THIS IS MY 100th POST.
I thank you, all my friends, for reading what I needed to say, and encouraging me along the way. I have learned a lot along the way, and have got to know some wonderful people.
And what better way to mark it than to speak of some books A and I have loved reading together?
But first, an update: We have already received all five of the picture postcards that we were expecting as part of the 2011 international postcard swap for families hosted by Zoe over at Playingbythebook, a wonderful person who blogs about books for children, and the fun her girls have working with those books.
And now for the rest of our post, on reading aloud to A, and- you guessed it- Harry Potter.
*Spoiler Alert * Do not read the rest of the post if you want to find out for yourself what happens in the seven books!
Recently Prabha, a co-contributor at Saffrontree wrote to me about her daughter K, all of 9, beginning to read the books, and how she was a bit apprehensive about it. Understandably so, as the books have much that could be 'iffy', depending on the POV. They are unslottable to a large extent, as the age spectrum of those enjoying them seems to stretch from kids as young as 6yrs (it makes me wonder how many GET them? Isn't it a disservice to them if we let them read this stuff at such a young age, robbing them of the pleasure of discovering them when they are actually old enough to grasp the full import of what they are reading?) to adults.
Prabha says, "I thought it offered a lot of meat to go over. The sheer number of characters, the plot, the writing and to carry the reader through seven books- kudos to JKR!...Do let me know your thoughts, S, about your experiences...K will continue reading them this year...I didn't mind letting her watch the movies before finishing up the books...the movies have given a lot away, but I am glad she now has a frame of reference and can absorb things better and all those that the movie hasn't covered, and enjoy it for the pure writing aspect alone!"
Some time back, Starry had made this comment on one of my Potter posts: "Nervous about introducing HP to Div...we'll start from Jan, I think we will go slow anyway with books 1 and 2, which are relatively lighter. Like the question A asked, I guess there will be many q's...I love the intricate plot and logic of every single thing in these books." Div, too, is 9.
So here's what I feel.
I have always read aloud to A, ever since she could sit up on my lap. She loved it. So even after she could read on her own, we continued with our habit, except that I would choose books that were meatier, or were a little bit above her age group, either in terms of the language, or the content.
Language was handled easily enough, and there would often be a word, or a phrase/idiom that would baffle her. I explained these to her in terms she understands, and she often used them subsequently, sometimes with pretty hilarious results, but usually correctly.
Sometimes, the language of a book, usually an old classic, would be simple enough, but the narrative would be a bit tedious. At such times it helped that I was reading aloud, so that I could tide her over the boring bits in anticipation of what I knew would come. Sometimes, the old English would be difficult to understand, with quaint words not much used these days. That, too, could be rephrased while explaining it to her.
Content was a bit difficult. We have often embarked on a book, sometimes to abandon it after a chapter or so, as she could not really relate to it. Sometimes it was the genre- I found that currently she does not enjoy anything to do with horror; it gives her nightmares. It was not necessary that there be anything graphic- she didn't enjoy Morpurgo's 'The Giant's necklace'. But she enjoys the cousins of horror- she likes suspense, action and black humour, for example- a case in point are the books by Roald Dahl, a master of black humour.
Sometimes it was just that the content was too much for her age- she could not visualise what was happening, or relate to it. I would then just shelve the book, to return to it at a later date when I thought she might appreciate it better. We had to do that with 'Anne of Green Gables', which we had attempted at 8 yrs- I think the time may be right for it sometime now.
So at the age of 8, when she showed an interest in the Potter books, seeing as she would see me reading them, I wondered if they could be the next ones to be read aloud. We were reading aloud the two Alice books by Lewis Carroll at the time.
She loved them. She had already read Enid Blyton's Naughtiest Girls series, Tom Brown's Schooldays and What Katy did at School, so she had a fair idea of a boarding school system. This was like a natural continuation of that, with magic, just darker.
Books 1, 2, 3 were fine. She was a bit distressed by the targeting of Harry, the ostracizing that he has to suffer from his classmates, the mutterings, etc., in book 2. It did give us an opportunity to discuss how her peers perceive her as 'different' on account of her disinterest in bollywood, fashion, etc.
