MURDER OF ENGLISH

I grew up in Kerala, India at a time the medium of instruction in Schools was predominantly Malayalam, the official language of the state. I am happy that I was born here. I am proud of my language and its rich heritage.

The teachers taught us pronunciation of the English words in Malayalam. ‘Auto’ was ‘Ahtto’, Mall was ‘Mahll’, Australia was ‘Ahstreilia’, Austria was ‘Ahstria’ and like wise almost all English words had their own special pronunciation in Malayalam. There was a teacher in English who taught us Leopard as ‘Lee-oh-pard’. We never thought that such words were spoken differently all over the world and that our state was the sole exception. We never thought we were wrong. The newspapers in Malayalam too kept to the same pattern. Literacy being very high in Kerala people happily followed the restructured pronunciation the news papers conveyed. It is said newspapers have a big role in the formation of public opinion. What is unsaid is that news papers in Malayalam or the vernacular have a big role in the teaching of pronunciation of English and other languages.

When I had to move out of Kerala for higher studies and later on  employment I found to my dismay I was in the wrong most of the time in the pronunciation of English words.  People used to poke fun at me for the aberration at my back. The information percolated to me slowly. I still remember the two girls in Karnataka who asked me to articulate the number’72’. I happily responded, sevendy two. They commented that this was how they picked out the Malayalis. According to them Malayalis had  ‘Malayalified’ English and  erred in their  accent  on many occasions.  They taught me that it had to be ‘seventy two’ with the stress on ‘t’. That was indeed a learning experience. It made me keep a dictionary ‘Daniel Jones’ that laid stress on spoken English with me all the time. 

The advent of English medium schools in Kerala has corrected the lacuna to some extent. But a lot more remains undone. The deficiency affects Keralites who migrate to other states in India and to foreign countries mostly in search of employment. They are not able climb up the hierarchy due to the manner in which they express themselves in English.  Sometimes their job prospects disappear on this count. If you are on a visit abroad it is certain you will find it very difficult to make others understand what you are speaking about.  When English is the universal language of the world no matter whether we like it or not, all the people except Keralites are unhappy with the spoken English of Keralites.

Finishing schools in all the towns and villages may help us tackle the challenge to a great extent. Newspapers in Malayalam may chip in avoiding a different or dual pronunciation in their daily issues and periodicals. The fraternity of teachers too may take it upon themselves the duty of correcting their students. When awareness is built up on the live yet hidden issue resolution is not far.

NOT BAD

‘Kuzhappamilla’ is a word very common in Malayalam. There will not be a Malayali who does not frequently indulge in this word. ‘Kuzhappamilla’ is ‘Not Bad’ in English. Malayalam is the language of the southern state of Kerala in India. Malayali is one who speaks Malayalam. I am a Malayali.

I have often wondered at the usage of the word by  people. It begins  from morning and lasts till the moment we go to sleep. As one gets up in the morning a question is put to him, “Did you have a good night's sleep?” Instead of a straight ‘Yes” or ‘No’ ‘Kuzhappamilla’ is blurted out. Then it is the breakfast. It is ‘Kuzhappamilla’ again.

Once you are at your work place, School, College or when you are travelling you can hear this word from each and every one you come across. The lesson is  ‘Kuzhappamilla’, the performance in the examination is ‘Kuzhappamilla’,   your  new dress is ‘Kuzhappamilla’,  the work that you have completed with great effort is ‘Kuzhappamilla’ and the excellent food you have had is ‘Kuzhappamilla’. There is no end to it.

I searched for the meaning of the word. I found that it means ‘Not Bad’. I started wondering why something good is described as ‘Not Bad’. Though ‘Not Bad’ is nothing but good it is very difficult to prise out the word ‘Good’ from the Malayali. The explanation I could garner is that people are reluctant to call a spade a spade. People are not prepared to accept or acknowledge what they find good in others. They feel it a cardinal sin to speak well of anything in the world. The student blurts out ‘Not Bad’ on the examination he has taken because he is afraid what people will think of him in case the result is adverse. In a world where selection is through elimination the chances of success and failure are almost equal. ‘Kuzhappamilla’ comes out frequently to forestall an adverse result or an adverse comment or opinion by the majority.

