Lasting first times....

There is always a first time.  Just too many to recall and relate. And as you grow older, the first times and the other times that follow, make these the experiences one falls back on. 

The first time I started teaching, I was very nervous.  I asked my father, who had begun his career as a lecturer, for some tips.  He said  “Remember, you definitely know more than the student sitting in front of you, but that does not mean you can fool them”.  “Go prepared and if you are unable to answer any of the questions, do not try to dodge the query or even pull a fast one”.  “There is no harm admitting that you do not know.  But go back the next day, with the answer.  A student will respect you for that”.   That advice held me in good stead in both teaching and non-teaching life

Getting on in years, some tasks are no longer done with ease.  Can be more trying than the first time. I was rather pleased the other day,  when I threaded a slender silk thread through a very fine eye of the needle in dim light.

  Perhaps it was the new pair of glasses!  But to me it did feel like an achievement of sorts.   Like a first time without depending on others.

There will continue to be some firsts.  Like the first time I made a snowman with my daughter a couple of months ago.  

So very enjoyable.  All those Enid Blyton books, the Dennis the Menace and Archie comics that we read as kids conjuring different images all took life on a cold bleak wintry day.  And then coming back to a hot cup of tea with some cupcakes.  I was a ten year old all over again.

There will be other firsts… until there is a last.  Amen. 

PS - This was for the SRA group - the subject being - The First Time

Horn Please, OK.

It's official. You can now prepone your meeting. As children, we were told repeatedly not to use the word. ‘There is no such word’, said my father. And we never used it. Now I can. But I doubt if I ever will!


English in India was introduced by the British. Specifically for trade. And Lord Macaulay later in his Minute on Education in 1853, recommended that English be promoted as lingua franca and the medium of education in India. He thought it had the necessary vocabulary for teaching modern science, philosophy, law and history.

He seemed to be a far sighted person. But he would never have imagined what Indians would do to the language. Each year, more number of words borrowed from the Indian dialect or the words coined in India are making their way into the English Dictionary.

The author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language , David Crystal, predicts that Indian English will become the most widely spoken variant. 'If 100 million Indians pronounce an English word in a certain way,' he says, 'this is more than Britain's population—so, it's the only way to pronounce it’.

The Prince of Wales at a dinner for the British Asian Community, Windsor Castle in his speech spoke among other things, about the sharing of language. He said – quote ‘The most well-known examples are probably “bungalow”, “verandah” and, indeed, “shampoo”. And more recently, “chuddies” seemed to crept into the English language’. unquote


We are really a nation that believes we speak the Queen’s language. All the while, we introduce new words that we pass off as English and what probably sounds Greek to the British.

Over the years we have adapted the language too. There probably would be very few who do not use a word of English in their daily conversation. Right from the maid who will walk in and tell you why she is ‘late’… to the watchman who comes to collect ‘maintenance’ each month.

Vernacular language clubbed with English words has become the norm. The VJs, RJs, the politicians… all use it. Pepsi probably led the way with their Dil Mange More campaign and it led to a whole lot of advertising messages that became a part of accepted speech.

The film industry, which interestingly is called Bollywood, have movies which have titles in English. More recently, we have Kites, 3 idiots, Wanted, Houseful to a mix that has a local flavour like Jab We Met ( When we Met) to Love Aaj Kal ( Love Today Tomorrow – or is it Love these days?) .  When we have just Hindi titles, we have a mouthful and so we reduce them like in case of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge to DDLJ.

While we may ‘feel off’ ( a word I 'learnt' from my daughters) that so many words have crept into the OALD ( Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary), there has to be a difference in the English that is spoken at work and that which is spoken with friends.

As someone said – the difference is between English and Hinglish. One is the language for work and the other for fun. Otherwise we may have only one place to seek jobs – at MTV India.

(image - http://www.techtree.com/)

That Darn Crow

I am slightly hazy about where I heard it first - that the cawing of crows heralds the arrival of visitors.

We lived 6 years in a house that is right behind where we presently reside. Yes, there was a huge tree , right next to our window. I did spot a few birds. But crows? Hardly ever. Life was peaceful enough.

We moved a year ago to the present home. Possibly we have more trees. More birds, parrots, pigeons and now crows !! And the cawing of crows has brought the visitors to our humble abode. And how! We have had a steady stream of guests, fortunately not the unwelcome annoying kind. So I am not complaining. But is there a link between the cawing of the crows and the arrival of the visitor? From statistics ( of the imaginary guest register) I think there is sufficient proof.

And so I have begun to take a great deal of interest in the movement of the crow. Anyone beyond the age of two, would have heard of the story of the clever crow and the

pitcher.

.

http://www.blogger.com/www.geocities.com/petrud98/ptreasure/story08.html

It was all fine to read the story, and for most of us it remained an unimaginable tale with a moral to boot - Where there is a will, there is a way.... Little by little does it...... Necessity is the mother of invention..... And imagine to my surprise when last week, I found a crow swooping down to a tap to put its beak into the spout for the elusive drop of water! Aesop's fable would have to be rewritten ...

Now with the scorching summer sun, its time again for the cuckoo bird and her call for rain. I am reminded of my father and one of his favourite Sanskrit saying

काकः कृष्णः पिकः कृष्णः को भेदः पिककाकयोः /वसन्तकाले संप्रप्ते काकः काकः पिकः पिकः //

A crow is black. So is the cuckoo. What then is the difference between the two? When the two sing to herald the onset of spring, the difference will be known – a crow caws, while a cuckoo sings

Yes there is a difference. When the cuckoo sings it could well be the arrival of rain, but the crow...? For sure when I hear the crow caw next , I shall make a move - either to light the kitchen fire ... or leave home ..... depending on how quick I am on my feet.

A story about Saigal

Last week, we had been to a friend's house to celebrate the 80th birthday of his mother. A grand lady with a lot of guts. She has always been one who regaled us with stories of her time . Stories of her childhood, days at Nizam College and so on. Even the children found her company interesting .

Her children had organised an evening of music - of old Hindi songs. It was three hours of Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Rafi, Talat Mahmood with everyone pitching in with the main singer. And specially for the mother he sang a song of K.L. Saigal, a singer of the 1940s. It feels nice to mention here that this era was much before my time!!

I probably would not have been exposed to Saigal's songs or appreciated them if it was not for my father. I always thought, my father sang the songs better than the original. For one, my father had a nice voice, and maybe the poor recording quality of the songs in that period of time did not do justice to the singer. To get my father started off , one had to just start a discussion about Saigal and sooner ( than later) we would have a full singing session till all songs were exhausted. Another time, you could be sure that he would burst into song would be during a power failure, when he would start singing the famous Diya Jalaao till the lights came on.

Back to the present - Auntie had a very nice story to relate about Saigal, which I shall share.

Saigal was an alcoholic. He was convinced that he could sing only after he had a drink, and all the music directors ensured that he had a glass in his hand during a recording. It was much later that Naushad came onto the Indian music scene. For his first recording with Saigal, he refused to allow him his drink. Saigal was vehement that he could not sing without it. Naushad refused to give in. Reluctantly he sang the song, and to his surprise he found that it was probably one of his best rendering ( for the movie Shah Jehan). Very sadly, he is said to have remarked to Naushad I wish you had come into my life earlier. It might have been a different story. It was too late by then.

PS: There was no alcohol served at the singing session either. And all sang very well .