அ , ஆ
Affinity to language – learning…..
Was there to be present in annual puja celebration, ceremony or name it, call it whatever – along with my senior.
The people @ helm of affairs of this corporate is close-knit family team – comprising CEO, his better half and F-i-l.. you may elongate it to get Father-in-law.
Language at times can be funny.
God ! Where does Law fit in with spouse’s parents, siblings? Why should it?
May be let’s leave that research to die-hard anthropologists.
Coming back to puja….
A team of 5 pundits, purohits to use the Sanskrit, took charge of the hour long puja.
Began to do pushpanjali while reciting Sanskrit slogas rhythmically.
The F-i-l also kept reciting the slogas keeping apace with the veteran pundits.
My senior was amazed at the F-i-l’s ability to sing Sanskrit Slogas. For, at other occasions of interaction with, he is used to speak only in English and that too in Westminster style.
Shifting the gaze to CEO, my irresistible senior asked, “Do you also know Sanskrit?”.
The US Post-grad CEO shrugged and said, “Don’t know Sanskrit as such. Not a problem learning it. B’caz, Sanskrit is of the same script as Hindi is……..I’m quite comfortable with Hindi”
CEO might have answered in matter-of-fact or casual mode.
But instinct tells me to look at the profundity laden in his reply.
Look at his confidence, “….Not a problem learning it…” It’s not over confidence. Rather telling it like, “if you have love and passion for a language, you can simply romance it.”
I’m afraid I have an instant testimony to the feeling that you can romance a language, if you have the will, love and passion for it.
Last week at my native, I could spend some time with a relative – uncle. He spends his post-voluntary-retirement constructively helping students of a local school to excel in their academics.
He asked me to meet and talk to a group of senior secondary students. I asked him what to talk about. The students in the group have chosen commerce subject. He wanted me to talk to them about the Chartered Accountancy course, prospect of becoming a CA, and all rosy side of being a CA.
Neither being good at English nor in own mother tongue, at the outset I confessed to the students. A girl stood up and said, “Sir, you may speak in Tha-nglish”. The term colloquially used to mean hybrid of English and Tamil. Thank God I felt relieved.
As usual, I introduced myself in a few carefully and quickly rehearsed - in mind –English sentences. I requested them to tell me briefly about themselves.
One by one they started to tell me in one or two sentences in English about themselves. Unlike city convent, the flow of English is not the in thing there. Not that the students don’t understand English. The opportunity to speak in English either inside the school or off campus in the semi-urban little town is almost NIL.
Like me they must also have rehearsed in mind and clearly replied in English, though not with jet-speed.
Besides telling them about the CA course, and all rosy side of being a CA in Thang-lish, the interaction meandered down to debating why we (including myself) were not trying to communicate in language other than our own mother tongue, what holds us back etc.
The discussion also covered "isn’t possible for us to overcome this bottleneck?. The girls, perhaps, didn’t want to miss an opportunity for an interaction in English. Gradually girls started interacting in measured English. I asked them what was it that pushed them to speak in English.
All said in rhythm, “Sir, ……….Senthamizhum naappazhakkam; we can do it and we will do it”.
I left to catch my train back to pavilion on this happy note: “it’s the love, will and attitude towards learning any language……….”
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