If we probe further we can see that the mindset of the people is largely responsible for the expression. People feel they are infallible. People feel their opinion matters a lot in all that happens around them. They are highly self conscious. They feel the world is looking at them and they cannot afford to fail. When success and failure are two sides of a coin and when the coin is tossed up high people do crave to be on the winning side all the time.  ‘Kuzhappamilla’ is nothing but escapism from reality. It is putting off the inevitable indefinitely. ‘Kuzhappamilla’ circumvents issues.

Is it apt to skirt issues that explode on us with the expression “Kuzhappamilla”? Our attitude definitely determines our personality. You can either be positive or negative. You cannot at once be both.

The escapist approach on issues has prevented the Malayali from viewing them in the right perspective. The outcome is obvious.  It will be nothing but ‘Kuzhappamilla’ forever. And it prevents us reach heights that are attainable if only one stretches the effort bit by bit. It prevents us from realizing our dreams. The aggression in us is curbed and we never reach for the sky.

Success goes to those who dare.  

REVOLUTION 2020 CHETAN BHAGAT REVIEW

Chetan Bhagat has mesmerized me through his creative writing. I have read all his books. They are wonderful. The language is superb and is handled with dexterity.  The context is Indian. The characters are all Indians. The stories are in sync with our people and the happenings around us.

‘Revolution 2020’ is the latest from Chetan Bhagat. The story revolves around triangular love and the frustration of the one who lost out at the end. The build up is terrific. There is a corrupt politician. The rot in the current system of education is well documented. The struggle of the middle class and the lower class to attain success shakes us. There is a sub plot. Raghav publishes a newspaper. It reminded me of the epic struggle in 'Northern Light' by A.J.Cronin. Quite unlike 'Northern Light' Raghav gives up when adversity strikes him. The author somehow lost his bearings towards the end.  He could not sustain the crescendo. The story ends with a whimper. The conclusion is rudderless and is a poor cousin to the beginning and the middle that are forceful.

‘Revolution 2020’ is a very good attempt to project the helplessness of the average Indian. The relentless onslaught of corruption and unfair practices that has vitiated his life is portrayed well.  ‘Revolution 2020’ would have been revolutionary if the author had worked on the conclusion like his earlier creations.

BANGKOK - HORRENDOUS VISA ON ARRIVAL

The flight landed at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok at 6:25 AM on 13^th September 2011.  It took 3:30 hours from Colombo. On board the service was superb and we felt relaxed and refreshed     We had earlier been through Bangkok twice.  We were travelling to Hong Kong and Beijing and back to Colombo.  As we did not have a Visa for Thailand at that time we had to sweat it out in the aircraft till it  took off. Bangkok was impressive from the air. Glancing through the windows we had found the terminal sprawling  Awaiting the take off we were dreaming of strolling through the terminal and of a holiday in Bangkok. The dream took  some time to turn real and we were on the threshold of fulfillment.

International flights though very pleasant and comfortable, entail check in three hours prior to  take off.  The passengers have to forgo sleep as majority of flights are scheduled for night. Though it saves on accommodation and the day for the passengers on short haul, it is exacting.

We had reported at Bandaranaike International Air Port, Colombo at 10.30 PM on 12^th September 2011. Security was tight. Footware, Belt, Watches, Pens, Coins and Cell Phones had to be taken off and subjected to scanning before we passed through the metal detector and the physical search. Hot meal was served after the flight took off at 1:25 AM.  We managed to catch some sleep before our arrival at Bangkok.

