ಇಂತಿ,
ಪ್ರತಿಭಾ
P.S : As a friend of mine suggested, have decided to do all my kannada writing experiments in another space...am grateful for the idea.
March 25, 2008
ನನ್ನ ಮೊದಲ ಕನ್ನಡ ಲೇಖನ.....
ಇದು ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ನನ್ನ ಮೊದಲ ಪೋಸ್ಟ್ಇದನ್ನು ಟೈಪ್ ಮಾಡುವಾಗ ತುಂಬ ಖುಷಿ ಆಯ್ತು ಇನ್ನಷ್ಟು ಕನ್ನದ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೃಷಿ(!!!) ಮಾಡುವ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನ ಮಾಡುವೆನೆಂದು ನಂಬಿದ್ದೇನೆ.
ಇಂತಿ,
ಪ್ರತಿಭಾ
ಇಂತಿ,
ಪ್ರತಿಭಾ
Hindi lessons!
As a kid I found it very very difficult to understand, speak and write Hindi. We were taught Hindi from Class I and when everyone else our age in other schools were learning to read and write words, we were expected to read and write small stories! I cannot exactly remember the reason for the difficulty, but it made me miserable. I do not remember such difficulty for English or Kannada. We had a good Hindi teacher who had a good Hindi accent. I used to adore her. There are some distinct things I remember about my adventures to learn Hindi in the primary school:
1. Once we were asked to listen to the Hindi news on TV(there was only DD then) and list out some five difficult words as an assignment(We got innovative assignments!). Hindi news was telecast at 9pm if I remember, which was very late at the time for me(must have been in Class IV or V). So I had listed five words seeing a serial at 3pm(when I came home from school!). My first word was the name of the serial(ya, that was really stupid of me!). It was called "Junoon". My teacher knew instantly my source the next day when I read my list of words!
2. A Kannada actor Shankar Nag recreated R K Narayan's "Malgudi days" on the small screen with many kannada actors from the small and big screen. My dad insisted that I watch it. It was amusing to see Kannada actors speak a language I felt was very difficult, so effortlessly(Many years later I felt their Hindi was not exactly effortless, it had south Indian accent cropping up, but suited the story well - as in, the setting was in a village down south- it was fine). I did not understand much but liked watching Master Manjunath and pestering dad to tell me what was happening!
I also remember watching "Osheen", the story of a Japanese peasant girl who strives hard to become a beautician(not sure of the title or the storyline- but it was japanese for sure!)
3. At a little later point of time, in the afternoon(may be 3.30 pm) a new comedy serial started. Many of my friends came home after school as it was at a stone's throw and when we switched on the TV there was only one channel then and we happened to come across this serial called "Dekh bhai dekh". We were not a TV watching bunch but I remember clearly we loved watching this one! I must have realised it was a comedy because of the background laughing for every joke! It had Shekhar Suman, Farida Jalal and a bunch of other good actors. And I enjoyed watching this show for sure..
4. There were these Hindi exams that were popular in my school days. Mysore Hindi prachar samithi and Madras Hindi prachar samithi used to conduct exams and certify one's Hindi prowess. I happened to take(had no option, it was from school!) the first exam called "Prathama" in Class III. Given the fact that I went to school that did not have exams, exams never scared me! It did not make me anxious. I loathed the last few days when my Hindi teacher made us read and write a lot of stuff! I managed to scrape through the exam! My mom said I should be serious the next time around. My dad told me I had done a good job, as I had got more marks than him for the same exam!
I started speaking Hindi in high school - this was not due to any books, it was mostly because of TV! My Hindi even today is clichéd. Have a feeling native speakers of Hindi dont use the flamboyant phrases and words that Hindi cinema employs. I can say things like "Kaafi nek khayal he". I cannot think of another usage of the word "nek", since the TV/ films did not popularise other usages and my Hindi is not sourced from reading Hindi literature. It all seems funny. A south Indian feels I have a decently good Hindi accent, but the truth is my Hindi is very filmy and mostly grammatically incorrect. Like many things I do, I speak Hindi quite confidently and that seems to make up for the grammar (or the lack of it)! I did make some effort to read some literature in school but it seemed a lot of effort.
1. Once we were asked to listen to the Hindi news on TV(there was only DD then) and list out some five difficult words as an assignment(We got innovative assignments!). Hindi news was telecast at 9pm if I remember, which was very late at the time for me(must have been in Class IV or V). So I had listed five words seeing a serial at 3pm(when I came home from school!). My first word was the name of the serial(ya, that was really stupid of me!). It was called "Junoon". My teacher knew instantly my source the next day when I read my list of words!
2. A Kannada actor Shankar Nag recreated R K Narayan's "Malgudi days" on the small screen with many kannada actors from the small and big screen. My dad insisted that I watch it. It was amusing to see Kannada actors speak a language I felt was very difficult, so effortlessly(Many years later I felt their Hindi was not exactly effortless, it had south Indian accent cropping up, but suited the story well - as in, the setting was in a village down south- it was fine). I did not understand much but liked watching Master Manjunath and pestering dad to tell me what was happening!
I also remember watching "Osheen", the story of a Japanese peasant girl who strives hard to become a beautician(not sure of the title or the storyline- but it was japanese for sure!)
3. At a little later point of time, in the afternoon(may be 3.30 pm) a new comedy serial started. Many of my friends came home after school as it was at a stone's throw and when we switched on the TV there was only one channel then and we happened to come across this serial called "Dekh bhai dekh". We were not a TV watching bunch but I remember clearly we loved watching this one! I must have realised it was a comedy because of the background laughing for every joke! It had Shekhar Suman, Farida Jalal and a bunch of other good actors. And I enjoyed watching this show for sure..
