On learning, language and on learning a language

Learning a new language has been quite the ego-crusher for this literature graduate. From churning out complex sentences with consummate ease, I have often been reduced to babyish gestures - and often whimpers - to express the simplest of ideas. I have formed what I thought was a perfect sentence, only to be told that it would have been good English, but is in fact very bad French. I thought I was good at grammar, until I met the subjunctive... and the conditional... and the present participle. I thought I was a good speller, until I faced three verb conjugations that sound the same but are spelled differently.
In short, I had entered class thinking that I would learn French. Today, I'm not sure who this I is/was/will be.

Every language has its beauties, its idiosyncrasies and its annoyances. Just as I can't fathom why English orthography necessitates websites such as "Absolutely Ridiculous English Spellings", I have no clue why the French have numbers like "sixty-eighteen"(78) or "eighty-fifteen"(95).
In English, for instance, it is a lot easier to distinguish between the simple present and the present continuous. In French, on the other hand, one doesn't need an auxiliary to invoke the simple future. I can see why my teacher described English yesterday as a "more practical" language, and French as "more conceptual". No wonder, then, that the English are a people of the "stiff upper lip", while the French stand stiffly upright in support of their right to dream.

What, then, happens to one while learning a language? I wish I had observed the changes in myself better, but I suppose I will see many, many language learners in the near and far future.
When one plunges into a language, it cannot fail to make its entry. The culture also follows right on its heels. True, not every facet of the language and culture agrees with every learner. But then, something is also born from the disagreements, from the disturbances... in short, from every encounter with the new. As long as the learner is open-minded, language learning is an experience like no other.

PS, on a personal note: I've been very silent on many things, many recent painful experiences. Let mine be mine alone, but my heart goes out to my friends who are hurting. RIP, Tejaswee Rao.

Wielding the Red Marker

Sue's Red Marker Blogathon has proved useful in two ways:

1. It's encouraging collective venting against (ab)use of the English/english language(s). It started with Sue, who realized that too many people (don't) give a damn about the language they speak!
2. I'm actually learning some things, such as the pronunciation (NOT proNOUNciation) of "the" from Rohini's post. 

Dipali's collection of gems has finally goaded me into action, and here's my weeny bit!

Way back in Class Five, the refrain that greeted all the naughty ones was, "I will tell to Ma-a-aaam!" 

A few years down the line, things progressed, and we were now told, "Ma'am said us to do this exercise."

Let's get something clear here. You TELL someone something, but you SAY something to someone. The corrected sentences are "I will tell Ma'am!" and "Ma'am told us to do this exercise", or "Ma'am said to us that we should do this exercise".

If these classmates wrote these sentences, they would probably have omitted the obligatory comma after "X said", or put the punctuation outside the quotation marks. As if Ma'am had said, "Do Number Two"! and left the exclamation mark to the imagination! 

In American English, every punctuation mark adjacent to quotation marks should be within the marks. In British or Canadian English, however, the rules are more logical. If the punctuation mark is part of the quote, it comes within the quotation marks. If not, it is left outside. 

For example:

Did she really say "I think he's quite hopeless"?

could also be this:

Did she really say "He's hopeless!"

The entire set of rules, like everything you take a deep look into, is actually extremely complex. There are ways of quoting things and there are ways of saying things, there are ways to handle quotes that conflict with the sentence they're in, and so on and so forth. 

For now, I'll be very happy if my two little Class Five students - a veritable pair of cute little monsters - stop calling me "Ma'am-ma'am!"

Life as I've never known it

Woke up in the morning to find that my much-anticipated gift, a copy of Lacan's seminar "Encore" in French, had finally arrived. Camped out at the new flat, which is OURS, has only my books and bed in it for now, and read it... with some vocal exercises for a break.


Lost patience after about three and a half hours of reading in total(someone's attention span clearly needs work!), went out to buy a pencil. Ended up buying Aristotle's "Metaphysics" and two litres of juice. 


Back home, tripping out on Goa Gil and sipping Chinese tea(puerrh or pu-erh, if you really want to know). Looking forward to reading some more at night. 


To top it off, an old client turned up out of the blue, taking care of my financial worries.


Life's not too bad, but why am I bothering to state that?

Ginseng

It's been a really long time since my last tannin-fuelled Lacan session. This one's different, and I hope there'll be many more like it.

For the record, I quite like Ginseng tea... especially after the 3rd soak.

"Just" an autorickshaw driver?

((One of those email forwards that I simply cannot help sharing! For my friends who have no clue what an auto-rickshaw is, here's a quick intro:

An auto-rickshaw is a three-wheeled, small and rather flimsy vehicle, used as a cheaper version of taxis in India, some parts of Africa and Indonesia too. Its size also makes it more suited to the narrow roads of underdeveloped"developing" areas. 