We were at the Terminal after a hectic night. As the Visa fee had to be paid in Baht, local Currency, we had to spend some time at the Currency Exchange. We could never anticipate what awaited us. A big crowd of international travellers with Indians forming the majority were at the immigration counter. There were two counters. One counter was Fast Track where one had to pay 1200 Bahts for quick clearance. The other counter was the normal one where the fee was 1000 Bahts. Two officials (women) each were assigned to both counters. Though the Fast track had one line only it moved fast as both the officials were handling the passengers efficiently. Passengers, instead of forming the line likewise formed six lines at the normal counter. Thai officials did not bother to regulate the lines. The milling crowd became restive. Thai officials were shouting at the passengers to form two lines only. They stopped processing the visa applications for a while.  They refused to issue Visas until the passengers merged the six lines to two lines. No one listened. We were at the back. Passengers were pushing, prodding and jumping the queue, Indian style.  We could see some officials taking photographs of the crowd. One official shouted at the passengers to go back to their countries.  In the melee we found some who were at the back taking places ahead of us. Finally it took four and a half hours for us to obtain our Visas. It took three hours and thirty minutes only to reach Bangkok from Colombo. We were fed up with the horrendous system that prevailed at Bangkok.  We had never been to a place where tourists were ill treated like at Bangkok and where the officials shouted rudely at the tourists to go back to their countries. It was the job of officials at the Airport to organize adequate measures to disperse fast the assembly of passengers discharged from three or four flights that had landed one after the other. We had experienced a similar situation at Beijing when we had been there. The officials were alive to the situation. They formulated emergency measures to speedily handle the large number of passengers. There was no confusion. We did not have to wait  in the line for long hours like we were forced to at Bangkok.

The Thai officials treated travelers of different nationalities alike. On one occasion while we were crossing over to Egypt from Israel, the Egyptian officials were clearing visitors from USA and Europe ahead of Asians.  We had felt bad about the discrimination.

It was with trepidation we approached the immigration counter on our return. It surprised us when the clearance took only a minute. We felt the Thais deliberately delayed the issue of Visas on arrival to force the passengers to shift to the Fast track where they could net 200 Bahts more from the tourists. Indeed an admirable promotion of tourism worth emulating !! Beware when you visit Thailand!!!

ORDEAL OF PEDESTRIANS

We stay in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala State in India. We have travelled to a number of destinations both in India and abroad. The city was not busy when we set up residence here. We infer from our travels that Thiruvananthapuram is on the threshold of breaking out into a metro city in a short time.

One major deficiency the city has is the abject neglect of the pedestrian. The pedestrian does not have a foot path on all roads. Even if  foot paths are there,  they are usurped by   street hawkers and petty shops in many localities. Beggars too had occupied the space at one point of time. Fortunately they have disappeared. 

The number of vehicles on the roads is ever on the increase. Inadequacy of public transport and dearth of a metro railway have forced the public to have their own transport for mobility. The confusion on the roads is unimaginable. It is apparent a bustling city will have a very large number of pedestrians. No one thinks about them. They are forced to negotiate the roads along with the vehicles that race past them. The most difficult part is when it comes to crossing the roads. It is impossible to cross the roads when traffic is heavy. There is no let up in traffic most of the time and people risk their lives many times a day as they cross the roads. Some people perish and some are injured in the imbroglio.

We have observed that there are options in the form of underground passages or foot over bridges for the pedestrians to cross the roads in many places we have visited. At some places the over bridges had escalators too whereby excessive exertion by public had been circumvented.

We have always wondered why we are denied  simple world class facilities in Thiruvananthapuram. The story in other parts of the state is no different. Bursting at seams all the cities and towns of Kerala endure in silence what Thiruvananthapuram undergoes.

It is not that no one is aware of the pedestrians and their misery, but it is that no one is interested in mitigating the ordeal. We look to a day the pedestrian can safely negotiate the roads. We look to a day over bridges and under passages are introduced wherever the traffic is heavy so that  pedestrians do not have to risk and lose their lives crossing the roads. Thiruvananthapuram and other cities and towns in Kerala will look for the better with the arrival of  simple world class facilities.