted to know the owner of that anatomy. This one is also re-used with MGRkum Sivajikkum Sandai and Jayalalitha(or Saroja Devi) replacing Sridevi.

Yes, I am that old - ungala maadhiri 80's childrenkku kooda annanpa!
Most recently this could be used for MS Dhoni and Yuvraj and Deepika Padukone. Or Salman Khan, Vivek Oberoi and Aishwarya Rai. See I keep up with latest trends, too:-)

Anonymous said...

“ Sri Lanka is also home to the water monitor lizard, known locally as Gabragoyan.”, he added, in an Arun Lal-like departure from the relevant topic.

That for me was the funniest.. i still remember Arun Lal going on and on about birds in Kolkata.. Tony Greig would have killed himself if had a gun or a butter knife..

Anonymous said...

How about ranga ratanam in saidapet maidhanam....also LIC ikku padhinnalu maadi.....of course the world famous studooo thaaaan vazhkaile naai...avan poonan da mount road vhieedele......

inis

onejubb said...

its true....ramesh shrivats and chef samir singla same guy

Anonymous said...

Yetta number bus-le pona orae kondatam,
Blouse kulle kai vechu rubber pundhatam!

Anonymous said...

Nice one...yet again

Not only have we stopped these bus trips... we have stopped singing too ...

Has recession got anything to do with this ??

Anonymous said...

oh this song is so pleasant it gives me moemories of my childhood days
i dont recollect the whole of the song as v use to sing it goes like this
do not meet at one my mother will be waiting with a chappal and a shoe surangini surangini .....
pl help me know the entire song with these english lines

Yuvraj Parekh said...

I'm from orissa and I still remember the days whn we used to gang up and have those singing sessions... surangii was a, nay, is still my fav..

But the sorry part is i've forgotten the lyrics... wud be glad if someone cud help me wid the english part of the song.. in fact why english..the entire lyrics pls

Unknown said...

HAHAHAHAAHHAA!! SO TRUE!

Deepak G said...

lol

Anonymous said...

i think the stanzas were something like..

If you wanna meet me darling, don't come at one,
For my papa will be waiting with a double-barrel gun...

If you wanna meet me darling, don't come at two,
For my mama will be waiting with a chappal and a shoe...


Some people in my college used to add some hindi stanza's to it... don't remember them that well

Anonymous said...

u r a bluddddddy fucker gooo ahead