Appadi Podu is an exultation, the words do not have a specific meaning as such, but just like Chak De, Appadi Podu's meaning can take various textures. Or like some people on the internet say, it is like the Tamil Mauja hi Mauja. Till about 4 years ago, appadi podu was just an expression for me. But the song Appadi Podu from the Tamil film Gilli changed it all. My earliest memory of the song is of my then 2 year old nephew dancing on wobbly legs to the tune. A foot tapping number picturised on the Tamil superstar Vijay, Appadi podu soon became a must play at all celebrations and events in Tamilnadu. What worked for the song was typical Tamil gaana beats set to a modern tempo. The song was a rage all over South India.

But I realized the extent of the song's popularity only a year later in my first year of college in Pune. A friend from Delhi who was dating a south Indian guy mentioned the song as one of her favourites. I was amazed to say the least. This girl didn't understand a single word of the song but would go mad on the dance floor whenever it was played. It was very similar to the rage created by the Ketchup song or Ricky Martin numbers, which again most of us didn't understand the lyrics of. Soon Appadi Podu caught on and everyone from our batch became a fan. Most pubs in Pune played the song even then and if they didn't have the song; someone or the other from our batch would give the DJ a CD of the song and we would all go berserk dancing to it.

After college, however, Appadi podu was more like a fond memory of two years of studying and partying hard. Until, AB junior decided to do the groove. The Motorockr ad just goes on to show how popular the song is among the pub hopping public, most of who then post queries on the internet asking for the meaning of the song. It was also a brilliant marketing strategy to use a song that both the North Indian and South Indian audiences could identify with. Soon the internet was flooded with comments about how the ad was an example of national integration. There were also some comments from people who thought AB baby's moves were slightly derogatory to the Tamil spirit of dance, but those died down soon, because fans of the song love it in any form. After the ad, it has become Abhishek's song. And so last night at our alumni meet, when the DJ said move it like Abhishek; I could see the crowd of current students going as mad over the song as we used to. And none of the dancers was a Tamilian! As they say everyone can understand the language of music, especially in this globalised world where we do have access to music from all over. So a huge Appadi Podu to this universal language.