She would introspect a lot on what we read, and would throw up many interesting questions, which showed her insight into many complex aspects of the books. Some would not have occured to me, too, till then, and I needed to do a bit of thinking and analysing of my own to answer her. She does this with everything we read aloud, and sometimes it is troublesome- for eg., if the questions are asked at 7am, when we have a school bus to catch at 7.25, and I have lunches and breakfasts to prepare, the mind working on the next thing to be done on the schedule!:)
We finished book 3 around the time she was 8.5, and we discussed the options. I told her book 4 was a bit distressing, and that each subsequent book increases in its distress quotient, so we needed to take it a bit slow. She is to tell me if I needed to pause for a while or stop. She was fine till the chapter where Voldemort is resurrected, and then she didn't want me to read near her bedtime. So we finished book 4- and moved on to book 5.
In the meantime, we were also watching the movies as we progressed. I can understand about having a frame of reference while reading the book if the movie has already been watched. Can be helpful in placing the details in context. We have done that for so many books- notably those based on the classics- we saw Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh, Heidi, The Little Princess, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, and many more on screen before we read the books- and have enjoyed them thoroughly.
But HP, I think is about more than just the story, the incredibly wonderful characterisation, the rich imagination and impeccable English. Not all of it has come across in the movies.
It is also a story with a philosophy, with a lot of logic, the interlinking of plots, the way Rowling never introduces anything which may not be significant at some other stage, the way even her comic relief has a place in the larger picture. That mountains can be moved by faith, hope, love, compassion, courage, sacrifice, loyalty, team work and hard work. That even those considered too far gone can get back on the right track if only they wanted to. That there is always a choice.
Difficult for grown-ups, too, to grasp, to realise, to internalise. I am trying, too, and believe me, it is not easy.
I wanted A to absorb all that- which, I feel she is, and sometimes more, going by the questions she comes up with. I am sure these lessons will have to be reinforced many times over before she can internalise them, but they have been introduced.
She has all that in her mind while watching the movie- as also this interesting concept of alternative ways in which the story can go- since Warner Brothers have made their own changes to the story when adapting it to the screen. Changes I don't really like, being a purist of sorts as far as this series is concerned, since Rowling has got a tight plot, with all ends tied.
Anyway- back to the books. We went through book 5 with a lot of interest, as there are so many details here, and sometimes it feels as though Rowling is rambling, but isn't. As we reached the middle of the book, I prepared A for the unexpected ending. We spoke about how now that Voldemort is back, there are bound to be distressing things happening, sometimes quite unexpectedly- but how that has to be accepted, and even taken as a mark of the author's wonderful storytelling skills, the way she keeps one on the edge, wanting to know- what next? And packing a punch just when least expected. Inspite of this she was distressed on the death of Sirius, more for Harry than anyhing else, as she saw him as orphaned once more.
We finished book 5 sometime in March this year. She was quite upset, so I told her we'll put the rest on hold for a while. But kids are very resilient, and do a lot of growing up in a very short time. It is amazing. After we were back from Mumbai, she told me she wanted to finish the last two books before the last movie is released, as she wanted to watch it on the big screen. It helped, that two of her closest friends- Choxbox' FB and another girl at school had also finished reading all the books and were keen for A to read them so that they could discuss them. I would give full credit to both girls for restraining themselves from putting across any spoilers- just egging her on.
So I told her to expect more deaths, more distressing ones. We have just finished book 6 yesterday, and she seems to be handling it quite well. Book 7 is going to be bit different. It has a lot of philosophy packed into it, so I'll have to see how much of A really 'gets.' I think she is mature enough to handle just the story, and it wouldn't hurt to read it so that she can really enjoy the movie on the big screen.
A needed a bit of hand-holding through many parts of the series, but it might not have been this easy on her if she had had to read it by herself. While reading to her, I always omit reading out some distressing graphic bits- like yesterday when I skipped over the vivid description of the inferi creeping nearer to attack Harry and Dumbledore in the cave- stuff sure to have triggered nightmares. It will keep for when she reads them on her own- she is already through books 1-3 on her own.
Even if she had read the books on her own, I am sure she would have come to me with questions, but I would not have been able to anticipate her distress and prepare her for it. Although I am sure that the whole series has made her look at books and storytelling in a different way, and she has matured considerably in her reading- can go on to stronger stuff- reading to her or even on her own. Am happy about it.
Next on the cards- The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings books. She can read Percy Jackson, Diane Wynne Jones, Cornelia Funke etc. on her own.
Will be getting back to the topic after we are done with the reading aloud of book 7. Till then!
Showing posts with label language. Show all posts
Showing posts with label language. Show all posts
13 June, 2011
28 February, 2011
Tulika books - Fifteen, and going strong!
 |
| Pic courtesy tulikabooks |
I am quite good at Hindi, but it was a little difficult finding good Hindi books where I lived. I was a novice at Kannada, I could barely speak the language, enough to communicate with my househelp, the friendly neighbourhood green grocer and the various autowalas on whom I was dependent to get around the city, not being able to drive. And no, I could not read or write the language. So I had no idea where to begin to find good kannada books suitable for her. The best persons to ask were obviously her language teachers. Both of them refered me to Tulika books.
