6 AM Pacific cites Chetan Bhagat who in a recent speech to the British Council has classified people into two groups :
One, which he calls E1, is proficient in English and gets all the good jobs. The other, E2, is familiar with the language but is not proficient. E2 is ten times the size of [...]
Archive for the 'Language' Category
English speaking and elitist ….
Published by December 17th, 2009 in Culture, Education and Language. 1 CommentWhat (not to) say in Kolkata
Published by October 24th, 2009 in Culture, Humour, India and Language. 0 CommentsAlthough the writers are affiliated with a daily newspaper, I found this list at the I Love Kolkata website bherry bherry intereshting:
45. No worries: Means precious little. It is cold and emotionless, said just for the sake of saying something. “I hate it when someone says ‘no worries’ with a smile on his face without [...]
Janabai, poet for all times
Published by October 17th, 2009 in Caste, Language, Literature, Poetry, Prejudice and Women. 2 CommentsJanabai shares dais with her contemporaries Sant Dynaeshwar and Sant Namdev – poet saints of Maharastra. Her 300 odd abhangs have become part of Namdev’s repertoire of devotional songs to Lord Vittal. Here is one where the Lord Vittal works alongside her. These are not household chores as is usually described for a housemaid. This [...]
If you want to enjoy children’s poems in Hindi, here is a blog full of them. Name is Baal-man (बाल मन ) and I am sure the poems will make you smile. The latest being a chit-chat between famous pair of cat & mouse.
बिल्ली मौसी चलीं बनारस, लेकर झोला–डंडा। गंगा–तट पर मिला उन्हें तब मोटा चूहा पंडा। चूहा बोला– बिल्ली मौसी, चलो करा दूं पूजा। मुझ–सा पंडा, यहाँ घाट पर, नहीं मिलेगा दूजा।
Read on.
Two interesting poetry blogs: Khahish-E-Sang is Raza Yaseen’s Urdu ghazal blog and The Tree of Voice features his English ghazals. An excerpt from one his English ghazals:
I FEEL THAT DEATH WILL TIGHTEN ITS SKIN
WAITING FOR ME TO SHAVE THIS WORLD
FOR GOD’S SAKE DO NOT BELIEVE IN GOD
OR ELSE HE WOULD ENSLAVE THIS WORLD
WHEN YOU LEAVE [...]
Afanasii Nikitin
Published by June 24th, 2009 in Books, History, India, Language, Media, Travel and World. 2 CommentsFëanor translates Afanasii Nikitin’s fifteenth century memoirs of his travel to India (Journey Across Three Seas):
Who was Nikitin? He was a merchant of Tver, a principality abutting the Mongol domains in Russia. He set out down the Volga sometime in the 1470s with some merchandise, was robbed by Tartars, and decided that he could not [...]
Why is Sujatha’s family unique, or slightly like the U.N.,?
My parents spoke to each other and to us in Telugu; my father spoke to his brothers and brothers-in-law in Tamil, to his sisters-in-law and sisters in Telugu, to my mother’s siblings in Kannada, to my maternal grandmother in Telugu and to my maternal grandfather in [...]
‘Madhavikutty’
Published by June 3rd, 2009 in Books, Feminism, Gender & Sexuality, Language, Literature, Media and Women. 1 CommentJo is ’sad because she wouldn’t be there anymore to speak of love’:
For most of the Malayalees, Madhavikutty was a porn writer. Ask the common public, who couldn’t see the truly original soul that she was, about Madhavikutty and they would say, “I know, I know… she is the one who wrote “Ente Katha” (My [...]
Film Telangana 2009
Published by May 29th, 2009 in Culture, Development, Globalisation, History, Human Rights, India, Language and Politics. 1 CommentInteresting site, seems to have been started to co-ordinate a film contest for short films on Telangana Culture, Resources, Issues, Places, People, History & Struggles, which is scheduled to end on 31st May, 2009. Some interesting films have been submitted. I liked the page Telangaanam which features clips with popular ballads by Yadagiri, Suddala Hanumanthu, [...]
‘The Shan sines again’
Published by May 19th, 2009 in Culture, Democracy, General Elections 2009, Government, History, Language and Politics. 0 CommentsRama says the Shan sines again in Bengal:
It took 32 years for the ghost of Siddhartha Shankar Roy to be buried, and for the self-destructive negativism underlying much of life in Bengal to be set aside. Bengal has rejoined the national mainstream. It has been part of a national wave, and played a significant part [...]
The Assam Agitation: A Subjective History
Published by May 6th, 2009 in Children, History, Human Rights, India, Language, Law and order, North East, Politics, Prejudice, Religion, Spotlight Series, Terrorism, Travel, Violence and Women. 1 Comment[ This is Essay No. 37 in our Spotlight Series. Click here for the archives.]
The Assam Agitation: A Subjective History
by Nitoo Das
—————-
But then, I believe, all histories are subjective.
I was seven when the Assam Agitation started in 1979. I was ‘promoted’ to the next class without a final examination. I do not remember [...]
