Industrialist Anand Mahindra, in tweet on January 14, said just one Tamil phrase, "poda dei", is enough to sum up to two full sentences in English.
The Mahindra Group chairperson tweeted that saying “poda dei”, which translates to “go away”, is sufficient to express one’s frustration. In English, a person would say: “I'm afraid I don't have the time or inclination to listen to your explanation and understand your point of view. Would really appreciate if you'd please leave me alone.”
The industrialist described Tamil as an “energy-efficient language”. Mahindra added that he went to school in Tamil Nadu and “poda dei” was the first Tamil phrase he learnt.
Mahindra said that he has used “poda dei” many times. “Sometimes loudly, but usually under my breath," he added.
Actor Gul Panag replied: “It was the first word most of us learnt.”
Twitter users responded with equivalents of the phrase in other languages. “In Punjabi ‘dafa hoja’ and in Haryana ‘pre ne marle’,” a user named Sonia Saini said.
Others were not pleased with the comparison Mahindra made. “To express ‘leave me alone’ so many unnecessary words are used,” said a Twitter user named Ravi Sutharsan. “You cannot make one language superior by showing other to be inferior.”
Another person said: “Absolutely! ‘Leave me alone’ is as energy efficient.”
A Twitter user named Ananda Krishnan said in Malayalam, people only say “Podei”.
“It also has the same energy. I think the variety of languages are the power of India,” he added.
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