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Archive for the ‘language’ Category | |||||
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Remember that golden deer in The Ramayana? That alluringly-beautiful-yet-not-what-it-seems creature that utimately causes Sita’s doom? I always thought it strange that Sita, who lived so contently in her simple forest life, suddenly coveted this deer (or jinka as we say in Telugu). It is ironic that in this season of materialism, as we see reindeer adorn homes and front yards (ones that even light up to golden hues), I think back to that ancient story of the golden deer. See what happens when you want something you don’t need? Maybe I should have reminders all over the house: Above: Birch Ply Reindeer for the table
Children’s deer print, by Children Inspire Design
Fawn Bamboo Wall Clock (left) by decoylab; Forest Green Deer Print by acageybee
Beautiful mantel display (image via here)
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No, not mine…my kids – and they relished all 3 1/2 hours of it (spread over 2 evenings). I underestimated the endless learning opportunities a film like Jodhaa Akbar presents – however “fictitious” of an historical film it is. But for 2 evenings, we were transported to 16th century Mughal India – to a time when, to the bewilderment of my kids, there were no cars or trains, telephones or electricity. They got glimpses of elephant transport, palanquins and of glorious Indian palaces. Although my 3-year-old daughter was most interested in the colours of Princess Jodhaa’s outfits and in categorizing each character as either “good” or “bad,” my older son delved into the story. Here are some vocabulary words we learned from our weekend Bollywood-fest: Akbar (and the fact that he was a Muslim Mughal Emperor) And so my kids begin their Bollywood journey. They’ve already asked me for a next movie…I’ll have to give this some thought. | |||||
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Calling all Gujarati writers! Today I have the sincere pleasure of writing about Madhu Rye – eminent Gujarati author and playwright. He’s written scores of novels, short stories and plays and was awarded the Ranitram Gold Medal – considered the highest literary award in Gujarati literature - for his lifetime achievement in 2000. One of his plays received the Bhupen Khakhar Playwriting Award and his novel Kimball Ravenswood was turned into a Bollywood film (What’s Your Raashee, starring Priyanka Chopra). I was first introduced to Madhubhai (as I have come to call him) a few years back through a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Gnaana was still in development and Madhubhai assisted us with the development of the Gujarati Alphabet Blocks (and Hindi), and later the Bindi Baby Numbers Books (you will see his name on the back). He is genuine, jovial and truly inspirational. A more sincere champion of the pure love of language I have never known! Well, Madhubhai has recently launched Mamata Monthly – a monthly short story magazine. Mamata is now running a Short Story Competition – with a handsome First Prize of Rs. 51,000/-. The competition is open to anyone worldwide and there is no minimum or maximum length requirement. The story must, of course, be in Gujarati. Deadline is December 31. Although the competition is limited to Gujarati stories, Mamata aims to publish one non-Gujarati piece in each issue – so whichever language you write in, you are welcome to submit to Mamata for publication. Congratulations on another achievement, Madhubhai! For more information, please contact mamatamonthly@hotmail.com For US Home Delivery of Mamata (12 issues), please send a check for $30.00 made payable to “Chicago Art Circle” and mail to: 1468 Sandburg Drive, Schaumurg, IL 60173. For India Home Delivery, please send a check for Rs. 150/- made payable to “Mamata Monthly” and mail to: 977/2 Sector 7-C, Gandhinagar. | |||||
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My little boy got stung by a bee for the first time. A few weeks ago, the shrillest-of-shrill screams interrupted our otherwise relaxing summer morning as my son dashed into the house from the backyard and started rolling on the floor. Sure enough there was a little red break in the skin on the ball of his left foot. The poor guy was whimpering and limping all through his playdate later that morning. His newfound fear and anger at beekind was tempered by his curiosity in dissecting exactly what transpired during his 20-second Battle with the Backyard Bee. He made me pull out an old stuffed bee we won at a fair last year to verify that it did, in-fact, have a stinger. Which then snowballed into other questions about what bees eat, how they operate, why they make hives and how they make honey. He even started a collection of dead bees, much to the fascination of his little sister, who seems on keen on plucking off their wings. The Telugu word for bee – tummeda - happens to be one my favourite words in the language. It appears frequently in Telugu poetry and song lyrics. Yes, there is another, less poetic word – teneteega (tene means honey) – but I prefer to teach the kids the former. Of course you can’t beat the simplicity of the word “bee,” which is what we call the creature most of the time, but I do make sure to quiz them on how to say it in Telugu. So this month, “ta” is for “tummeda.” At the top of this post: fabulous Beehive Bookcase by Mostapha El Oulhani – would look stunning in a boy’s room or playroom. Below: super-cute gift idea – Plush Counting Beehive, available on Ebay.
