tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6763223474702096062.post90134714442775569..comments2023-10-08T02:16:08.031-07:00Comments on Broken Muse: Confessions of an Alienated Malayaleekochuthresiamma p .jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01320086308375078739noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6763223474702096062.post-39905053082232850222011-01-24T21:01:39.493-08:002011-01-24T21:01:39.493-08:00@ soul speaks
many many thanks for the encourageme...@ soul speaks<br />many many thanks for the encouragement.happy that you share my anxieties.kochuthresiamma p .jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01320086308375078739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6763223474702096062.post-82643395480983530382011-01-24T20:47:27.778-08:002011-01-24T20:47:27.778-08:00Hi, I am grateful to this virtual world which make...Hi, I am grateful to this virtual world which makes me stumble upon treasure troves of writings with which one can identify and feel at home. I fully identify with this post of yours , I am a malayali born and brought up in Delhi but fortunately I had the good fortune to have studied in a school where we were taught Malayalam till 8th standard, but most of us chewed lika chewing gum to be thrown out after the final exams of 8th std. got over. However since I stayed in kerala in my formative years 2 to 5 i had started reading balarama and poombatta at a young age which made me develop an affinity and liking towards the language. Just like you though I write in English I so much want to write in Malayalam, I had won many essay competitions in my school but could not go further from there. It pains me to see the lack of interest in my 8 year old to learn her mother tongue but yes I think I would write in Malayalam some day. Sorry for using your space for a post in itself but you are fabulous, I am blessed to have met you here, your poems are so true to heart, I am going to spend some time here and read to hearts content. Nice meeting you!!soulsearchingdayshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14134397706403391346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6763223474702096062.post-87765970615981115692010-03-12T09:55:23.529-08:002010-03-12T09:55:23.529-08:00Some changes are for good.Some changes are for good.Haddockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11573906991666088642noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6763223474702096062.post-14354222216090833512010-02-20T19:35:12.627-08:002010-02-20T19:35:12.627-08:00Hi! Visited your blog via KTR's.
Enjoyed rea...Hi! Visited your blog via KTR's. <br /><br />Enjoyed reading this post about an issue that is true for many of us, who speak multiple languages and live in many worlds. Not being able to read the literature in one's mother tongue must be a huge disconnect. But there is also so much to learn outside books. Every person we meet is possibly an intricate story. And most of them remain forever unread.Santanu Sinha Chaudhurihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15062744470522359652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6763223474702096062.post-59817101103068051742010-02-08T01:51:46.311-08:002010-02-08T01:51:46.311-08:00Well, the past only begins to speak when it is pas...Well, the past only begins to speak when it is past! I quite think that it learns after us. <br /><br />I too used to be full of resentment towards a few teachers and such I had had early in life. <br /><br />That until I began to write...which put everything in a different light. In many ways, our past is a result of what we become in the future.Kushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05153330074390558887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6763223474702096062.post-41809397512344806552010-02-07T02:29:25.758-08:002010-02-07T02:29:25.758-08:00Belonging to the same generation as yours and lik...Belonging to the same generation as yours and like you, reading more in English than Malayalam, I can empathize. What I have felt terrible about is another similar issue. The horrible affectation that we have- the mixing of two languages when we speak. I have very consciously tried to stick to Malayalam but after a sentence or two I would slip in an English phrase or word. I would feel so ashamed. <br /><br />But I haven't found it difficult to write in Malayalam. I don't know why you should feel "I sometimes think if I could write in the language I think and feel in, I’d become the Shakespeare of Malayalam literature." Wouldn't it be possible to write 'the way you feel and think?' <br /><br />I used to say 'our bastard culture'. The way we have submitted ourselves to a foreign tongue to such an extent that we cannot even think in our mother tongue! Like, if I am excited about something, I would slip into English! Which means that it is natural for me now to think in English too. I am aghast! But then, I stopped this conflict within me. I thought, 'what is a language after all, why be parochial about it, be comfortable the way you are', and then I was at peace with myself, about this issue. <br /><br />Now when I read beautiful Malayalam literature, I have the tinge of regret that I cannot express myself in my mother tongue as I do in English. Like you said, 'a half-baked creature'. I don't express myself that good in English either. Where does that leave me? Nowhere!!<br /><br />Well, KPJ, it is not too late, is it? One can still read Malayalam and appreciate most, if not all of it. One should be happy with that! <br /><br />Yesterday I had been to a function - Prof. Guptan Nair Foundation award to great teachers - this year to Prof. B Hridaykumari teacher. I have never heard better English than from Teacher. As she was speaking yesterday in chaste Malayalam, she happened to talk about the state of education in Kerala. Suddenly she unconsciously switched to English and from the mouth of that frail woman came words that blew flames! She apologized for slipping into English from time to time- said, 'forgive a lifetime of teaching English'!Balachandran Vhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10174364716507089780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6763223474702096062.post-87984080055716194702010-02-06T00:22:22.746-08:002010-02-06T00:22:22.746-08:00This is such a wonderfully transparent piece. You ...This is such a wonderfully transparent piece. You have shown your ability to let us 'see' what you struggle with- you are at ease with the words and help us to feel your frustrations. <br /><br />The teacher you spoke of did a great injustice. The system at the time probably also served to further the wrong done. Have said that; I would love to know you attempted to write something in Malayalam - even if just to practice.<br /><br />It would be great for you to feel the words roll off your pen- even if the words ended up not sounded the way you want them to sound- but I'm thinking this talent you have- this lovely ability to craft words together will translate into whatever language you use...the words are simply the tools and you are the artist.Anjulihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16563616683370799899noreply@blogger.com