I had never read an English story book other than my school books, till I reached 7th std. I still remember a day when I was in 5th std , and got almost zero in an English grammar test. Being in an English medium school, where students were punished for speaking Malayalam,(!) I was expected to read/write and speak fluent English. But to my parents and teachers’ utter horror I didn’t do either. I didn’t understand what English grammar was! We had 2 library periods each week but I don’t have even a vague memory of reading any kind of English books on those periods. But contrarily I was more than good in Malayalam(my mother-tongue). I was thorough with all those scholarly(!) and equally tough Malayalam grammar which didn’t make any sense to common people(and to me!). And even before I was 8, I had read “Oru Desathinte Katha” 10 times. I had read almost all books of S.K. Pottekkadu, Thakazhi, M.T Vasudevan Nair, M.Mukundan, C.Radhakrishnan, U.A Khader, Uroob, Punathil Kunjabdullah, Madhavikkutty, Lalithambika Antharjanam, and Vaikkom Mohammed Basheer. (These are all the best and famous authors in Malayalam!) I even used to read “Sahithyavaarabhalam”, a weekly literary critic column(in Kalakaumudi) by Prof.M.Krishnan Nair while I was in 6th std. But I haven’t even had a glimpse of either Archies or Tintin or Asterix then! I remember seeing a thin book of Noddy for the first time, while I was 11, and got utterly confused about the meaning of Noddy.
This was mainly because my dad used to take me to all “pusthakamela” (book festivals) that came to our city. He bought me huge collections of Malayalam books as pre-paid publications. He even bought me “sabtha thaaravali”- the ultimate malayalam dictionary with grammar. He combed thru all streets and got me used books in bulk. I remember one day when he bought me almost 10 kilos of Malayalam children’s books from a street vendor.
My achachan (mom’s dad) on the other hand, used to urge me to read spiritual books like “Thathvamasi” (by Sukumar Azhikkode) and books of NithyachaithanyaYati along with Gita Vyaghyanam.
Though I was bombarded with Malayalam literature in all forms, from all sides, they never thought about English. Did they think that being in English medium school automatically makes me proficient in English? Or were they not familiar with those, themselves? Any way, when I reached 6th and 7th std, I was among the poorest in English, in my class. I tried to mug-up grammar, but it didn’t work. I didn’t know anything..anything at all in English grammar.
The person who showed me the wonderful world of English books was my friend Veena. M. I don’t remember how we became friends, in my 7th std. But she was crazy about English books and used to read “Hardy Boys” even inside class. And I admired her so much that I wanted to copy her. It took me almost 1 month to complete my first “Hardy Boys“. But I was happy. Veena, was an all-rounder. She was brilliant, participated in all kinds of quiz and competitions and won everything. She gave me books of Nancy Drew, Agatha Christie, Archies & all Enid Blyton books. Once I fell into the groove, the transition was fast. I reached a stage, where I could finish a Nancy Drew within a day, and that too inside class!.I was 13,then!
But my struggle with English grammar continued. Though there was some progress, it didn’t help me close those big voids. It was finally solved by a notorious tuition master of mine. For one complete year he did home-tuition for me and insulted me very badly , every single day , for my poor grammar. I cried and cursed him to the extent. It ended when he made me score 93% in English on my 10th std .
Now a days its been almost 10 years since I read a proper Malayalam book. Its limited to just magazines now and that too, when I am in India. But, I think in Malayalam and write in English. May be that’s why, my blogs are too simple. I wish I could write like Brenny, who plays with words and sentences and their meanings!
I am always in so much awe at his style!
FTC,,,,,, pooi..............
ReplyDeleteSTC?!!
ReplyDeleteYAHOOOO.....!! I was.
ReplyDeleteHei Swathi.
Lovely entry and interesting as well.
I think in several and dream in several languages meself like.
