In the beginning, there was the word

TamBrams like to speak in Madras bashai. Although they speak the TamBram version of Tamizh at home (of the kind that Govt. secretaries, lawyers and other appavi characters in Tam movies speak), they prefer to display their fluency in Madras bashai in the company of others. This is because local is cool and paralocal is cooler. What gangsta is to white yuppies, so is being country to TamBrams. To quote an example, the kid who says, ‘Eppadi irukkel, mama?’ at home, greets his friends with, ‘Eppadi keera, mamu?’. While the TamBram parents are aware of this bilinguistic affinity in their kids, they choose to turn a blind eye.

The kids who were avid stamp collectors in their childhood are now passionate slang-collectors. With great zeal they collect and display the rarest of abuses, some of which would shock even the most hardened bus conductor in Saidapet. Their collection is on display at the Wikipedia article on Madras bashai which has been laboriously and minutely curated by TamBrams. While not reciting the Vishnu Sahasranamam, young Tambrams can be found reciting this Wikipedia list.