But, due to my constant protests with Gujjar-like intensity, they agreed to put me through a test...(for Tamil only, as i had flatly refused to touch kannada...)
I was asked to read a page of that weekly that my grandparents gave the utmost reverence...
I knew it was going to be a tough task, one that needed a lot of determination and grit...I opened the book...I was given a page to read, and I began...
I concentrated on it like there was no tomorrow...halfway through, three-quarters done...and Bingo!
I had passed with flying colours! (don't ask my mom how it went, because she'll tell you that I was no good...are mothers always pessimists?)
No Tamil training for me!!
I was in heavenly bliss, so heavenly that i thought that the stars were God's daisy chain...
Well, see you next time!
Bala
4 comments:
Balaji,
I enjoyed reading your blog. Glad that you did well in the test.
Here is an incidence funny but true:
A friend of mine from Kerala who was brought up in Maharashtra did not know to read Malayalam. He was on a holiday in Kerala. While he was waiting in a bus stand, an old lady approached him to check whether the bus that was standing there would go to a particular place. My friend said he does not know. The old woman turned to her friend who was accompanying her and said "this guy seems to be an illiterate though he is dressed well and looks educated".
Hi Balaji
Nice to read your blog because I could relate it to myself.
Born n bought up in Telugu speaking land and eventually made to learn Telugu which was no where like my mother tounge (Malayalam...often termed as the toughest of the south Indian languages), I have also gone through all of this. But somehow my parents never forced me to learn my mother tongue as much as they were keen about, me learning Telugu, in the larger perspective of job n further survival in Telugu land.
But now here I am in Bangalore though cannot understand Kannada but being able to read it (bcoz I had learnt Telugu, both found to have been derived from same script) has often helped me in many ways many a times.
Also I would like to mention certain incidents which have prompted me to learn to speak Kannada.
Once I had been to BMTC counter to collect my regular monthly bus passes. An officer from the department was issuing passes. A north Indian lady approached him and asked some details about he bus she wanted to travel in English, the officer very rudely replied back in kannada (obviously the lady did not understand all of what he spoke) this is kannada land speak in kannada, she then repeated the question in Hindi...only to hear the same reply in a much more ruder and sarcastic manner..
I just wondered then, how important was the regional language like kannada than our national language like Hindi and the officer was proud that he was promoting the regional language but could not even understand or speak Hindi, our very own national language(well about English there are many who consider it be alien so I reserve my comments on that).
The lady walked away dissapointed,the purpose of communication not served.
A strange thing that happened to me was to my surprise I found a officer of guezetted rank in a government office unable to communicate in English and avoiding to even listen to me only becoz I could not communicate in kannada.No body believed me when I said that he was a guezetted officer.
Another incident ,when a friend of mine was in search of a house, not very well aware of the routes asked one of the passerby for directions(in Hindi) and he replied "you ask me in kannada then I will tell u else not".
This can be the situation in any other state too.
Also while travelling by BMTC busses I have had several bad experiences and I feel often frustrated that I could not react appropriately to the situation. I only wished if I knew Kannada for the sake of giving them a taste of their own medicine.
I am assured that whether mother tongue is important or not the language of the place we plan to live for rest of our lives should be very well know to us to make our survival easy. And then onwards I have started to teach myself kannada....hoping one day I will be proficient at it like the way I am now with Malayalam,Tamil,Telugu,Hindi and English
good read bro.. lovely read.. yeah "mothers are pessimists" but only when it comes to their sons and daughters.. speaking of mother tongue(s) its always good to know another language. i even tried learning a bit of Chinese while i was pursuing my MBA. Funny things happen even when u know the language.. i remember an incident in chennai where i'd gone on an official trip when i was with Eicher.. I had gone to a shop to purchase sweets and i started to converse in tamil and lo! the guy gives me that weird look and answers me in broken english.. u know my tamil ain't that bad but then if u dont look like a tamilian (stereotype: dark complexion; an oil well in the head.. black thick moustache plus sneakers with formal trousers and pronounces air as yeair) U aint a tamilian at all.. since then its been an Identity crisis for me.. north indians would not accept me as one of them cos i am not one of them actually and south indians would not accept me as one of them cos i dont look like one though i know the language.. All said and done i am proud to be an Indian..
பாலாஜி-சுப்ரமண்யன்,
ரொம்ப நல்லவே இருக்கு,உங்களோட செந்தமிழ் பதிவு! keep it up!! :-))
வீட்டுல தெலுங்கு பேசி,வெளியிலே தமிழ் பேசி, எனக்கும் சின்ன வயசுல உங்க மாதிரி அனுபவம் இருக்கு.
being a multi-linguist is a great chioce! கன்னடமும் நல்ல பாஷைதானே.. அதுவும் தமிழ்/தெலுங்கு/ஹிந்தி வார்த்தை போல கலந்து- பலகை/ஹலகை, பசு/ஹசு.. தும்ப சென்னாகிரத்தே!
your blog is excellent. however, black background with white letters makes life difficult for oldies like me !! :-)))
when u find time, please visit my blogs
www.bala-win-paarvai.blogspot.com
www.best-regards-bala.blogspot.com
your dad's college mate and best friend- bala'G (a) dammam bala
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