The Indian auto-rickshaw driver is not a rich man. While he can afford to feed a family of four and send up to two children to government-funded schools, oftener than not his daughters will be deprived of education. Most auto-rickshaw drivers consider themselves poor, in the face of people who can buy an apartment or a computer, frequent shopping malls and five-star hotel restaurants. Note here, that the rich-and-poor divide in India leads to a lot of subtle hostility - much like racism.

A typical auto rickshaw has basic upholstery, and often a radio or USB music player to keep the driver company. The auto rickshaw described below, however, is very different.))

Suvendu Roy of Titan Industries shares his inspirational encounter with an auto-rickshaw driver in Mumbai. 

Last Sunday, my wife, kid, and I had to travel to Andheri from Bandra.
When I waved at a passing auto rickshaw, little did I expect that this ride would be any different... 
As we set off, my eyes fell on a few magazines(kept in an aircraft style pouch) behind the driver's backrest.


I looked in front and there was a small TV. The driver had put on the Doordarshan channel.


My wife and I looked at each other with disbelief and amusement. Infront of me was a small first-aid box with cotton, dettol and some medicines.
This was enough for me to realise that I was in a special vehicle. 
Then I looked round again, and discovered more - there was a radio, fire extinguisher, wall clock, calendar, and pictures and symbols of all faiths
- from Islam and Christianity to Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism. 
There were also pictures of the heroes of 26/11- Kamte, Salaskar, Karkareand Unnikrishnan. 
I realised that not only my vehicle, but also my driver was special.
I started chatting with him and the initial sense of ridicule and disbelief gradually diminished. 
I gathered that he had been driving an auto rickshaw for the past 8-9 years; he had lost his job when his employer's plastic company was shut down. 
He had two school-going children, and he drove from 8 in the morning till 10 at night. 
No break unless he was unwell. "Sahab, ghar mein baith ke T.V dekh kar kya faida? Do paisa income karega toh future mein kaam aayega."( What’s the benefit in sitting at home in front of a TV. If I earn a little,

it will ease my future.)

We realised that we had come across a man who represents Mumbai -the spirit of work, the spirit of travel and the spirit of excelling in life.
I asked him whether he does anything else as I figured that he did not have too much spare time. 
He said that he goes to an old age home for women in Andheri once a week or whenever he has some extra income, where he donates tooth brushes, toothpastes, soap, hair oil, and other items of daily use. 
He pointed out to a painted message below the meter thatread: "25 per cent discount on metered fare for the handicapped. 
Free rides for blind passengers up to Rs. 50. 


My wife and I were struck with awe. The man was a HERO! 
A hero who deserves all our respect!!!
Our journey came to an end; 
45 minutes of a lesson in humility, selflessness, and of a hero-worshipping Mumbai, my temporary home. 
We disembarked, and all I could do was to pay him a tip that would hardly cover a free ride for a blind man. 
I hope, one day, you too have a chance to meet Mr Sandeep Bachhe in his auto rickshaw: MH-02-Z-8508.

The story of Kolkata summers

Large gaps in heart and soul, created by the absence of electricity and breeze. Thankfully, there are many ways to fill up the gap - perspiration, heat and mosquitoes!

Shikakai tips, and a wooden comb

Over the past few months, I've managed to use shikakai in quite a few different ways. Each has produced slightly different results. DISCLAIMER: I'm the only one this has been tested on.

Shikakai powder, pre-packaged. 50g.

•  Soaked in enough water to make a thick paste, this makes an excellent pack for dry-ish hair. NOT recommended for curly or rough hair - a friend reports terrible results that have turned him off shikakai forever. 
• Makes an excellent exfoliating skin scrub. Worked equally well for my grandmother and me, even for our heels. 
• Soaked in surplus water, to make a runny liquid. I found that straining out the coarser particles with a muslin cloth made it work better as a conditioner. This makes me think that the coarse powder contributes to dryness.
• Hurts like HELL if it enters the eyes.

Shikakai pods, seeded. 1-2 pods for short hair, 2-3 for shoulder-length.

• Soaked for 3-12 hours in 150 mL or so of water. Gives a slightly mucus-y liquid, a fairly good shampoo + conditioner. Will foam if you shake the bottle.
• Soaked for 24-72 hours in the Kolkata summer(35 Celsius and up). Starts fermenting, smells a bit sour. This can still be used to good effect, but I find it tends to condition a bit less. Still foams.
• Soaked for 4 weeks - smells increasingly sour, and bits of something begin to float in the liquid. It still foams, but I didn't dare use it on my hair. 
• Gives the skin the same moisturised, slightly slippery feeling you'd get from a body shampoo. 
• Stings if it enters the eyes, but fades quickly. 

Bowl vs narrow-mouthed bottle vs squeeze bottle.

