English and me!

I had never read an English story book other than my school books, till I reached 7^th std. I still remember a day when I was in 5^th 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 6^th 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 6^th and 7^th 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 7^th 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 10^th 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!