At that time, I couldn't find much in bookstores. Then I discovered a lady who supplied the books on direct orders. I obtained her catalogue, went through it, and ordered a whole bagful of them.
It was a revelation. Lovely paper, beautiful layouts, just enough text in a large font to tell the story, and plenty of wonderful illustrations to read it from. I got hold of a few basic bilingual books like Line and Circle, and a few picture books in both Kannada and Hindi like Sameer's House, My Mother's Sari, Dancing on the Walls, Dancing Bees, Pavo and Cavo; Wordbird books like The Why-why Girl, Ekki Dokki, and Eecha Poocha; books from the Under the Banyan series like All Free, Mazzoo Mazzoo and Sweet and Salty.
The books soon became an addiction. I read all the Hindi books aloud to A, again and again, at different stages of her language ability, so that she could soon understand them, and read them herself. A also became my Kannada teacher, and we laboured together through the unfamiliar alphabet, she, having the advantage of all young kids learning a new language, a sponge-like ability to absorb the language, I having the advantage of the familiarity of the sounds, if not of the correct grammar. We understood the Kannada, of course, in the context of a Hindi or English version, and soon made out what the unfamiliar words meant, helped along with dictionaries.
I recommended them to relatives in Mumbai, also thought I'll be able to pick up Marathi versions for A there, but for some reason, they are not so easily found at book stores there. Tulika books, you need to find out why.
It was soon after this, that I came across another wonderful publishing house for books in Indian languages- Pratham books, but this post is not about them. Matter for another post, certainly. This post is about Tulika books, and I'll stick to that. Pratham books deserve a mention in this context, nevertheless.
I soon found many other books by Tulika, loved them, brought them home. Gifted them at birthdays, as return gifts, sent them overseas to blogging friends as a gift, recommended them to countless friends, read them, blogged about them, and participated in blogathons organised by Tulika books throughout the whole of last year. Won a few books from them too. The last book that I won from them, Aajoba by Taruja Parande, is yet to be reviewed by me. I shall proceed to correct this oversight in this post.
 |
pic courtesy tulikabooks |
And my favourite Tulika? Why, it is My Mother's Sari, written by Sandhya Rao and illustrated by Nina Sabnani, of course! A and I have had some wonderful moments with this book.
And now for our review.
Imagine that a child is given the activity of writing in a scrapbook all that (s)he knows about a favourite relative, with her special memories and feelings about that relative. Imagine that the child is provided with lots of colouring and writing material, and all the photographs that can be found about the person in question. And there is no rush to finish the project, time enough for the child to reflect and marshall all thoughts and feelings.
What would be the result? A collage-y book like Aajoba-my grandfather.
 |
| Pic courtesy tulikabooks.com |
Written and illustrated by Taruja Parande.
Published by Tulika books.
Ages 5+
The book begins with who the writer's grandfather was. After enumerating all that he wasn't, she goes on to say that "He was just very special because he was mine."
And then she goes on to write about all the little, special, memorable things that they went on to do together. Putting a snack together, pottering about in the garden, giving the cat a bath, feeding pigeons and then listening to the sound of their wings as they suddenly flew overhead. The story of her Aajoba and Aaji when they got married, and the stories he would tell at bedtime, the same story over and over again.
The book has plenty of personal photographs, accounts of Aajoba's hobbies, pictures of cards written to the writer in his handwriting, pictures of the bags he made from re-cycled clothes and so much more that gives us a comprehensive picture of the person he was in Taruja's memories.
All the more wonderful from a child's point-of-view, as these are simple, everyday pleasures that mean more to a child than all the big things in the world, the little things that go into weaving a tapestry of memories. A tapestry that is so strong that it can often define who you become, and can be a virtual security blanket for one in the big, bad world.
It is a wonderful book, one that we have loved reading together at home. It has revived many memories of my grandparents, and has led to A seeing her own grandparents in a totally different light. In fact, this is one activity that we have planned for the upcoming vacations- A trip to both sets of her grandparents is on the cards, and we will have a lovely time going through old photographs, and maybe come up with a scrapbook of our own!
Crossposted at Saffrontree.
Entering this book for the Reading the World Challenge 2011 over at Papertigers for A under India, non-fiction.
