Not all words roll off the tongue, a lot of them trip and that can easily get embarrassing. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s name is one example. Most times, I’d choose to hastily rush through the pronunciation, but that doesn’t seem a problem anymore. This is after a dilliwala turned his surname into something easier to spell and pronounce, at least for us.
Anand Mahindra tweeted a picture of a mural of Arnold Schwarzenegger, which was made by Mohit Suneja. It is a sketch of the actor along with his name, which is spelled as, ‘ Arnold Subhashnagar’. And, this is honestly where the famous ‘dilliwala juggad’ peaked.
This is the ‘Great Indian Funnel.’ We adopt everything and everyone & give them Indian Avatars! हम पूरी दुनिया को अपनाते हैं. (And I wonder why I used to try so hard to pronounce ‘Schwarzenegger’ when I could have just called him Mr. Subhashnagar..) pic.twitter.com/zqOZN05k2N
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) June 16, 2022
People liked the idea and even came up with new variations.
I occasionally explain it Dal Ram Pal, but Dharampal is even better
— William Dalrymple (@DalrympleWill) June 17, 2022
I remember standing in line to buy a ticket for his “End of Days” movie in Chennai (the movie name was written in Tamil) and an Anna in Lungi pronounced it as Arnaald Sadashivam 😂😭
— Nikhil Narula (@globalnimari) June 16, 2022
Sir, communication is what matters at the end. Long back, a friend of mine, after watching the movie The Terminator, told me the hero’s name: Mr Orlando Sarojini Nagar. It took me a few seconds, but I understood.
— Deba R Mohanty (@MohantyD1) June 16, 2022
Thanks for posting wonderfully humorous stuff. Keep discovering.
@anandmahindra In Mumbai, they call him Arnold Shivajinagar 😜 pic.twitter.com/zpN2Qq36ac
— Vinay Lohar (@captorofbits) June 16, 2022
This is the limit of Indianization 😆😂😂😂
— Dr Charuhas #Wanderlust (@charuhasmujumd1) June 16, 2022
I had read a Marathi story where James Bond was Indianized as ‘Janu Bande’
😆😂😂😂
… and I wonder why I used to try so hard to pronounce ‘Mandrake’ when I Could have just called him Mr. Mahindra (and Mahindra once again too)!
— Rajeev R. Singh 💎 (@rajeevsonline) June 20, 2022
😂😂🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/T1FDeHaAuh
It’s like those English films dubbed in Hindi, where they end up giving the character a desi name.