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> This was because of the monetary denomination of the Indian rupee at the time, where 16 Annas made a Rupee, 12 Kanis made an Anna and 4 Dammidies made a Kani.
by sundarurfriend 3y ago
> This was because of the monetary denomination of the Indian rupee at the time, where 16 Annas made a Rupee, 12 Kanis made an Anna and 4 Dammidies made a Kani.
I had a vague idea about Annas and never knew about the other two, but I realize have encountered shadows of all of these growing up.
My vague understanding of annas came from 25 paisa and 50 paisa coins being a thing, and being called நாலணா (4 annas) and எட்டணா (8 annas).
Kani I assume is காணி, and finally I understand what Bharathiyar was asking for when he asked "காணி நிலம் வேண்டும்" ("my wish is for meagre land worth a mere Kani").
Dammidi must be தம்படி, and survives mostly as an insult: "தம்படி பெறாது" = "this thing is not even worth a Dammidi".
- m_km 3y agoBharathiyar was asking for about 1.32 acres of land https://thakavalkalangiam.blogspot.com/2013/03/blog-post_9536.html https://thakavalkalangiam.blogspot.com/2013/03/blog-post_953...
- sundarurfriend 3y agoThanks. I'd assumed he was going for the humble, ascetic, "I don't need much" intent, but I should have known that isn't Bharatiyar's style! Asking for 1.32 acres fits better with the rest of the poem where Bharati doesn't hold back from expressing his (pretty reasonable) wants.
- unmole 3y ago> Dammidi must be தம்படி, and survives mostly as an insult. Ha! It survives as in insult in Telugu too: "He doesn't have an income of even a dammidi."
- tempaccount7482 3y agoSame for Marathi.