28 June, 2010
Of double superlatives and hetches
I see red when people are most happiest doing something. I would be most happy if they weren't. Sometimes they are even more happier now than they were before. That makes me just as sad now. When I protest that, that is not how they should say it, they go 'what men, what you're telling men?' Men? Which men are they speaking about? I look around. No men. Unless there are some men around. However, I am sure that they weren't directing their comment to those men. Even if I was a man, (which I certainly am not,) I would certainly have been one man, not men.
Speaking of men and women, it is a women's college, not a womens' college. Also notice that here we are speaking about a college in the singular. This college has many women, not womens, as students. Similarly it is a girl's voice, but many girls' voices, not girl's voices.
I see red when I ask someone the reason for something and they answer, "Why because..." I know that a sentence should not normally start with 'because', 'and', 'but,' etc., (although it can be done for dramatic effect, sparingly) but to say why because to begin an answer! Oh, no.
Then there are those who will ask you to "just tell !" Tell what, tell whom? "No, simply telling!" Not so simple, this telling (what?/ whom?).
When Professor Higgins told Eliza Dolittle (no questions of whom/what are necessary here, as you can notice) to practise (not practice-that's a noun) saying "In Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen", he could scarcely have realised that there would be a lot of people who would speak of the alphabet "H" as hetch, not etch. When I hear this, I itch to etch on their minds that it should be an 'etch' and not a 'hetch.'
I see red when 'me and her' do something, when it is actually 'she and I' who do it. What has been done is by 'her and me', not 'she and I'. I am also annoyed when someone will do 'this one thing only,' and not 'only this' or 'just this.'
The latest in the list of what irks is the SMSese that people write these days. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I would rather write, "I like my tea strong, and I like to eat something with it." Instead of "I lIk my T strng, & I lIk 2 Et smTIN w it." Makes me want to throw up the tea. It's worse when people write emails or letters in this way.
I am OK with using two languages together. If speaking in English, if there is something for which I do not immediately recollect an English word, I don't mind substituting a word in Marathi, my mother-tongue. Or vice-versa. For example I could say "I have poli-bhaji for lunch today." It would seem contrived to me to search for an English substitute for poli-bhaji. I also feel OK saying a whole sentence or a whole phrase in another language if that makes me express myself better. After all, we are multilingual. But it gets my goat when it is done to 'seem cool, you know!' We have enough Hindi film songs with 'angrezi' words as examples.
In a foreword to the book THE STORY OF ENGLISH, by Robert McCrum, it says that, "A living language is like a man suffering incessantly from small haemorrhages, and what it needs above all else is constant transactions of new blood from other tongues. The day the gates go up, that day it begins to die." So we have a lot of Indian origin words getting their rightful place in an English dictionary. As Mrs. Granger says in FRINDLE, "We decide what goes in that book." Where else would the Englishman go for his curry and chutney?
GRAMMAR REPAIR KIT
Written by Angela Burt and William Vandyke.
Illustrated by David Farris.
Published by Hodder Children's Books.
Age 8+
Image: Courtesy Amazon.
The book uses a lot of cartoons, questions like, "Why is it important to KNOW about nouns if I have been using them perfectly well ever since I learned to talk?". Games like 'I Spy' and 'How many action words can you make from this word?', and many more excercises. A loved the book and we have gifted it to many of her friends and my nephews/nieces. One also gets a sense of that elusive 'feel of a language.' Worth a look.
In the meantime, I need to go and have that cup of tea, with something to eat with it!
10 June, 2010
More of my grandmother's songs.
What else do I remember of my grandmother's songs? As a response to Tulika books' Blogathon 4 I wrote a quickie post with a few songs that came to my mind immediately. It triggered off an avalanche of many such memorable songs from my childhood, and I would love to share those too. Mindful Meanderer reminded me of this one in her comments. Loosely translated, it speaks of the gold and silver jewellery worn by the baby and ends by putting a 'kala-tikka' on the baby to ward off the 'evil eye.'
Adgula madgula
Sonyacha kadbola
Rupyacha vala
Sonya bala
Teet lav
Sometimes when I got annoyed with my grandmother and went and sat in the corner- a self imposed timeout of sorts- she would sing
Rusu bai rusu
Annoyed little girl
Kopryat basu
Sitting in a corner
Tikdun ala___ (insert name of someone I liked)
Someone__ has come here
Khudkan hasu!
Suddenly you laugh!