Take ye grand care of ye over there in the Em'Isle
- St Pat's is just round the corner, hey?! Rii xx
Wow..lady..thats quite an achievement! Super!! Well.. me feasted on those drews and boys and blyton books as well! thanks to my daddy actually.. he was the one who introduced me to it all! :)
ReplyDeleteOOppsy -
ReplyDeleteSorry for repeating the same word in the sentence -
(hehehe) At times I get these serious blonde-moments!! ;)
So: I think and dream in several languages depending...
TTC.........
ReplyDeleteRii:
ReplyDeleteLOL that was a classy blonde moment!!!
yea...St Pat's coming up...and a long weekend... yippieee.....
hmmmm.... grammar i never gave that a thought.... i am really bad in english grammar.... and about malayalam grammar again no idea... my fav reads were balarama, poompatta, and bobanum moliyum the books like sahihya varabhalam was unheard to me till i reached the Engg. college hostel during first year where i befriended ragesh, who introduced me to the world of malayala sahithyam. that is when i heard of mags like sahithya varabhalam and bhasha poshini. engg. days also ensured that my reading habit took a downwared fall... i had better things to do...
ReplyDeleteI wish i got that english teacher of urs so that i could have learned the basics of grammar...
I feel that ur blogs are well written... and that ur language is also good... and about Brenny, sankarettan they are in a league of their own... i read their blogs with a dictionary in hand.... and after reading their blogs i feel proud that i have learned some new words and some new usages... but till date i never got an opportunity to use them :(
like u have mentioned in ur case, it's easier to be exposed to the ubiquitous english language - it is everywhere ... and if not for ur natural interest and initial exposure and appreciation of your mother tongue, a window (to the world of mallu litt) might have been closed to you forever .... !
ReplyDeletei wish i had done more reading in tamil literature myself!
alla... one doubt if u start writing like brenny, we will miss your unique style.... blogs written in simple and lucid manner is a beauty in itself.....
ReplyDeleteso... be urself and keep writing...
anooj: i loved ur comment...i mean, i smiled ear-to-ear reading that...
ReplyDeletewelcome to my club...(no grammar)
brenny!...sure i read it with a dictionary...
i have told him that his english makes my head spin...
and i feel asooya,sometimes!
he is toooo good!
and thanks alot...for consoling me..LOL
and yea..i am being myself..thank you!
raaji: yea..u ARE right! now i wish i could read a good malayalam book... but i cant..
ReplyDeleteand if didnt get my exposure to malayalam literature then, it would have been a BIG loss to me.
Hey don't include me in that class of Brenny! I guess my vocabulary is still within that of most persons here... Perhaps the emotions created through use of the words makes one think so.
ReplyDeleteAs to learning languages, I never learnt Malayalam(!), still it's in Malayalam that I think. I'd never heard about these authors yoy mentioned until I was in Class 10, when I visted an Uncle in Hyderabad, where I just devoured 7 volumes of Kottarathil Sankunny's "Aitheehyamala".
That was the start to my romance with Malayalam. I have now completed reading almost all works of all the authors listed by you. Somewhere along the way I fell in love with Hailey, Hitchcock, Forsyth, Ludlum, Grisham, Archer, Dominique & Lapierre and so on.
Then I graduated from them, to more serious works- Carnegie lead the way. Then ofcourse was Toffler, Covey, Goleman and so on. Now it is Friedman who excites me...
My friends here, you included, ofcourse give me the best reading I do!
I forgot to mention Rajagopalachari's Ramayana and Mahabharatha (both in English) and several translations of Indian authors- Khandekar etc. played their role in shaping my thought processes too.
ReplyDeleteYour English is FAR FAAAAAAAAAAR better than mine! :-) Am sure you yourself know that :-) Awesome blog! Took me to nostalgic childhood memories. Thanks a bunch for sharing :-)
ReplyDeleteBubs!
yes...urs is better than me as well...it was good read....I got to remember my English Teacher always used to scold me for grammatical mistake....
