The onslaught on English
I have been following with great interest the debate on the fallout of the Tamil Conference, where the Government asked for Tamil translations of English names.
As the largest revenue earner for the Tamil Nadu Government, TASMAC shops should now display the following lists.
Tasmac Menu Card ( Peg rates)
Vellai Galatta (White Mischief) – Rs 38
Yesuvin thambikal (Christian Brothers) – Rs 42
Karutha ottippu (Black Label) – Rs 100
Palaya thurai (Old Port) – Rs 35
Arasan mukkuvan (Kingfisher) – Rs 85
Sanji oothukaran (Bag Piper) – Rs 70
Kilavan sami (Old Monk) – Rs 38
Koothattam (Celebration) – Rs 65
* * *
Meanwhile, an onslaught on the English language has been going on for years and Hinglish has taken on many a dogberryism (a malapropist par excellence derived from the constable in Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing). Here are some of my favourites attributed to one of Chennai’s well-known educationists:
At the ground:
All of you stand in a straight circle.
While punishing students:
You , rotate the ground four times...
You three of you stand together separately.
While addressing students about dress code:
Everybody should wear dress to college.
Girls should not wear T shirt, U shirt, V shirt. But if you want to wear... remove it when inside the campus and put it outside the campus.
At his best inside the classroom:
Both of you three get out of the class.
Take 5 cm wire of any length...
The choicest ones!
This college strict you the worry no .... You get good marks, I the happy, tomorrow you get good job, I the happy , tomorrow you marry, I the enjoy.
No ragging this college. Anybody rag we arrest the police.
Salman Rushdie, when asked to comment on Indian English, replied,
“THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK!”
And striking back, we are.
Hinglish Vaazhga!
Mithran Devanesen
9/4B, 3rd Cross Street,
Ormes Road, Kilpauk,
Chennai 600 010
Editor’s Note: This is the last piece Mithran sent to Madras Musings – and it was in his inimitable humorous style. Let us remember him by it.
A Principal’s matter of principle
Dr. A. Raman’s piece (MM, July 1st) revived my own memories of Dr. B.G.L.N. Swamy. I was working in the Bangalore Divisional Office of LIC of India between 1964 and 1968. Sometime in 1964, the late T. Sadasivam and M.S. Amma visited Bangalore, when they introduced me to Dr. Swamy’s illustrious father Dr. D.V. Gundappa whose Kannada epic Mankuthimmena gegga is popular including in the remotest rural areas of Karnataka even today.
DVG (as he was affectionately called by all) did not have proper schooling, but he had the advantage of Vedaadhyayana in his early years which, he used to tell me, helped him a lot in learning English and other subjects in his youth. He was, thus, a self-taught person.
Recognised in his lifetime itself as one of the ‘fathers’ of modern Kannada literature, it was he who gave Kannada its present ‘typescript’. He was so popular that he was invited by the Maharaja of the then princely State of Mysore to join his Council of Ministers, but DVG politely declined the honour by saying that he desired to retain his independence of judgment and freedom to express himself fearlessly and frankly on the issues of the day.
He gave me a letter of introduction to meet his only son Dr. B.G.L.N. Swamy who was then Professor of Botany in the Presidency College. He told me how he came to resign the Principalship of that prestigious college, when the Government of Madras insisted on his accommodating on his panel for admission of students to the College a prominent figure of a particular political hue for no other worthwhile reason than that he enjoyed the confidence of the founder of the movement. Dr. Swamy took strong objection to the unholy proposal. When the then Education Department of the State was asked to pay no heed to it by the powers that be, Swamy sent in his resignation letter promptly, and refused to budge from the conscientious position he had taken. He was even toying with the idea of accepting one of the numerous and persistent offers from various universities abroad, but the Education Department somehow succeeded in its efforts to retain him in the College in his original position as Head of the Botany Department (otherwise, his resignation then as Principal would have made ‘news’ in international circles of higher education). Thereafter, he made no fuss about it either in public or in private.
He loved Poet Subramania Bharatiyar so much that he translated some of his soul-stirring pieces into Kannada and had them published.
K. Vedamurthy
‘Sri Krishna’, 62, 28th Cross Street,
Indiranagar, Chennai 600 020
The Chennai scene
Louis Menezes has succinctly explained (MM, August 1st) the current state of Madras City, stating much what the ordinary citizen would like to say.