Girls played a lot more with dolls in those days. OK, there was no Barbie (I'm talking about mid-70s to mid-80s. I suppose a childhood around that time makes me ancient. Never mind.) and no teddy bears to speak of. We had well-loved rag dolls, and would celebrate doll weddings if anyone among friends had a boy-doll. Hmmm...nostalgia. But I digress. Back to the topic at hand. This is a song we sang to our dolls. Now A, my daughter, has well-loved dolls, and this is one she loves.
Ya bai ya
Come O you girls
Bagha bagha kashi mazhi basali baya
See how my little one is sitting
Iku na yete
She cannot hear
Bagha bagha kashi mazhi soni baghate
See how my lovely one looks at me.
All children are fascinated by the moon. We were too. My grandmother sang this one for us.
Chandoba chandoba bhagalas ka?
Moon, moon, are you tired?
Limbonichya zhadamage lapalas ka?
Why are you hiding behind the neem tree?
Limbonicha zhaad karavandi
The neem tree is heavy with fruit
Mamacha wada chirebandi
My mama's (maternal uncle) house is strong and big
Mamachya wadyat yeun ja
Come to my mama's house
Tooproti khaun ja
Eat ghee and roti
Toopat padli mashi
Oh! there is a fly in the ghee
Chandomama rahila upashi!
The moon has remained hungry!
This song was followed by a lot of gleeful clapping. Why we were amused by the moon remaining hungry is something my adult self does not understand.
The maternal uncle's home is associated with a lot of fun. Even while addressing the Mama, we say "Tu" which is different from the "Tumhi" used for the paternal uncle. Somehow the use of "Tu" is for someone who is emotionally closer. A song for going to the mama's house-
Zuk zuk zuk zuk ageen gaadi
Dhuranchya resha havet kadhi
Palti zade pahuya
Mamachya gawala jauya
Mama motha talewar
Reshim gheyi hazar war
(something...something)
Mamachi bayako sugrana
Roj roj poli shikarana
Gulabjam khau ya
Mamachya gawala jauya
This song is about going to mama's house or "Ajol" as it is called in marathi. It sings the praises of the mama and of the mami's (aunt's) culinary skills. Shikarana poli is roti eaten with a mash of ripe banana with milk and sugar- a delicacy for a small child.
Then there were the songs we sang in the monsoon. Maharashtra is originally a region of farmers, and it is quite recently that it has become (in)famous for other things. This song invites the rains to come and promise it some money.(as bribe?) But the song tells us that the rain does not like the bribe and only comes down when the paisa is not a real one. The song is from those days when one paisa was a large amount. Juxtapose this with the "Rain rain go away", which is not from a primarily agrarian society.
Ye re Ye re pausa
Tula deto paisa
Paisa zala khota
Paus ala motha
Ye ga Ye ga sari
Mazhe madke bhari
Sar ali dhun
Madke gele vahun!
Then there was a game in which we ran amok- I forget the actual game- and sang
Dongrala aag lagli
Pala re pala
Something along the lines of 'Fire on the mountain.'
And the game we girls played along the lines of 'Oranges and lemons' And sang
Chincha limbu paishya paishyala
Shaletlya mooli alya kashala
Khaun khaun khokla zala
Mamachya wadyat chor shirla
And the 'chor' who was caught was out.
Then here is something all mumbaikars will recognise. It is something we say as the idols of Ganesha are immersed at the end of the festival.
Ganapati bappa morya
Pudhchya varshi lavakar ya
Ganapati challe gavala
Chain padena amhala
There are so many more I could go on and on. There were the prayers my grandmother taught me. We would come home in the evening at the time the lights would come on "Divelagani" in marathi. Then we would say the "Shubhang Karoti", "Ram-raksha" and other shlokas. These are too long and many to write about here. Maybe another post sometime. I try to teach A whatever I can. A lot of it has been eclipsed by other, more pressing things like homework and after-school classes, and so many other trappings of our current existence. I would like to thank Tulika books for triggering off this line of thought. And I would like to end the post with a favourite of my grandmother's, a verse by the celebrated marathi poetess who was born in 1880, Bahinabai Chaudhari who has written some very down-to-earth and heartfelt poetry.
Are Saunsaar saunsaar
Jasa Tawa Chulyhawar
Aadhi Hatala Chatake
Teva Milate Bhakar
Loosely translated- The world is like a pan on the fire. Only if we can take the heat on our hand, can we get the bread-bhakar
Adgula madgula
Sonyacha kadbola
Rupyacha vala
Sonya bala
Teet lav
Sometimes when I got annoyed with my grandmother and went and sat in the corner- a self imposed timeout of sorts- she would sing
Rusu bai rusu
Annoyed little girl
Kopryat basu
Sitting in a corner
Tikdun ala___ (insert name of someone I liked)
Someone__ has come here
Khudkan hasu!
