Tana-tunn ! टना-टन

Tana-tunn ! टना-टन
By: Rajbir Deswal
Slangs may be more tolerable and less sober. With sufficient amount of faithfulness, sincerity and honesty, they convey the sense, in its perfect tone and tenor. This undoubtedly makes the conversation more enjoyable. In our own Hindustani, the slangs’ list may be exhaustive, but let us take up some of these colloquial expressions.
Consider Tana-tunn first. Enquire about someone’s health and he may quip, “Tana-tunn!” Now there are a thousand meanings that can be attributed to this argot. Tana-tunn may connote ‘condition,’ ‘position’ and so on. Generally, it is an overstatement made, when (and mostly) it comes to ones potency or inadequacy, or both.
Mall does not refer to Mall Road or Shopping Malls only. The slang means everything, ranging from merchandise to even someone you may have a crush on. More so, when it comes to supply of beetle leaf, footwear, cosmetics, fabric, medicine, machinery, screws, anything or everything on earth including ‘kidneys’, the dispenser may say, “Mall hi nahin aaya!”
Take for example our own indigenous Jugar. It means an alternative, when the actual is unavailable. Jugar encompasses ‘virtually’ everything that ‘works’; be it a government, a machine, a system or even an improvisation. In the Indian context, jugar may be a stop-gap-arrangement, which can be ‘dragged’ on without inviting frowns, and with impunity.
Phoonk remains my personal choice ever since I became conscious of my ego. You assume airs and inhale enough phoonk. Others also make you inflate with phoonk. In case of a failure, they always refer to some kind of a deflation of phoonk only; but then they will say, “Sahib ki phoonk sarak gayeei” I don’t know if it is a pointed adaptation to ‘taking wind out of sails!’
Sho-sha is again exhibitionist in character. It is a gimmick. A prank. A trick to lure. Blandishments. All combined to make one indulge in an impulsive ostentation, or showing off. Sho-sha entails expenditure, and is considered dispensible for the critics, who call it extravaganza. Sho-sha is feed for some, and food for many.
Fukrapan relates to ones style. Of dressing. Of talking. Of ones conducting himself or herself, in a maner generally perceived to be a fetish, fixation, mania or obsession. Fukrapan also takes its toll on the practitioner’s expenses.
In a Rajesh Khanna movie of the seventies, I was shocked (then) to hear him call his soulmate a Kutti Cheeze—a hurricane, or a bewitching beauty! These days they use callings which in due course have become ‘acceptable’. Be they relate to ‘wear’ and ‘tear’—no pun intended please. We are middle writers. Kutti may be a bitch, and cheeze (also vastu) may mean more than that cheesy white stuff.
Bindaas is someone who is bold, from out of the world, adventurous, overbearing, go-getter, and what not. Late Luxmi coined this expression which may, no doubt, one day find place in Oxford and Macmillan dictionaries. Other slangs from Bollywodd include, Mamu, Beedu, Dhakkan etc etc.
Last but not the least to mention is tahsan. Finer and even bolder nuances of this slang connote something done as a precursor to another thing which has the force of a firm belief, be it religious, personal or societal. For example, if someone distracts at that very moment when the die is to be cast, then they say the tashan is lost. Remember the successful gimmick of, “Yaaran da tashan” in an Amir Khan ad, of a popular brand of cold drink!
What? Did you really comment on my pen? Well it is tana-tunn! No pun intended please. We are middle writers!