Honey with your tea? I’d love to have this for a garden party. Honeycomb Tea Set by Victoria Trading Co.
The only lotion I’ll use on my kids (and can’t beat the honey-smell!): Burt’s Bees Baby Bee Buttermilk Lotion
Great read: The Life and Times of the Honeybee Truly jealous: Beehive Garden House by architect Manuel Villa
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“Pralaya” by Vladimir Zaitsev, available for purchase at Amsterdam Art Gallery All the summer weekends at California’s beaches and reading of Hindu mythology have the kids asking alot about waves, water and the concept of pralaya – thanks to Monsieur Matsya from our Das Avatar Puzzle (my son has sanctified the puzzle coin to be in his top rotation of toys – and has even slept with it a few times – because “Matsya is so cute“). For those unfamiliar with the story, Matsya is Vishnu’s first avatar – and he takes this form to save (essential) people/plants/animals from the imminent pralaya – depicted as a ”great flood” (and also to rescue the Vedas from the clutches of the rakshasha Hayagriva). Technically, a pralaya is a period of dissolution or inactivity that lasts for 4,320,000,000 human years and is equal to one night in the life of Lord Brahma (and a kalpa, a period of creation/activity, lasts an equivalent period of years and is equal to one of Brahma’s days).
I’ve written before about my son’s obsession with tsunamis, even before the destructive events in Japan earlier this year. So when it suddenly dawned on him that there was actually a water-wave event bigger than a tsunami, the why, why, why’s started pouring in! It’s difficult to temper the explanation of what a pralaya is without creating fear or apprehension in a child, but I explain to him that the pralaya happens when “the universe is going to sleep – because it needs its rest too.” I reassure him that the pralaya happened a long time ago and won’t happen again for millions of years – but that doesn’t keep him from marveling at the unfathomable. So this month “pa” is for pralaya.
I give the Avatar Puzzle full credit for igniting his interest in these stories – and having attractive visuals of all 10 avatars helps him comprehend that they are just different forms of Lord Vishnu, especially since we were careful to make sure each piece had the same “Vishnu face” when developing the puzzle. To supplement the puzzle, I use the following resources: Amar Chitra Katha Dasha Avatar and relevant excerpts from the Shree Krishna DVD Set (clips available on YouTube if you type in the name of the avatar, but I recommend buying the set – it’s an excellent production).
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We just returned from a week-long vacation in Vancouver with friends and are wishing we could have brought that city’s multi-cultural ethos home with us. Of course the L.A. area where we live is one of the true melting pots in the U.S., but did you know Vancouver’s Public Library (Main Branch) has signs in 6 languages – including Punjabi! Yes, we took in the beautiful vistas and ate wonderful food – and in between it all there was bhangra. We heard it in restaurants, cabs, music stores and on the Punjabi TV channel in our hotel room. The Museum of Vancouver even had a groundbreaking Bhangra.me exhibit – an amazing display of photographs, archival video and of course music and dance that tells a universal story of the South Asian diaspora. (If you’re in the area, it runs until October 23 – don’t miss it!) Of course there is more to Punjabi music and dance than bhangra – but it’s an element of Punjabi culture that my kids love. One CD is enough liven-up a boring afternoon for hours! No surprise then that when we were in Vancouver, it was the music that carried our days and our memories. So this month “bha” is for “bhangra.”