Suddenly you laugh!
Girls played a lot more with dolls in those days. OK, there was no Barbie (I'm talking about mid-70s to mid-80s. I suppose a childhood around that time makes me ancient. Never mind.) and no teddy bears to speak of. We had well-loved rag dolls, and would celebrate doll weddings if anyone among friends had a boy-doll. Hmmm...nostalgia. But I digress. Back to the topic at hand. This is a song we sang to our dolls. Now A, my daughter, has well-loved dolls, and this is one she loves.
Ya bai ya
Come O you girls
Bagha bagha kashi mazhi basali baya
See how my little one is sitting
Iku na yete
She cannot hear
Bagha bagha kashi mazhi soni baghate
See how my lovely one looks at me.
All children are fascinated by the moon. We were too. My grandmother sang this one for us.
Chandoba chandoba bhagalas ka?
Moon, moon, are you tired?
Limbonichya zhadamage lapalas ka?
Why are you hiding behind the neem tree?
Limbonicha zhaad karavandi
The neem tree is heavy with fruit
Mamacha wada chirebandi
My mama's (maternal uncle) house is strong and big
Mamachya wadyat yeun ja
Come to my mama's house
Tooproti khaun ja
Eat ghee and roti
Toopat padli mashi
Oh! there is a fly in the ghee
Chandomama rahila upashi!
The moon has remained hungry!
This song was followed by a lot of gleeful clapping. Why we were amused by the moon remaining hungry is something my adult self does not understand.
The maternal uncle's home is associated with a lot of fun. Even while addressing the Mama, we say "Tu" which is different from the "Tumhi" used for the paternal uncle. Somehow the use of "Tu" is for someone who is emotionally closer. A song for going to the mama's house-
Zuk zuk zuk zuk ageen gaadi
Dhuranchya resha havet kadhi
Palti zade pahuya
Mamachya gawala jauya
Mama motha talewar
Reshim gheyi hazar war
(something...something)
Mamachi bayako sugrana
Roj roj poli shikarana
Gulabjam khau ya
Mamachya gawala jauya
This song is about going to mama's house or "Ajol" as it is called in marathi. It sings the praises of the mama and of the mami's (aunt's) culinary skills. Shikarana poli is roti eaten with a mash of ripe banana with milk and sugar- a delicacy for a small child.
Then there were the songs we sang in the monsoon. Maharashtra is originally a region of farmers, and it is quite recently that it has become (in)famous for other things. This song invites the rains to come and promise it some money.(as bribe?) But the song tells us that the rain does not like the bribe and only comes down when the paisa is not a real one. The song is from those days when one paisa was a large amount. Juxtapose this with the "Rain rain go away", which is not from a primarily agrarian society.
Ye re Ye re pausa
Tula deto paisa
Paisa zala khota
Paus ala motha
Ye ga Ye ga sari
Mazhe madke bhari
Sar ali dhun
Madke gele vahun!
Then there was a game in which we ran amok- I forget the actual game- and sang
Dongrala aag lagli
Pala re pala
Something along the lines of 'Fire on the mountain.'
And the game we girls played along the lines of 'Oranges and lemons' And sang
Chincha limbu paishya paishyala
Shaletlya mooli alya kashala
Khaun khaun khokla zala
Mamachya wadyat chor shirla
And the 'chor' who was caught was out.
Then here is something all mumbaikars will recognise. It is something we say as the idols of Ganesha are immersed at the end of the festival.
Ganapati bappa morya
Pudhchya varshi lavakar ya
Ganapati challe gavala
Chain padena amhala
There are so many more I could go on and on. There were the prayers my grandmother taught me. We would come home in the evening at the time the lights would come on "Divelagani" in marathi. Then we would say the "Shubhang Karoti", "Ram-raksha" and other shlokas. These are too long and many to write about here. Maybe another post sometime. I try to teach A whatever I can. A lot of it has been eclipsed by other, more pressing things like homework and after-school classes, and so many other trappings of our current existence. I would like to thank Tulika books for triggering off this line of thought. And I would like to end the post with a favourite of my grandmother's, a verse by the celebrated marathi poetess who was born in 1880, Bahinabai Chaudhari who has written some very down-to-earth and heartfelt poetry.
