Know your kuttans

Know your Kuttans ~ Tony kuttan

Kuttan is an endearing term used to address small boys. At times, we use it for big boys too. One such kuttan is Tonykuttan. He is a character which all the 80’s and early 90’s kids remember with fondness from the movie, No.20 madras mail. He has caught the imagination of many a train travelling malayalee.

Pronounciation : Kuttan ~ Ku (‘Cou’ as in Could) and ttan (‘Ten’ as in 10).

So Tonykuttan is a malayalee( ha ha surprise!) and he is drunk( ha ha big surprise! J ) and he is in a train. The TTR comes for checking, becomes friends with him and he starts singing this song. “Innallenkil naale varum…naale allenkil mattannal varum..Tony Kutta…Tony kutta..” . The essence of the song is in stressing on the Kutta part. You need to be careful in adding some air to the pronunciation of the word, Kutta!

So next time you travel to Kerala, seek out the TTR and sing this song to him. If he is a malayalee, he will throw you out of the train J. If he is not a malayalee, he will think you have gone mad. So a safer idea is to sing this to your friends.

Does this song or character have a great deal of importance in the Kerala society’s fabric? Not in a serious sense. But we like the song. We like Tonykuttan. Tonykuttan travels by train. Tonykuttan has good friends. Tonykuttan sings songs. Be like Tonykuttan.

P.s. There are Kuttans of different variety.There is a harmless kuttan in movie Blore days. But the moment you add thampuran as second name to kuttan, the entire scenario changes!!!