Comments on: Bandy to the Shandy http://www.blogocentricity.com/?p=219 Navin Sigamany's blog on life online and in South India Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:26:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Blogocentricity » Blog Archive » Bilingual Blogging http://www.blogocentricity.com/?p=219&cpage=1#comment-2133 Blogocentricity » Blog Archive » Bilingual Blogging Sun, 26 Feb 2006 07:46:01 +0000 http://www.blogocentricity.com/?p=219#comment-2133 [...] However, Tamil was and is the language of everyday life. Friends, relatives, shopkeepers, strangers, bus conductors, the bandyman - everyone spoke to you and were spoken to in Tamil. Teachers spoke to you in English, even if some were not terribly good at it, and would hit you with a cane if they caught you speaking in “the vernacular,” as they called it. My parents switched easily between spoken Tamil and English easily and naturally. As a result, my spoken Tamil is as good as it can get - after all I am a native speaker. The only peculiarity was the lilt of the Kongunadu region that was firmly imprinted on my Tamil. This has now all but disappeared - the result of various wanderings in different parts of Tamilnadu, and more than a decade of living in Chennai. But the moment I am speaking to someone with the lilt, it reappears, as if by magic! So, Tamil was the language of speech during my childhood. But the schools made sure that English was the language in which I read and wrote. A succession of none-too-good Tamil teachers, who poured scorn on those who weren’t able to rattle off the classics by heart, and meted out punishments like kneeling in the corridor and sitting on the floor in front of the class, made sure that my interest in Tamil was effectively killed. Fear and loathing for the language were what these teachers inspired in me. By the time I had a Tamil teacher who could kindle any interest in the language and its literature, it was too late - French offered an easy way out that I instantly took. It remained my defense against Tamil till I no longer had the threat of having to study a second language looming over me. [...] [...] However, Tamil was and is the language of everyday life. Friends, relatives, shopkeepers, strangers, bus conductors, the bandyman – everyone spoke to you and were spoken to in Tamil. Teachers spoke to you in English, even if some were not terribly good at it, and would hit you with a cane if they caught you speaking in “the vernacular,” as they called it. My parents switched easily between spoken Tamil and English easily and naturally. As a result, my spoken Tamil is as good as it can get – after all I am a native speaker. The only peculiarity was the lilt of the Kongunadu region that was firmly imprinted on my Tamil. This has now all but disappeared – the result of various wanderings in different parts of Tamilnadu, and more than a decade of living in Chennai. But the moment I am speaking to someone with the lilt, it reappears, as if by magic! So, Tamil was the language of speech during my childhood. But the schools made sure that English was the language in which I read and wrote. A succession of none-too-good Tamil teachers, who poured scorn on those who weren’t able to rattle off the classics by heart, and meted out punishments like kneeling in the corridor and sitting on the floor in front of the class, made sure that my interest in Tamil was effectively killed. Fear and loathing for the language were what these teachers inspired in me. By the time I had a Tamil teacher who could kindle any interest in the language and its literature, it was too late – French offered an easy way out that I instantly took. It remained my defense against Tamil till I no longer had the threat of having to study a second language looming over me. [...]

]]> By: +: etcetera :+ http://www.blogocentricity.com/?p=219&cpage=1#comment-1297 +: etcetera :+ Thu, 23 Jun 2005 04:59:15 +0000 http://www.blogocentricity.com/?p=219#comment-1297 <strong>Intelligence In Numbers</strong> Absolutes : Sun rising in the east, a round earth. More: Crowds are generally stupid. Same difference. That crowds are dumb is a given - an immutable truth that's not worth arguing about. Meetings are to be sneered at, group-think deserves contempt, c... Intelligence In Numbers

Absolutes : Sun rising in the east, a round earth. More: Crowds are generally stupid. Same difference. That crowds are dumb is a given – an immutable truth that’s not worth arguing about. Meetings are to be sneered at, group-think deserves contempt, c…

]]> By: Blogocentricity » The Search for Shandy http://www.blogocentricity.com/?p=219&cpage=1#comment-1257 Blogocentricity » The Search for Shandy Tue, 31 May 2005 09:14:46 +0000 http://www.blogocentricity.com/?p=219#comment-1257 [...] der: Random Experience Books — Navin Sigamany @ 2:44 pm After reading my post about the shandy, Sheetal asked me where I had come across the word, and whether it is really a [...] [...] der: Random Experience Books — Navin Sigamany @ 2:44 pm

After reading my post about the shandy, Sheetal asked me where I had come across the word, and whether it is really a [...]

]]> By: Navin Sigamany http://www.blogocentricity.com/?p=219&cpage=1#comment-1245 Navin Sigamany Tue, 17 May 2005 10:11:08 +0000 http://www.blogocentricity.com/?p=219#comment-1245 We didn't have one of those at the sandhai. These guys used to roam about the streets, more so during the summer holidays when children were at home, and were called "chuynjuck," from the noise made by the doll that sat atop a pole they carried. The hands of the doll were two small cymbals, which used to strike each other when the chuynjuck pressed a stirrup-like trigger at the base of the pole. Just under the doll was a mass of semi-soft plasticine-like candy striped in yellow, orange, pink and white, that he would twist into various shapes. Depending on the complexity of these shapes, the cost would go up. Not being very well-to-do as a child, I have never got beyond a watch, which by the way I used to hate, as it involved actually "wearing" it. Imagine a sticky swatch of candy wrapped around your wrist. Yeugh! I have actually seen a child get a necklace made and draped around its neck! We didn’t have one of those at the sandhai. These guys used to roam about the streets, more so during the summer holidays when children were at home, and were called “chuynjuck,” from the noise made by the doll that sat atop a pole they carried. The hands of the doll were two small cymbals, which used to strike each other when the chuynjuck pressed a stirrup-like trigger at the base of the pole. Just under the doll was a mass of semi-soft plasticine-like candy striped in yellow, orange, pink and white, that he would twist into various shapes. Depending on the complexity of these shapes, the cost would go up. Not being very well-to-do as a child, I have never got beyond a watch, which by the way I used to hate, as it involved actually “wearing” it. Imagine a sticky swatch of candy wrapped around your wrist. Yeugh! I have actually seen a child get a necklace made and draped around its neck!

]]> By: Vibhu http://www.blogocentricity.com/?p=219&cpage=1#comment-1244 Vibhu Tue, 17 May 2005 09:59:00 +0000 http://www.blogocentricity.com/?p=219#comment-1244 Do you remember the candyman at the "sandai" ? He would twist candy into various shapes(like ring, watch etc), that you could later eat ? Do you remember the candyman at the “sandai” ? He would twist candy into various shapes(like ring, watch etc), that you could later eat ?

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