But the following should also be considered by a normal city, leave alone one seeking world-class status:
Autorickshaws
Most of them run with silencer off, at breakneck speed, and overloaded. They make sound with blaring horns (where they are supposed to use bulb horns). All autos are invariably parked right at bus stops, inconveniencing not only the bus passengers but also the harried bus drivers (in cities around the world such parkings would be punished).
Two-wheelers
Even two-wheelers have of late started using musical non-stop horns (the person in front will not know which vehicle is behind him endangering himself and others on road). Of course, two-wheelers are the masters of the road, paying scant respect to road rules.
Buses
Many types of buses have started plying on the road, including corporate and educational institution buses, all using air horns with impunity and plying as killers on the road.
In fact, there is absolutely no traffic sense nor is there enforcement. It is no wonder we have the highest road casualties. Instead of routinely announcing Rs. 50,000 or one lakh compensation per death, the amount can well be used for traffic rules enforcement. Violators should be severely punished. We can save a lot of such compensation money!
Garbage
The less said about its accumulation the better. Why not punish those well-heeled shopkeepers who dump garbage on their doorstep, with callous disregard for others.
In cities like Bombay, weekly holidays are compulsory on different days in different localities. This helps the civic body to sweep the area clean once a week. Why not follow such a system in Madras?
N.P. Andavan
audconp@yahoo.co.uk
World-class attitudes
While largely concurring with what Louis Menezes says about Chennai becoming a World Class City (MM, August 1st), I would like to offer some alternative views.
Cities are not water, buildings, roads, industry, IT companies and such alone. It is people and their attitudes that make a world-class city. When you arrive, are there places where services such as hotel rooms, taxis etc. are centralised, hassle-free? Why do people spit on the newly-laid granite road dividers? And must every wall be a public convenience?
Why do even educated people throw garbage on the streets, right next to garbage bins? Do shopkeepers rip you off? Are there touts in the airports offering to change money and other services? How are public services such as buses and trains? Is there easy connectivity? Is there enough greenery? Are the road dividers being looked after? What about the parks? Are the monuments being maintained? What about the slums?
How is the availability and accessibility of transport – both public and private. How soon, how easily can you find a taxi or an auto with fixed rates, where the drivers don’t squabble? How many clean public toilets, with reasonable services, are there? What is the quality of water from the tap? Are there affordable hotels?
A cursory analysis would show that, if we don’t change our attitudes, we will be in the same, if not worse, situation in 2050. And our track record is not encouraging.
Finally, what about corruption and bakshish? What about the overly bureaucratic nature of our governance?
These are all questions that have no immediate answers. Till we find some solutions, forget about any world-class status, dear old Chennai.
Dr. Prem Chandran John
Co-Chair, Global Steering Council
People’s Health Movement
10, 32nd Cross Street
Besant Nagar, Chennai 600 090
Remembering BGL
I recently retired as professor of Plant Biotechnology from the University of Tromsø in northern Norway. Let me first congratulate you for a wonderful online edition of Madras Musings. My brother sent me the link and this is my first exposure to the paper and I can assure you this will be part of my regular read every month.
I am an old student of late Dr. BGL Swamy (MM, July 1st) who initiated me into the study of plants and taught me for five years. I cannot find words to describe what a wonderful teacher he was and how he was instrumental in fanning my admiration for the study of the plant kingdom, so much so that I gave up my opportunity to study medicine (needless to say against my family’s wishes) to pursue a doctorate in botany from the University of Madras.
If I have decided to spend part of my life still way above the Arctic Circle it is because of the fascination I have for the unspoiled nature I experience here every day. This I truly owe to Dr. BGL.
He was indeed an unconventional teacher and his teachings have influenced me in every aspect of my personal and professional life. I still have very fond memories of Dr. Swamy and remember quite a few stories involving the expression of his highly creative and “out of the box” personality.
T.V. Bhuvaneswari
tvbeswari@gmail.com
Brock’s trees
Thanks for having brought out that four-page pullout of English street names in Chennai and the origins (MM, June 15th). There is one more English name omitted, Brock Road adjacent to Ainsley Canal and the prestigious Southern Railway headquarters Hospital in Ayanavaram.
Brock Road has beautiful green cover with tree species known as Holoptelia integrifolia, Derris indica, Kigelia pinnata, etc. which were planted by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department in association with members of Exnora International in 2003.
K. Ramados
4/1, P.E. Koil West Mada Street
Ayanavaram, Chennai 600 023
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