It is a pity I cannot write in my own language, mother tongue if you will. After all the ability to write a list of groceries does not count as writing.The more I try to write I realize there are way too many things in life you would express more accurately in your own tongue.There are things & customs & expressions unique to languages & people who speak them, those that other languages do not have words for.Even if one attempts to do so clumsily with makeshift words it some how does not suffice, The picture that they bring to mind are often not the same or as clear.
For example the word 'smoke' spoken in English leaves open too many possibilities.it could be cigarette smoke, industrial smoke, smoke from the vehicles on the streets, smoke from old fashioned wood fires, fire places, pipes, an electrical malfunction....the possibilities are endless.It does not call accurately to the mind the smell of a fire of burning coconut shells & dry leaves, for cooking or heating water or to just burn the rubbish in the yard, as does the malayalam word 'Poka'....well more or less.Of course there are loop holes & possibilities there too but the field is not as wide as in the first case.
It possibly has to do with the cultures these words belong to.It is difficult to imagine an English man (or woman for that matter), burning coconut shells & dry palm leaves to heat water on an open fire in his tailored clothes.Though it is the commonest sight back home, though these days it is more often to dispose off dry waste.
When I talk or sometimes sit down to write things down I often feel the need for these words I cannot use.Words that can paint an accurate picture.And all because I am not using the language I feel in.I think it is important, to be able write in the language one experiences one's world in. It holds more than what meets the eye. It holds the past, the present & the future of these cultures it belongs to.It holds the knowledge of the past that can transcend time & be part of its people's future.Knowledge generated by generations that have lived well, in tune with nature.Knowledge that would be essential to live well in these places at present & in future .
PS: just read Sarah Joseph
For example the word 'smoke' spoken in English leaves open too many possibilities.it could be cigarette smoke, industrial smoke, smoke from the vehicles on the streets, smoke from old fashioned wood fires, fire places, pipes, an electrical malfunction....the possibilities are endless.It does not call accurately to the mind the smell of a fire of burning coconut shells & dry leaves, for cooking or heating water or to just burn the rubbish in the yard, as does the malayalam word 'Poka'....well more or less.Of course there are loop holes & possibilities there too but the field is not as wide as in the first case.
It possibly has to do with the cultures these words belong to.It is difficult to imagine an English man (or woman for that matter), burning coconut shells & dry palm leaves to heat water on an open fire in his tailored clothes.Though it is the commonest sight back home, though these days it is more often to dispose off dry waste.
When I talk or sometimes sit down to write things down I often feel the need for these words I cannot use.Words that can paint an accurate picture.And all because I am not using the language I feel in.I think it is important, to be able write in the language one experiences one's world in. It holds more than what meets the eye. It holds the past, the present & the future of these cultures it belongs to.It holds the knowledge of the past that can transcend time & be part of its people's future.Knowledge generated by generations that have lived well, in tune with nature.Knowledge that would be essential to live well in these places at present & in future .
PS: just read Sarah Joseph