‘Atrocities on Arunthathiyers’
Published by March 25th, 2009 in Caste, Dalit, Human Rights, Language and Prejudice. 0 CommentsAn interesting blog- the blogger, Karuppu Samy, is a ’social worker working with Arunthathiyer children and women for thier rights’.
What more does one want other than a cup of hot tea in these winter months ? Come lets have it.
एक कप चाय, गरम है भाई
केतली में बनी है एक्सट्रा
सोचा, किसी को पिला दूं
जोर की आवाज दी
घर के पास गुजरते हुए राहगीर को
Psych Babbler senses discrimination at the Indian embassy in Sydney:
I guess what pisses me off more is that Indians complain about racism from the ‘whites’. Well, I have so far not felt discriminated against by a single Aussie — ‘whites’ included. I have even been to the likes of Newcastle where I stand out big [...]
How does Delhi treat Biharis?
Published by November 10th, 2008 in Language and Prejudice. 3 CommentsWith ’soft aggression’ says Mayank Austen Soofi:
The popular perception of Bihar is hardly flattering. “They have nothing in Bihar,” says actor Mr Roshan Seth. “They come to other places for work where they are exploited by others.”
According to a 2007 report by the Center for Advanced Study of India, Bihar has the lowest human development [...]
‘Give some credit to Maharashtra’
Published by November 6th, 2008 in Development, Language and Politics. 0 CommentsAfter Raj Thackeray violently hijacked the cause of the Marathi people, a lot has been written for and against him. Some of what I read about him has amused me and some has amazed me. But what never fails to annoy me is when those who are against Raj Thackeray’s politics deride Maharashtra. They mouth [...]
Classical Status for Kannada
Published by November 3rd, 2008 in Language, Literature and Politics. 1 CommentPS is happy that Kannada has finally been granted the Classical Language status that it so richly deserves:
The Halmidi inscription, the earliest known use of full-length Kannada, dates back to circa 450 CE. 1500 known years of continuous use surely deserves something. The kingdoms and dynasties which ruled over ancient Karnataka all switched their loyalties [...]
Tamil is the most polluted language
Published by October 21st, 2008 in Language and Prejudice. 1 CommentI don’t say so, but someone who said that to Super Ordinary started a big discussion debate:
The rest of the non native tamilians agreed to Mr.A’s hypothesis and presented their arguments in support. According to them, each can speak fluently in atleast one regional language other than tamizh. And yet, when they speak in any [...]
Arshad Amanullah posts an interview with Mohan Chiraghi on the state of Urdu journalism in the country:
Q: Is Urdu journalism to be blamed for this sorry state of affairs?
A: The Urdu newspapers have been capitalizing on the unreal aspirations of the community. Instead of debating its basic problems, they keep it busy with by and [...]
Language policy for Manipur
Published by August 26th, 2007 in India, Language and North East. 0 CommentsRagongning Gangmei proposes a new language policy for Manipur ‘with a view to equally safeguarding and promoting’ all the distinct languages spoken by the 33 different tribes living in the State:
What is language to a native community? It shall be unfair on our part only to look at the face value and simply conclude that [...]
Anthology of Dalit Poetry – capable translators required in all Indian languages
Published by August 21st, 2007 in Books, Dalit, India, Language and Poetry. 21 CommentsDr. K. Purushotham, Associate Professor of English, Kakatiya University, has undertaken the challenging task of bringing out an anthology of Dalit Poetry. In his own words:
I am planning to bring out an anthology of Dalit Poetry in English translation from different languages of India. This task cannot be accomplished without the cooperation of the [...]
One of the assumptions one makes as an educated, urban Indian is that it is the size of the “large English-Speaking” population that gives India an economically competitive advantage over other countries in the world in this globalised world. It also leads to some other implicit assumptions, e.g.,
“good” education gets equated with English-education
English is seen [...]
Crazy Spelunker says the idea of ‘One India, One great Bharat’ is an illusion:
While I have seen Tam junta living in Mumbai speaking Hindi, even knowing that they are mocked at their accent. They know that its important to speak the language of the land to be accepted. Another learned Kannadiga friend of mine said [...]
Should western copywriters worry about Indian competition?
Published by May 4th, 2007 in Globalisation, India and Language. 0 CommentsMatt feels that western copywriters need not worry about competition from the Indian side. He is of the opinion that the inherent difference in styles will nullify any advantage due to wages.
Indian copywriters use the same vocabulary and grammar as Western writers, but there are inherent differences between the two versions. I often find [...]
Balraj Sahni on the Language Problem
Published by April 22nd, 2007 in India and Language. 2 CommentsSiddharth Varadarajan reports the recently re- printed speech that Balraj Sahni gave at the Jawaharlal Nehru University few days before he died in 1973. His suggestion to popularise Hindustani in Roman script may be out of place, but his analysis of the problem, Varadrajan contends, is right on spot.
From that point of view English is [...]
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