Are Saunsaar saunsaar
Jasa Tawa Chulyhawar
Aadhi Hatala Chatake
Teva Milate Bhakar
Loosely translated- The world is like a pan on the fire. Only if we can take the heat on our hand, can we get the bread-bhakar
07 May, 2010
POND /TALE
The promised book by Tulika is finally here! A and I had a day out today, posting our letters for the international postcard swap, and we came back around 4 in the afternoon. As I had been doing for the past few days, I asked the security personnel if there had been a courier for me. Negative. Oh, well! So we walked towards our building and A very half-heartedly checked our mailbox. The look on her face changed rapidly to delight and she pulled out the package with Tulika books written on it with the air of a conjurer producing a rabbit. No wonder security had said that there had been no courier, as the package had been sent through our good old postal services.
I had been reading the posts of all the bloggers who participated in Tulika's blogathon 1, and who were to receive review copies of new books just for participating. I waited first patiently, then impatiently for my copy. Actually, the impatience was more on the part of my daughter A, who checked the mailbox downstairs everyday, and would come home crestfallen. Goading me to pester the guys at Tulika books for the whereabouts of my book. Sorry guys! And thanks for the book.
POND / TALE. Created by Anisha Thampy as part of her internship while studying at NID, Ahmedabad. Translated into Marathi by Snehalata Datar.
Ages: 3+
Image: Courtesy Tulika books. This image shows the Hindi version of the book, not the Marathi version which I have reviewed here. Tulika books needs to upload one for me to get a picture. (Don't carry a camera phone!)
When children begin to learn to read a new language, they are usually introduced to books which have lists of words, accompanied by pictures. These lists of words usually follow a pattern. They are either words starting with the consecutive alphabets in their alphabetical order. eg. A for Apple, B for Ball, C for Cat, etc. Or, like in the Indo-European group of languages, we have words and the corresponding pictures with different consonants, but the same vowel in each list. Like "Rama, Mama, Kaka," etc. Here, these are descrete wordlists and serve no purpose other than introducing the child to different words and different sounds. What happens if we decide to take another approach in which we have a similar book of familiar pictures with familiar sounding, simple everyday words, but which can be associated with each other consecutively to tell a story? We get a book like POND, where even the child can tell you the story in his own words once it figures out what squiggle means which word. Dr. Seuss, anyone?
So to cut a long story short, we promptly got a pair of scissors, cut open the packet, extracted the book, and (excitedly because here was her chance to try her hand at reading Marathi, our native language,) A read out the story to me. Imagine words. Wonderful!
POND / TALE. Created by Anisha Thampy as part of her internship while studying at NID, Ahmedabad. Translated into Marathi by Snehalata Datar.
Ages: 3+
Image: Courtesy Tulika books. This image shows the Hindi version of the book, not the Marathi version which I have reviewed here. Tulika books needs to upload one for me to get a picture. (Don't carry a camera phone!)
When children begin to learn to read a new language, they are usually introduced to books which have lists of words, accompanied by pictures. These lists of words usually follow a pattern. They are either words starting with the consecutive alphabets in their alphabetical order. eg. A for Apple, B for Ball, C for Cat, etc. Or, like in the Indo-European group of languages, we have words and the corresponding pictures with different consonants, but the same vowel in each list. Like "Rama, Mama, Kaka," etc. Here, these are descrete wordlists and serve no purpose other than introducing the child to different words and different sounds. What happens if we decide to take another approach in which we have a similar book of familiar pictures with familiar sounding, simple everyday words, but which can be associated with each other consecutively to tell a story? We get a book like POND, where even the child can tell you the story in his own words once it figures out what squiggle means which word. Dr. Seuss, anyone?
So to cut a long story short, we promptly got a pair of scissors, cut open the packet, extracted the book, and (excitedly because here was her chance to try her hand at reading Marathi, our native language,) A read out the story to me. Imagine words. Wonderful!
16 March, 2010
How do I relate to my first language?
Tulika books has announced its first blogathon at http://tulikapublishers.blogspot.com/2010/03/announcing-tulika-blogathon.html
This got me thinking...how do I relate to it? Our first language is Marathi. Just in my family, there are vast differences in how all of us know it.
I have been born and brought up in Mumbai. We spoke exclusively Marathi at home. My relations were all from central Maharashtra, where they spoke very different dialects of Marathi. In fact, my siblings and I would be ribbed sometimes for our 'Mumbai-Punyache Marathi' by them at summer vacation gatherings.
