Dumb charades-
Gestures exchange with my
maid
for a friend seeking a
helping hand
She checks for a final
call; ‘Hindi’? she shows
‘Telugu’ replies the maid -
her being and belonging in
a country speaking
thirty languages and
over a thousand dialects
She could never go
beyond that
My friend nods in
disagreement
A corporate executive
travelled worldwide
Residing yet refusing to
pick the local flavor
She could never grow
beyond that
***************************
All of three years old
getting to know...
I prompt daughter to say
a “Hello”
to the others, each
hiding shy
We mothers exchanged a
smile
The girls began
a word and two, more came
in language spoken at
home
Smiles, giggles, cackles
spoke
They listened to learn;
learnt to listen
Talking broken to hold
sense and substance
or cry in failed
attempts, yet
Holding to each other
and their conversations
in words parroted
often more than not
but heard and attempted
to accept
They now converse
conveying ‘How are you?’:
Eppadi
irukkai? Kem cho? Hegidhiya? Kaise ho?’*
Seamlessly transcending
boundaries-
Physical and otherwise
exist only for adults
Choosing to shut the doors
on themselves!
The
first is a bit from the common sight here in India. We often do not want to
exit our comfort zone. *The second is a true story being scripted by my
daughter whose mother tongue is Tamil with her friends who speak Gujarati,
Kannada, Hindi respectively.
Bravo! Your words helped me see what it is like to grow up with liquid skill negotiating languages that are the constant and normal music of the environment. I wonder if I could have done that? Would I think in one language or in all of the languages I could speak and all of the cultures I could see? I might "never grow beyond that" and misunderstand even a nod. Is it a yes or no? But no one told those three year olds that they couldn't communicate with each other. So they did. Thank you for this story, beautifully written into a poem.
ReplyDeleteYes the children can and not us...sigh...I can so relate to this...TV is another thing...all
ReplyDeletethe kids speak Hindi so fluently...wonderful lines...
Lovely poems, Akila. This really brings out the genius in children - where the mind is free, anything is possible!
ReplyDeleteI think language changes with generations in many cultures and countries..this is a very touching scene brought to life perfectly
ReplyDeleteIts a challenge to learn another language and I think children have the best chance to trying and assimilating it ~ I speak in own native tongue too but sometimes English is preferred is writing or reading ~ Thanks for the local flavor of your language Akila ~
ReplyDeleteI love the way you showed through the children's approach to breaking down barriers by being open. As opposed to the adult tale told above. Really good story telling which conveys a good message.
ReplyDeleteOne thing about children, I think. Young ones especially....they play together and use whatever language & somehow the children a kind of universal language of play where words are not all that important.
ReplyDelete