Karthik comes from South India..

..as do AnitHa, ShrutHi, AnantH and NitHin..

What's with the extra H that South Indians add to all their names? I've heard countless non South Indians ask with so much shock it amazes me. And then they say that if you spell it AnitHa it's actually A-ni-thhha (you know, thhh of thhhumb, or thhhirst). Its supposed to be Anita.

First, what warrants so much surprise?

Second, supposed to be ??

Third, .... so???

I'd like to clear this up here on this space: It's just the way we spell! So there! Say, how do you pronounce water? Tomato? Terrace? Tamatar?

So is it OK to use the single 't' for the sound of t from tea? Well, we think so too! :)

Then we add an extra H to soften that hard T.

Its as simple as that.

UPDATE/EDIT/DISCLAIMER (a side effect of being surrounded by too many north Indians :P): I'm NOT saying this is the correct way to spell. I'm saying it's not incorrect. I'm saying its OK either way. I'm saying what's the big deal??

Logic.

Traffic congestion at a railway track crossing.
Recognize the need for a road over bridge at the railway track.
Plan to spend Rupees 15 crores and 18 months on building it.
Actually spend 20 crores and 5 years.
Complete it.
Wait a month.
Wait another month.
Paint (??) the walls on either sides of the ROB beautifully.
Make the Chief Minister inaugurate the ROB.
When it is time to finally use it to alleviate traffic:
-* Yesterday *-
Block routes all around the area because the CM is coming.
-* Today *-
All routes around the flyover are jammed. The bottleneck shifts to the next junction.

Sigh. I wish I had a picture.