babalog

n. a young, Westernized social group or individual concerned with wealth, pop culture fads, appearance, material goods, or other superficialities; a yuppy or yuppies. Formerly associated with associates of Rajiv Gandhi. Also attrib. Subjects: English, Hindi, Urdu, India

Etymological Note: < Anglo-Indian ‘children’ < Hindi baba ‘father’ + log लोग ‘people, tribe, caste, folk’

Comments? | Cites | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Citations: 1998 Sevanti Ninan The Hindu (Chennai, India) (July 12) “A question of style”: Star News, with its socioeconomic category A and A+ audience firmly in mind, hires the babalog of New Delhi’s movers and shakers, the sort of young people who have trouble reading the Devnagri script. 2002 [Cricfan (asimha@My-deja.com)] Usenet: rec.arts.movies.local.indian (Feb. 7) “Humour: Our Brown Sahebs (Re: Language in Indian films)”: This is a hilarious article I dug up from an Illustrated Weekly dated July 5, 1970…"Our Brown Sahebs–By Bachi N. Kanga…The Brown Sahebs babalog go to public schools where they wear caps and striped ties (the tie is Very important, it is the bond of a lifetime), learn latin, play cricket and eat Irish stew. They get their facts of Indian history from S.Reed Brett. Esq., who dwells in great and gory detail over, the Black Hole of Calcutta. Jalianwalla Bagh? Never heard of it.” 2003 [jrob225@hotmail.com] Usenet: rec.sport.cricket (Jan. 14) “Re: Sidhu road rage murderer?”: i m anyway opposed to this Kakaji (Babalog) culture where these brats are given so many resources and power that they consider themselves much above the lesser mortals. 2004 Shobha De Times of India (Feb. 1) “Page 3 Politicians”: The Babalog are gearing up for the party ahead (everything’s a party, darling, when you get to the bottom of it). Their idea of grass-roots level democracy does not go beyond checking their own manicured lawns for weeds. Don’t be surprised if election promises include really, really vital stuff like extending lounge bar timings and doing away with taxes on designer clothes. The party they belong to is the one being hosted by a polo-playing buddy in a sprawling farmhouse. These good-looking leaders will push an agenda that might include the transformation of their shrewdly-chosen constituencies into versions of Buddha Bar. 2004 David Orr, David Guttenfelder @ Delhi, India The Scotsman (Scotland) (May 16) “Triumph of Dynasty’s Darling”: These are the ‘babalog,’ the young crowd, or to use the buzzword of the Indian media, the ‘GenNext’: cyber-savvy, computer-literate, young urban professionals.

Posted 16 May 04 | Permalink | Tell a Friend