4. There were these Hindi exams that were popular in my school days. Mysore Hindi prachar samithi and Madras Hindi prachar samithi used to conduct exams and certify one's Hindi prowess. I happened to take(had no option, it was from school!) the first exam called "Prathama" in Class III. Given the fact that I went to school that did not have exams, exams never scared me! It did not make me anxious. I loathed the last few days when my Hindi teacher made us read and write a lot of stuff! I managed to scrape through the exam! My mom said I should be serious the next time around. My dad told me I had done a good job, as I had got more marks than him for the same exam!
I started speaking Hindi in high school - this was not due to any books, it was mostly because of TV! My Hindi even today is clichéd. Have a feeling native speakers of Hindi dont use the flamboyant phrases and words that Hindi cinema employs. I can say things like "Kaafi nek khayal he". I cannot think of another usage of the word "nek", since the TV/ films did not popularise other usages and my Hindi is not sourced from reading Hindi literature. It all seems funny. A south Indian feels I have a decently good Hindi accent, but the truth is my Hindi is very filmy and mostly grammatically incorrect. Like many things I do, I speak Hindi quite confidently and that seems to make up for the grammar (or the lack of it)! I did make some effort to read some literature in school but it seemed a lot of effort.
March 11, 2008
Partnerships...
Life is all about partnerships, good partnerships lead to success and happiness and bad partnerships are a part of the package, which help us learn faster... All the things that one enjoys could be the result of being with someone, of a good partnership.
Two things triggered my thoughts on these lines. One, while playing su-do-ku with mom, I usually feel the "hard" ones are really hard. But mom said we can do any of it with a little more patience and thinking out of the box. She dint exactly say this. She doesnt get into lecture mode, since am not very receptive when people are preaching me. In her own sweet way she convinced this and we ended up doing it in quite the same time as any other "medium" or "easy" puzzle. It felt great and most of the "hard" part of the puzzle seemed to be in my head.
Also the recent Indian cricket team's victory against the "mighty" Aussies in two straight finals. Wow what a way to drive home a point. I was mightily impressed. It served the most arrogant foul mouthed team that have seen in international cricket. I felt it was the way our players stuck together, believed and celebrated each other that lead to the victory.
It could those board exams you cleared with good grades - a partnership between a child and parent or child and teacher, it could be enjoying shopping/going out for a movie/chatting over coffee - a partnership with a friend or sibling. There are these people who love us and help us win, help us face many a challenge, pray for our welfare. So most of our success is not just a result of our hard work. It could have big contributions in the form of trust, faith in one's abilities, prayers, wishes, time of your loved ones - parents or friends or siblings.
Good partnerships make life interesting, open up new possibilities, make you realize previously “impossible" things. They make life wonderful.
Two things triggered my thoughts on these lines. One, while playing su-do-ku with mom, I usually feel the "hard" ones are really hard. But mom said we can do any of it with a little more patience and thinking out of the box. She dint exactly say this. She doesnt get into lecture mode, since am not very receptive when people are preaching me. In her own sweet way she convinced this and we ended up doing it in quite the same time as any other "medium" or "easy" puzzle. It felt great and most of the "hard" part of the puzzle seemed to be in my head.
Also the recent Indian cricket team's victory against the "mighty" Aussies in two straight finals. Wow what a way to drive home a point. I was mightily impressed. It served the most arrogant foul mouthed team that have seen in international cricket. I felt it was the way our players stuck together, believed and celebrated each other that lead to the victory.
It could those board exams you cleared with good grades - a partnership between a child and parent or child and teacher, it could be enjoying shopping/going out for a movie/chatting over coffee - a partnership with a friend or sibling. There are these people who love us and help us win, help us face many a challenge, pray for our welfare. So most of our success is not just a result of our hard work. It could have big contributions in the form of trust, faith in one's abilities, prayers, wishes, time of your loved ones - parents or friends or siblings.
Good partnerships make life interesting, open up new possibilities, make you realize previously “impossible" things. They make life wonderful.
March 06, 2008
Doctor Who?
There was a time when I thought I was not into reading sci-fi novels. Not very long ago. As in two weeks!When a friend suggested I could borrow some of his sci-fi books, I almost had to hide my contempt! How could I imagine reading some aliens attacking planet Earth and some hero recues. Wow impressed! I cant bear them on TV(ok folks, those of you who like it, sorry but its true), how could I read them. That was two weeks ago. One evening just when the library was about to close, I rushed in and asked the librarian to suggest a book quickly so that I dont waste his time browsing to pick one.All I said, "want something light and funny". When he picked up the book, I almost showed him my disappointment about his pick. He said it is a hit TV series and the back cover had something about aliens. I forced a smile, took the book telling myself its ok to keep the book over the weekend and if I dont like it can take something else on monday. The book was called "Wishing well" of the Doctor Who series. In two weeks I have read three of these books and last night I was up late just to ensure I finish reading the book. And in months I have not devoured books at this rate!! I have taken best sellers, critically acclaimed books
and either half read them and gave up or took weeks to finish them. I was wondering whats up with my reading, until I read these books! Things never are like they seemed..And why did they seem the way they did in the first place? I can neither explain my contempt for sci-fi stuff before nor the craze for it now!It all sounds so crazy, but I admit its wonderful reading the Doctor Who series!
and either half read them and gave up or took weeks to finish them. I was wondering whats up with my reading, until I read these books! Things never are like they seemed..And why did they seem the way they did in the first place? I can neither explain my contempt for sci-fi stuff before nor the craze for it now!It all sounds so crazy, but I admit its wonderful reading the Doctor Who series!
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