It isn’t always easy to convey exclusive ethnic sensibilities in an alien language, however intimate we have become with it.Sixty years after independence ,we are still experimenting, still digging ,still discovering…………..
-- Shreekumar Varma in The Hindu dated 10 Aug2007
What do u feel? Just curious to know!! Post ur views!!
4 comments:
I think it's hard in any language, be it native or foreign, to express your feelings exactly the way you feel it. I am reading the novel "Vishnupuram" written by Jayamohan. It's written in Tamil; I find too many unknown words in the novel, though Tamil is my mother tongue. The literature demands the use of such not-so-common words. I bet Jayamohan would have found it very hard to find some words in Tamil that exactly reflected what he felt. As opposed to your Writing! post, I would say that language and words are very inefficient tools for expressing our feelings.
Oops.... again I beg to differ. To me,English is the only language where I can express my true feelings and I wasn't even brought up in convent schools. Infact English is the only language I am comfortable with. Hindi being my second language at school and Tamil being spoken language.... English became the only language in which I am bit read/write proficient.
Two consecutive posts where we have difference of opinion....must be a great day ahead!
I guess I am on a disagreement spree here because I totally disagree with what manki said in those last lines of his comment. Language and words inefficient tools for expressing feelings? What about the lyrics of some of the greatest singers... check out 'Leaving on the Jet plane' by John Denver,'Bad' by U2,'Imagine' by Beatles or some of the songs by Alanis or Avril.
I think music and words hold great power to heal pain...sadly many don't get a chance to realize this power.
two points...
1) it doesnt matter if english or any other language is an alien language...its just a matter of how comfortable your are with it...and that comfort level is a result of exposure..how frequently are u exposed to..how good is the quality of exposure...how good is the quality of the language u r exposed to..
2) IMHO, the ability to express ideas through languages is highly individualistic....n subjective..so if you are good at it then you are able to express your feelings well...if you are bad at it then god help you! but there are some zones beyond the grasp of mere words..i agree there...at such times silence is the best language..
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