• In a bowl. Pros: Large surface area, lets you dump in entire pods and take them out easily. Cons: Doesn't let you control the flow much. Once it's poured, it's poured.
• In a narrow-mouthed bottle. Pros: Better flow control, especially if you keep a finger over the opening. Allows one to evenly pour the mixture over scalp and hair. Cons: Needing to break the shikakai into little pieces before soaking, and having trouble getting the pieces out.
• In a squeeze bottle. Pros: Allows direct application on problem areas - like dandruffy, itchy spots. Cons: The mixture tends to roll off the scalp onto skin, rather than spreading across hair. Also, same troubles as the narrow-mouthed bottle.

I've stuck with the narrow-mouthed bottle, but I'd recommend the squeeze bottle for people who have dandruff or other scalp troubles. Have I mentioned that I haven't had ANY dandruff since my hair got chopped off?

The wooden comb. 

This is the other thing I swear by these days. It cost me Rs 100 as opposed to Rs 15-20 for a typical plastic comb, but it's been SO worth it! It's a fairly simple comb, with very wide bristles for detangling on one half, and medium-width on the other. Looks a bit like this. 

One of my favorite uses for the wood comb is just before a wash. I usually wash my hair in the morning, when the scalp is soaked with sweat and feels slightly tender. Combing it through with a wood comb loosens a lot of the salty dirt, which then comes off nicely with water or shikakai. The comb also absorbs a lot of sweat on a humid afternoon, preventing the hair from growing limp.

Personally, I've found that the wood comb absorbs and distributes oil beautifully. The days of oily scalp and dry hair are far, far in the past now. My hair has volume for the first time I can remember, and has grown slight waves. This link here is an ad, but I'll agree with all that it says, except the "faster hair growth" part. On another note, I'd love the oil dispensing comb if I can ever get my hands on it! 

That's all for now, folks!

Written 27/4/2010

Of "tu" and "vous"; of "tui", "tumi" and "apni"

French lessons have been an eye-opener in many ways. Not only am I learning a new language, I am re-learning all the languages I thought I knew. Well, especially Hindi - the only other language that I use which hasn't been blessed with a neutral gender. 

I'd thought that the usage of "tu" and "vous" would be easier to learn for North Indians than for Anglophones, because the Sanskrit-based languages all use three different modes of addressing a person. In Bengali, for example, we have "tui", "tumi" and "aapni".

NB: I can only speak of the way I have seen these forms being used. Things were very different a decade or two ago, and are still quite different in rural areas, or among people over 55 years old. And yes, I'm well aware that everyone has his/her own idiosyncratic uses of language.

"Tui" is the most familiar form of address, and is used for siblings, younger members of the family, and friends. Note that "family" for a Bengali could mean anything - even a fifth cousin by marriage!

"Aapni" is the most formal mode of address, used in professional situations, and when meeting a fellow adult for the first time. Among people who one meets regularly, "aapni" is used to address one's teachers, or for people much older than oneself. Grandparents, and occasionally parents, may be addressed as "aapni" in certain families. 

"Tumi" is somewhere between formal and informal. Classmates may use this form for an initial introduction before switching to "tui", and younger siblings may also address their older siblings(or cousins) in this way. 

Colleagues at work are also known to use "tumi" unless a very friendly relationship is established. 

Interestingly, "tumi" is sometimes used by adults for young children. In my opinion, this is done to prevent the child from using "tui" indiscriminately. Additionally, young lovers may also revert to "tumi" - this may be a throwback to times when women used "aapni" for their husbands and received a "tumi" in return, or may be the influence of Bengali movies... which in turn are made for people who would NOT address their spouses as "tui"!

********************* 

Now, with this context in my background (not to mention English where anyone and everyone is "you"!), I am faced with "tu" and "vous". To top it off, I communicate with my French friends on the Internet... a place where "tu" becomes the norm much faster than it would in real life.

An even subtler twist lies in the fact that I speak mostly to people over 50, who lean a little farther towards "vous". Now, where am I supposed to go?

However, the greatest difficulty for me lies in "tutoieing" and being "vovoied" by someone who is a) much older, and b) who I see as a teacher. Being Bengali, I am used to addressing my teachers as "aapni", and being addressed as "tumi". So being vovoied by my professor is slightly embarrassing, while tutoying my professor seems completely and utterly off limits! 

Not at all surprisingly, writing this post forces me to acknowledge that "vous" is not "aapni", "tu" is not "tumi/tui", and Bengali is not French! 

Alors, je pourrais tutoyer facilement! 

So far, with no address

But where are you

So far with no address

How's life for you

My hope is my only caress

Finally cut my hair, I hear you say at last

It's been kind of strange but you see I survived

When I'm asked I go out, I dance all night and more

But when I dance

Je t'aime encore

But where are you

So far with no address

How's life for you

Time is my only caress

Je t'aime encore just like in an old fashioned song

And it burns in my soul, anything else seems too long

Oh more and more, as strong as I can be

Oui je t'aime encore

But you, you cannot hear me.

Video - Je t'aime encore, Celine Dion