What do the Malayalis think about the Bengalis?

Brothers and sisters from other mothers!

That is exactly how Malayalis feel about Bengalis :D It is almost unbelievable when you look at the similarities between Malayalis and Bengalis. Generally, people from south India are skeptical about people from the northern parts of the country. They look different, their culture is different, everything is so different. And then you have Kerala and West Bengal…and a huge smile comes across the face of every Malayali. It’s like we are two states with one soul.

Bengalis and Malayalis share so much in common that they don’t have so much similarity even with their neighboring states! Here’s looking a few reasons why Malayalis and Bengalis are soulmates…

1. Rice is the staple food in both states.
2. Any meal is incomplete without fish.
3. Communism. ‘Nuff said. Laal salaam!
4. Communal harmony in Kerala and WB is way better than what it is in most other states.
5. Education is a big deal. It doesn’t matter if your bank account is an embarrassment. If you have a few degrees after your name, you’re the boss.
6. Almost everyone reads - novels, newspapers, magazines, whatever!
7. Tea over coffee.
8. And hands over cutlery for eating. Ah! The joy of licking fingers after a sumptuous meal…bliss!
9. When everyone loves cricket, WB and Kerala go bonkers over football.
10. We look similar…dusky skin, large expressive almond shaped eyes, slight build and thick black hair.
11. We both are highly opinionated when it comes to issues of any nature - political or non-political.
12. Gold is an investment before it is an adornment for both people.
13. Both Bengalis and Malayalis think that Bollywood cinema is way below standards as compared to their regional cinema and leave no opportunity wasted in criticizing it.
14. What’s dessert without some payasam/payesh? What’s in a name anyway? ^_^
15. And what’s an evening without a few glasses of fine Scotch? :P
16. Goddess worship. For Bengali Hindus and Malayali Hindus, Devi worship is more important than any other deity. And most Hindus in both states are Shaktyas, and not Shaivites or Vaishnavites.
17. Serious cinema over mindless histrionics. Period.
18. Both Bengalis and Malayalis take their music very seriously - be it Rabindra Sangeet or Lalitha gaanams, music is not a silly time-pass for us.
19. Look at the similarity our traditional attires…white dhotis for men, white sarees for women (red border for Bengalis and golden border for Malayalis)
20. When two Bengalis or two Malayalis talk to each other, unless you’re a native speaker, you won’t be able to understand head or tail of what they’re talking. Both Malayalam and Bengali are spoken in various dialects and to the untrained ears, it will sound like gibberish :D An Arab colleague of mine once said that when two Malayalis speak, it sounds like a couple of pebbles being clattered inside a Pepsi can :D LOL

I could go on, but you get the drift.

Moral of the story: Malayali-Bengali Bhai-Bhai!

(Source: Quora)