Colours of India -Kokanastha Brahmins

At the onset, let me clear something, I do not believe in caste supremacy. But yes, "being secular does not mean being non-religious", is what one of the news channels carried the other day. So, I introduce my community - The Kokanastha Brahmins - or as they call themselves, Kobra.

Kobras are characterized by their grey-green eyes and that they are very fair. But yes, I know Kobras who are an exception in both the cases. I am one.

Personality traits: Kobras are supposed to be of European origin - while some theories believe they are Israelis. The religious fable though says that Shri Parshuram, the originator of the community found fourteen bodies floating on the sea near Konkan. When he placed them on the funeral pyre, they came to life and formed the fourteen sects of Kobras - called the 'gotra's.

Kobras are essentially conservative. A kobra guy essentially drops his jaws when he sees a guy and a girl holding hands on a street. A kobra maavshi (mausi - maternal aunt) essentially raises her eyebrows when she gets to know her nephew has a 'female friend'. Sadly, I also know of kobras who are not very open about being friends with people of other communities which is quite sad.

To add to it, Kobras are intelligent and have assumed high positions in the information technology field. An 'Ekaranti' Kobra is a kobra whose surname ends with a 'e' - like Nene, Lele and Athavale - and they are supposed to possess the Kobra traits more clearly than the rest.

Language: Kobras are articulate. They speak with clarity. Kobras have been forward-looking - they have long adopted the nasal twang which later Himess Ressamiyaa made famous! Kobras love their language and often translate sentences from Marathi. "you are coming no?" is a sentence only a Kobra guy can say - with the 'no' at the end synonymous with 'naa' in Marathi.

Food: Maharashtrian food comprises of puran poli and a wide variety of other dishes. Kobras are pure vegetarians and have some typical dishes. Modak is a Kobra dish - so is, Feni (not the drink you get in Goa. And not the seviyaan . Both of these are made from rice flour - not a surprising factor since Konkan is predominantly a rice cultivating area.

Dress: The traditional Kobra attire for men consists of a red pagadi - worn by Lokmanya Tilak in all his photographs, dhoti and baaraabandi (meaning twelve knots to be tied to close this kurta.). For women, it is the nine yards-long sari.
The urban Kobras have obviously adapted to the modern ways of dressing - but the subtleness of life seeps in to the style of dressing as well. I am an exception here, according to some of my friends!

Celebs: Lokmanya Tilak, Veer Savarkar were among the leading Indian freedom fighters - they were Kobras. Dadasaheb Phalke (known as the father of Indian cinema), Madhuri Dixit, Vikram Gokhale, Reema Lagoo are Kobras. Milind Soman, Aditi Govitrikar are Kobras. Sadhana Sargam is Kobra - Sadhana Ghanekar by birth.