As i was born in a family with 2 mother tongues I was blessed to be an audience to Malayalam speaking family. Usually our Summers would be spent in the town of Trichur in Kerala. As our entire year would be spent in Ahmedabad known for its hustle bustle loud lifestyle, with multiple eateries and icecream joints, this felt like a retreat(Not that I knew the meaning of this word in my childhood!!) Our maternal home was (and is) quiet, with the typical stone flooring and slopy tiled roof. The banana trees growing in the backyard, the large mango tree in the front yard, the large wooden armchairs, the cane sofa sets. I gained a lot from the interactions with all my aunts and uncles and cousins. I used to love to hear and interpret and try to speak in this 2nd language.
The first words that i started to understand were Molu( child), irikyu( sit), paal kudikyu (drink milk). I learnt relationship words like Muthachan (grandfather) Ammamma (grandmother), chechi (sister) and chetan(brother). As I became adept with being with people alone I had to learn the skill of asking for things. So I added Venu( want), Taru (give) to the vocabulary. As the vacations would end so would the language learning. Throughout the year, the only moments to rehearse would be when my uncle and aunt would come visiting us or when mom would talk on the short telephone STD calls to her relatives.
I left Ahmedabad for Pune in 2000 to do MBBS. The first years of independent adulthood are for another blog:) But I hadnt been in such a mixed language culture ever. So now I had roommates, One Bengali and another from Benaras. Had best friends from Ludhiana and Bihar. The Punjabi, Marathi, Oriya, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Tamilian, Malayali, Telugu, Hindi (with various dialects like UP hindi, MP hindi, Bihari Hindi), Konkani, Haryanvi. Exposure to different languages made the brain more and more malleable to learn new things.
In Marathi Ajji is grandmother and Ajoba is grandfather.. Bhau is brother similar to Bhai. Bhabhi is Vahini. Tamil Tata is grandfather and Pati is grandmother...Telugu Nana (grandfather in Hindi) is used for a child lovingly. Also Ammai (which in tamil would be used for mother) can be used for a daughter in Telugu. Nana Also means father in telugu and for Tauji and Chacha they differentiate like Ped Nana and Chinna Nana. Tamblu is brother. Akka is sister in both Tamil and Telugu. But Anna is brother in Tamil!!Phew!!!Still more confusing is the inlaws!! For the first time when I was in Tamilnadu I heard the term Co-sister. I thought it is your cousin sister or something and then realised it is your brother in laws wife!! Mamaiya is used for Father In law and Atta for mother In Law. Dada in gujarati and hindi is grandfather but in marathi and bengali means elder brother.
I learnt through trial and error that Ghasa is throat and has nothing to do with sctaching(ghisna). Pishvi is bag and nothing to with Peshwa a warrior.
In the years later I went to Tamil Nadu and then now in Telangana (Andhra Pradesh earlier). So these words,,,dialects and my understanding of it keeps changing.
Like in Gujarat when you want to exclaim at a profoud statement you say
Sache!!! Na Hoye
In hindi: Sacchi!!
Marathi: Ho kaye!!!
In Tamil: Apdiya!!!
Telugu: Au Naaa!!!
Also things as simple as catching an autorickshaw, you need to change your dialect and words slightly to make the local person understand. Like Rickshaw!!! in Gujarat....
Aaaato In Tamil and Telugu...Rickshaw in Delhi and Chandigarh means Cycle Rickshaw!!!
Keri in gujarat is mango...ripe is keri and unripe is kachi keri
Keri in hindi is unripe mango and aam is ripe mango
When we say things in plural like ''This is our house"'... in Tamil it is Nama (OUR) and Telugu it is Mana( OUR) ...just a change of the direction of words and you will see the person sitting right opposite you not able to comprehend what you say.
In Hyderabad there is yet another dialect of Hindi that I learnt,....the Famous Hyderabadi Hindi!!
So to converse with the local Hyderabadi Urdu speaking community I started adding things like
Kaiku Huye So Nahi Maloom...Pata Karna...
Parso in Hindi is day before yesterday but in Hyderabad I learnt that Parso can mean anything from yesterday to 10 yrs ago. So when patients would say Parson hi test karvaya I would think it meant day before yesterday and learnt through errors that it meant 5 yrs back!
Also I had embarassing moments when naming body parts. Now Naak in Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi meant Nose... so when I said the same I found them taking out their tongue in Tamilnadu... And found that Naak meant tongue in Tamil and Telugu.
I was hearing Telugu for the first time when we had few Telugu patients in Tamilnadu. There was only one male doctor in the clinic where I was posted who knew Telugu. He was a mild mannered Tamilian and I heard him scream loundly Randi!! I was aghast and red faced. How could this mild mannered man swear in front of so many openly!! When I shared this incidence later that day with my Tamilian friend she started laughing!! Randi in Telugu meant come. So when we want somebody to come and sit we would say Randi Kuchandi!! So I liberally use this often prohibited hindi word daily in my practice!!
