Black and Bright and Beautiful

[Arun Gupta]

On Tue, 14 Nov 2000 07:01:28 +0530, RM. Krishnan <poo at GIASMD01.VSNL.NET.IN>
wrote:

>Without knowing (?) the basic meaning, Tamil Brahmins (especially the
>mothers) do call children as 'kaNNa'. They think they are referring to
>Krishna. But then both Krishna and kaNNa are different rendering of the
>same. - black. It is as if calling a child with love as 'Blacky'.
>
>Interesting, is it not? 'En kaNNullE, En kaNNuk kutti'

I always thought that kaNNa was related to Kanha, Kanhaiya, which is listed
as the tadbhav form of "Krishna", also refers to blue and black. I also
don't think anyone is under any mis-impression of what Kanna or Krishna
means -- when I noticed as a four-year old that I was dark-skinned and
different from the American children around me (and dark-skinned relative my
family) my mother told me about Krishna, how he was special and how he had
dark skin.  So I doubt that far more learned Brahmins would be as dumb as
you suggest.

Chauvinism whether "Dravidian" or "Aryan" or "Tamilian" or "Sanskritic" is
offensive, even more so when it masquerades as scholarship.  I'm surprised
that the rest of the list has remained silent, but I'm sure they couldn't
care less if "pimply green toad" turned out to be a term of endearment, no
matter how much "scholarship" was behind it.

-Arun Gupta