I suspect that is due to your reference sample.
In Tamil Nadu proper, except in pockets close to neighbouring states, I doubt very much that you will find multilingual families. In Bangalore, on the other hand, with a polyglot, heterogeneous population, you could quite easily find many languages, and for that precise reason, it would be unlikely to find them deep in multiple literatures. They might know something about literature in their mother tongue, but not in the other acquired ones.
Abhishek Hazra <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Abhishek Hazra <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>Personally, at home, it is a very common scene where my uncles/aunts/cousins chatter in english,what are the conditions in which English becomes the spoken language of the 'inner' world for a post-colonial Indian?When I first came over to Bangalore, I was surprised by the number of friends who spoke English at home. While there would be interjections in Malayalam or Tamil, English was the principal mode. What also struck me then was that it was quite common to find people who were comfortable in more than one language- Tamil and Malayalam, or Kannada and Telugu, or even Kannada and Tamil. However this 'knowledge' didn't necessarily include a familiarity with the literature of that particular language. Among my many malayali or tamil friends here, no one reads a Basheer or Ashokamitran in the original. Well, here I should also say that my reference point here is context I grew up in: the middle-class milieu in West Bengal . Though Bengali is by and large spoken in homes, you will be hard pressed to find a Bengali who speaks Assamese or OriyaÂ….the recalcitrant bengali parochialism :-(
On 1/27/06, Vinit Bhansali <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:Thaths,
Fair enough on your issue that this did happen in the us, an english
speaking country. I also agree with you and have myself, on occasion,
provided a quick translation to help others understand whatever I spoke
about in Hindi.
(brought-up in Karnataka, and having family ties in West Bengal, I have had
to translate between these languages to Hindi and vice-versa too)
However, I take issue with the many people who "demand".
I also take issue with Hindi speakers who will not translate even when asked
to do so.
Personally, at home, it is a very common scene where my uncles/aunts/cousins
chatter in english, and I have to remind them to speak in Hindi/Marwari for
the benefit of my dear grandparents sitting in the same room. I believe
"demanding" it for the sake of my grandparents is different from demanding
it for the sake of social company (short-sighted? And me?)
---
Bottom-line, there are times when I just want to speak in Hindi ...
Irrespective of the company ... Might be that's why there is only a single
"mother tongue" and various other second-languages in a person's life.
Having lived and studied in the nyc area ... There have been many times when
I am in the company of greek/arabic/spanish-speaking friends who are having
conversations in their own languages. I don't feel offended (unless they
look at me and laugh at the end of a sentence! Heh!) and I don't demand a
translation. Might be knowing more than one language has this sort of
automatic calming effect on me. I don't know.
Here's something to cheer you up ...
---
Q. Whats a person who knows many languages called?
A. Multi-lingual.
---
Q. Whats a person who knows two languages called?
A. Bi-lingual.
---
Q. Whats a person who knows only one language called?
A. American
;-)
______________________
Vinit Bhansali
www.logic2go.com
www.bhansalimail.com
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> silklist-bounces+vinit= [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
et] On Behalf Of Thaths
> Sent: Friday, January 27, 2006 7:32 AM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [silk] Indian history spat hits US
>
> On 1/25/06, Vinit Bhansali < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Those dumb idiots should have realized that it is every
> > english-only-speaking person's RIGHT to demand flexibility
> from people who
> > know more than one language.
>
> I am sorry, Vinit. I disagree with you (your smily is duly noted) on
> this one. This happened, I think, in the US. I think it is rude for
> some indian colleagues to chatter among themselves in Hindi when they
> clearly know that their colleague with whom they are travelling does
> not understand the language. I have been in similar situations and I
> always try and provide a quick translation of what is being discussed
> to the non-Hindi speaker so that they don't feel left out of the
> conversation.
>
> Thaths
> --
> "Bart! With $10,000 we'd be millionaires! We could buy all kinds of
> useful things... like love." -- Homer J. Simpson
>
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