So many instances like this mark our lives....we learn and mingle and becoming one with where we are and speak the local language and colour in the local colours...after all World is One Family and we all speak the language of love!
The first words that i started to understand were Molu( child), irikyu( sit), paal kudikyu (drink milk). I learnt relationship words like Muthachan (grandfather) Ammamma (grandmother), chechi (sister) and chetan(brother). As I became adept with being with people alone I had to learn the skill of asking for things. So I added Venu( want), Taru (give) to the vocabulary. As the vacations would end so would the language learning. Throughout the year, the only moments to rehearse would be when my uncle and aunt would come visiting us or when mom would talk on the short telephone STD calls to her relatives.
I left Ahmedabad for Pune in 2000 to do MBBS. The first years of independent adulthood are for another blog:) But I hadnt been in such a mixed language culture ever. So now I had roommates, One Bengali and another from Benaras. Had best friends from Ludhiana and Bihar. The Punjabi, Marathi, Oriya, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Tamilian, Malayali, Telugu, Hindi (with various dialects like UP hindi, MP hindi, Bihari Hindi), Konkani, Haryanvi. Exposure to different languages made the brain more and more malleable to learn new things.
In Marathi Ajji is grandmother and Ajoba is grandfather.. Bhau is brother similar to Bhai. Bhabhi is Vahini. Tamil Tata is grandfather and Pati is grandmother...Telugu Nana (grandfather in Hindi) is used for a child lovingly. Also Ammai (which in tamil would be used for mother) can be used for a daughter in Telugu. Nana Also means father in telugu and for Tauji and Chacha they differentiate like Ped Nana and Chinna Nana. Tamblu is brother. Akka is sister in both Tamil and Telugu. But Anna is brother in Tamil!!Phew!!!Still more confusing is the inlaws!! For the first time when I was in Tamilnadu I heard the term Co-sister. I thought it is your cousin sister or something and then realised it is your brother in laws wife!! Mamaiya is used for Father In law and Atta for mother In Law. Dada in gujarati and hindi is grandfather but in marathi and bengali means elder brother.
I learnt through trial and error that Ghasa is throat and has nothing to do with sctaching(ghisna). Pishvi is bag and nothing to with Peshwa a warrior.
In the years later I went to Tamil Nadu and then now in Telangana (Andhra Pradesh earlier). So these words,,,dialects and my understanding of it keeps changing.
Like in Gujarat when you want to exclaim at a profoud statement you say
Sache!!! Na Hoye
In hindi: Sacchi!!
Marathi: Ho kaye!!!
In Tamil: Apdiya!!!
Telugu: Au Naaa!!!
Also things as simple as catching an autorickshaw, you need to change your dialect and words slightly to make the local person understand. Like Rickshaw!!! in Gujarat....
Aaaato In Tamil and Telugu...Rickshaw in Delhi and Chandigarh means Cycle Rickshaw!!!
Keri in gujarat is mango...ripe is keri and unripe is kachi keri
Keri in hindi is unripe mango and aam is ripe mango
When we say things in plural like ''This is our house"'... in Tamil it is Nama (OUR) and Telugu it is Mana( OUR) ...just a change of the direction of words and you will see the person sitting right opposite you not able to comprehend what you say.
In Hyderabad there is yet another dialect of Hindi that I learnt,....the Famous Hyderabadi Hindi!!
So to converse with the local Hyderabadi Urdu speaking community I started adding things like
Kaiku Huye So Nahi Maloom...Pata Karna...
Parso in Hindi is day before yesterday but in Hyderabad I learnt that Parso can mean anything from yesterday to 10 yrs ago. So when patients would say Parson hi test karvaya I would think it meant day before yesterday and learnt through errors that it meant 5 yrs back!
Also I had embarassing moments when naming body parts. Now Naak in Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi meant Nose... so when I said the same I found them taking out their tongue in Tamilnadu... And found that Naak meant tongue in Tamil and Telugu.
I was hearing Telugu for the first time when we had few Telugu patients in Tamilnadu. There was only one male doctor in the clinic where I was posted who knew Telugu. He was a mild mannered Tamilian and I heard him scream loundly Randi!! I was aghast and red faced. How could this mild mannered man swear in front of so many openly!! When I shared this incidence later that day with my Tamilian friend she started laughing!! Randi in Telugu meant come. So when we want somebody to come and sit we would say Randi Kuchandi!! So I liberally use this often prohibited hindi word daily in my practice!!
So many instances like this mark our lives....we learn and mingle and becoming one with where we are and speak the local language and colour in the local colours...after all World is One Family and we all speak the language of love!