ReplyDelete*LOL*, I know how complex Eng. Grammar can be,.. In fact I was always making mistakes like 'I did slept' instead of 'I did sleep' while I was in school. From 5th Std to 9th Std, my dad made my grammer relatively perfect by taking it in his own hands. He made a grammar notebook and explained all the different tenses and their kinds (like Past perfect, past continous, etc).. I think in a hurry I still do make mistakes but thanks to my father I am much better now than what my capabilities were...
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of English Grammar I am reminded of the slang we use (orally or written)... Somehow I don't like it much, esp in the written format... It takes the seriousness of the matter away I guess. But then variety is the spice of life!
Great blog Swati... I always come to your page and am surprised at the topics. So simple yet worth a lot of thought.
Sabiha
EVen when it comes to thinking, HIndi is my language and like Brenny or anyone.... I can't play with words while blogging.
ReplyDelete:(
talking about grammer... I think it took a long time before I cud really understand the grammer properly... (I face problem even today.... )
talking of language, I've a command over hindi, and English is just to communicate.
Still now i am struggling in english.....LOL.......AZAD
ReplyDeleteWe all hv our own styles of writing & yours is quite unique too!I like your ability to blog on any topic which often makes me say "Now why didn't I think of that before?"As regards grammar I had the good fortune of terrific teachers so I didn't face too many problems there.However I wish I could read in my native language, Konkani.Even today I do so with difficulty.Maybe being born & bred in Mumbai made me lose that oppurtunity.
ReplyDeleteI have never understood why it is absolutely essential to learn grammar to master any language. This applies to English as well as all other Indian languages.
ReplyDeleteWe donot think grammatically in order to write something ! The very idea is riculuous. But if there is a mistake, immediately it stikes us that ... "there is something wrong in this sentence". At times we may not be able to say which particular rule of grammar has been violated, but the fact that we know its a mistake is enough !
Typo *ridiculous*
ReplyDeletewoww... u must b proud tht u read n know proper malayalam!!!!
ReplyDeleteenglish books/novels are soo exciting.. i finish any book tht i start reading within a day.. but sumtimes it takes 2 days...thtz only in rare cases tho!!!!
i started to read english books may b wen i was in 8th std..n in luv with them ever since!!!
Oru Deshathinte Katha by S.K Pottakad.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's the only major Malayalam work I ever read. But, since I had to return the book in a very short time, I couldn't finish the last part. But, I must admit it was a wonderful experience. A good book. And that was very long time back.
Talking of Hardy Boys by Franklin W Dixon! My god, I had almost forgotten about those books. I remember now when i read this post. Those were books I used to read in 7th std along with other books such as Nancy Drew by Carollyn Keen, Famous Five, Secret Seven, Allaister Mclain, so & so. Hey, I'm just recollecting a lot of things from my ol' school days.
ReplyDeleteI was equally mad reader. And there were people who were like me in the same class. We used to read during our trip to school in the school bus, & between periods & even while waiting for the bus.
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful swathi, and I felt quite homely with the whole description. I used to enjoy the Mlayalam literature, and Sahithya varaphalam regularly till 2004, and all those magazines Mathrubhumi, Samakalika Malayalam , Madhyamam and Bhasha poshini. Now also, I intrude my ex-universiity lybrary in Hyderabad in some lazy sundays and finishes the whole pending stuff . Simple pleasure of reading Malayalam is .. too much.
ReplyDeleteMore over, I blog from my limited vocabulary of English !
Sahitya vaaraphalam...M.Krishnan nair...I miss him so much.. he was grt..And I used to buy Malayalam varikha only for readin his column..Now I dont like this weekly..Even I used to turn pages to check wheather it s ther...
ReplyDeleteGlad it worked well in the end. I think to learn a language Grammar is essential, mine is horrible. Glad you had a great teacher. Cheers :)
ReplyDeleteI can not talk fluently in English even now...
ReplyDelete