My language of instruction at school was English. My school had Hindi as the 2nd language and we had a choice between Marathi and Sanskrit for our 3rd language. I had taken Marathi. Now, I had also been taught Marathi formally at an early age of 7-9yrs by a teacher who was my mother's patient, as a method of repaying her. My siblings, who were younger, did not have that advantage as that good lady had moved houses by then. As a result, I had a good grounding in Marathi literacy as opposed to only fluency in spoken Marathi. Which was very fortunate as I could appreciate the beauty of its literature. I remember attending a performance of "Ti phularani" which is a Marathi version by P.L.Deshpande of "My Fair Lady" . The spoken form or dialect of a language truly changes every few kms, and I could appreciate it as I had heard so many different dialects from my relatives scattered across Maharashtra. Even today, my siblings struggle to read Marathi books or newspapers. I would give credit to my early education in Marathi.
Hub has been brought up in UP. His Hindi is, as a result, excellent, as is his English. He never learned Marathi formally. His parents too made it a point to speak exclusively in Marathi at their home during his growing-up years. He therefore speaks Marathi very well with the correct accent. Reading Marathi, though, is a problem, inspite of firm grounding in Hindi, sharing the same script.
We too, try to speak exclusively Marathi at home. 'Try' is the operational word here, because A keeps slipping into English. We, too with our partiality to English and the love of its literature, keep slipping with her. Of late, we have been making a more conscious effort to keep Marathi afloat at home. I have been taking the help of Marathi books, (Being helped by Tulika, Pratham, Navneet, etc. in my efforts.) audio and video material sourced on Mumbai trips.
Inspite of being able to speak Marathi fluently A has difficulty reading Marathi. I take advantage of her learning Hindi at school, as they both share the Devnagari script. There are, however, some consonants-the hard na and la- missing in Hindi, and some like ja-jha, pha-fa pronounced differently. Hindi is phonetically more exact here with a dot under the consonant, esp. in words imported from Urdu.
I will keep trying to ground A firmly in Marathi. I believe there are a few words in each language that defy satisfactory translation to another language. These are like cultural indicators of that language. One can really understand one's culture only if one can appreciate one's first language and its literature. And that is important if you want to set down roots, no matter where you go in the world, no matter how many other languages you learn.
This got me thinking...how do I relate to it? Our first language is Marathi. Just in my family, there are vast differences in how all of us know it.
I have been born and brought up in Mumbai. We spoke exclusively Marathi at home. My relations were all from central Maharashtra, where they spoke very different dialects of Marathi. In fact, my siblings and I would be ribbed sometimes for our 'Mumbai-Punyache Marathi' by them at summer vacation gatherings.
My language of instruction at school was English. My school had Hindi as the 2nd language and we had a choice between Marathi and Sanskrit for our 3rd language. I had taken Marathi. Now, I had also been taught Marathi formally at an early age of 7-9yrs by a teacher who was my mother's patient, as a method of repaying her. My siblings, who were younger, did not have that advantage as that good lady had moved houses by then. As a result, I had a good grounding in Marathi literacy as opposed to only fluency in spoken Marathi. Which was very fortunate as I could appreciate the beauty of its literature. I remember attending a performance of "Ti phularani" which is a Marathi version by P.L.Deshpande of "My Fair Lady" . The spoken form or dialect of a language truly changes every few kms, and I could appreciate it as I had heard so many different dialects from my relatives scattered across Maharashtra. Even today, my siblings struggle to read Marathi books or newspapers. I would give credit to my early education in Marathi.
Hub has been brought up in UP. His Hindi is, as a result, excellent, as is his English. He never learned Marathi formally. His parents too made it a point to speak exclusively in Marathi at their home during his growing-up years. He therefore speaks Marathi very well with the correct accent. Reading Marathi, though, is a problem, inspite of firm grounding in Hindi, sharing the same script.
We too, try to speak exclusively Marathi at home. 'Try' is the operational word here, because A keeps slipping into English. We, too with our partiality to English and the love of its literature, keep slipping with her. Of late, we have been making a more conscious effort to keep Marathi afloat at home. I have been taking the help of Marathi books, (Being helped by Tulika, Pratham, Navneet, etc. in my efforts.) audio and video material sourced on Mumbai trips.
Inspite of being able to speak Marathi fluently A has difficulty reading Marathi. I take advantage of her learning Hindi at school, as they both share the Devnagari script. There are, however, some consonants-the hard na and la- missing in Hindi, and some like ja-jha, pha-fa pronounced differently. Hindi is phonetically more exact here with a dot under the consonant, esp. in words imported from Urdu.
I will keep trying to ground A firmly in Marathi. I believe there are a few words in each language that defy satisfactory translation to another language. These are like cultural indicators of that language. One can really understand one's culture only if one can appreciate one's first language and its literature. And that is important if you want to set down roots, no matter where you go in the world, no matter how many other languages you learn.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)