What started as a folk dance to celebrate the harvest is now a global phenomenon. Check out this hilarious video from dance group Signature on Britain’s Got Talent (it’s NOT just Billy Jean, trust me): There are even specialized bhangra classes for toddlers and beyond (including NamasteKidz in Los Angeles and NYC Bhangra in NY/NJ ). And these little kids from the UK are simply adorable with their bhangra moves (click on image to play):
Images: Museum of Vancouver (top of post) and 4×4 Bhangra (figure re: parts of dress) | |||||
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So you speak Gujarati and he speaks Bengali. Or maybe your spouse is not Indian but speaks Spanish, Russian or Japanese. And let’s just assume you don’t speak each other’s language so you speak English when you’re together. What’s your policy with the kids? In my case, I speak Telugu but my husband speaks Kannada – languages which are eerily similar (I can even read Kannada - no problem) - but which similarity may be even more confusing for the kids (I say dosa, he says dose. I say kappa, he says kappe (frog)). So you can imagine the linguistic dissonance when we’re spending time as a family! The most logical approach would be for me to speak Telugu to the kids, and for him to speak Kannada – thereby rendering our kids blissfully trilingual. But this is complicated by several factors: (1) I spend more time with the kids – so they naturally end up speaking way more Telugu; (2) my husband and I speak English to each other (resulting in a rather comical switching of languges depending on who-is-addressing-who at that precise point in the sentence); and (3) given the scarcity of time outside of school/work, I find myself “hogging up” most of this time to push the Telugu. There doesn’t seem to be an easy solution. What’s your policy? We ask the question on our Facebook Page – so let’s collaborate with some ideas! | |||||
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Why is it that baby counting books always start with the number 1? You can’t have a number system without the number zero – so the omission does not make much sense. Zero – called sunna in Telugu (and shoonya in Hindi and Gujarati) also happens to be both of my kids’ favourite number. “Remember when I was zero years old, Mommy?” (referring to any time period before they turned one) and “I want zero punishment.” There is just something silly about “nothing.” I put this issue to rest when drafting our new Bindi Baby Numbers books – our first page spread is dedicated to the number 0 – with accompanying text translating to “There is nothing here.” The kids love it! So much so that’s it’s hard to keep them from coming back to that page. (We also have a full page about Aryabhata – India’s great mathemtician and astronomer who is credited with the “invention” of zero.)
In my quest for more ”zero” related things, I stumbled upon Numberjacks – a children’s TV series produced for BBC featuring animated superhero numbers who solve problems. The show is aimed at 4- and 5-year-olds and encourages problem solving, thinking and early math skills. The numbers each have their own personality and powers (4 is a mechanic, 2 has a “touch of the ‘terrible twos’”, and 9 is a good organizer)! And yes, there is a Monsieur Sunna – he can make things disappear! How cool is that? So when are you guys coming State-side? Learn more about Numberjacks on their website or their new Mission to Learn interactive website. UPDATE: Numberjacks contacted us and informed us they ARE available in the US – but only in Spanish. Check out Los Supernumeros on VME. | |||||
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Curious? We were, so we looked it up. The following comes from Babycenter.in – the Indian counterpart to the immensely popular baby resource site. The site reports that the trend for girls is towards unique names that are short and sweet – and that long, traditional names are “now passé.” For the boys, traditional Sanskrit names inspired by the Vedas, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and by nature seem to be the focus of attention. So here’s the list – with meanings of the names (to the best of our ability) in parenthesis. Top 20 Indian Baby Girl Names in 2010
Top 20 Indian Baby Boy Names in 2010
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Of course this month is all about The Earth – bhoomi as said in Telugu. It’s nice that schools and communities are focusing on Maata Bhoomi – though it would be even better if such environmental education were made a part of the core curriculum. My son’s school celebrated Earth Day with some special events, in which I participated by presenting Earth Cake Pops to his classmates. Their excitement over the small treat indeed warmed my heart, but what I’ll remember most from the day is how well they treated their little Cake Pop – as though it were a fragile and oh-so-precious gift of rarity. They coddled and kissed their pops, and duly named their continents (thanks to CakePopShop for the wonderful detailing on the design) before safely tucking them away in their lunchpails to take home. I hope they’ll treat the real Earth with such care and reverence! For more Earth education throughout the year:
On of our all-time favourites – Hugg-A-Planet Earth
Whole World Gift Set from Barefoot Books
Terrific books: Aani and the Tree Huggers (recommended by one of our readers – based on true events in northern India) and The Earth and I (a simple and special read).
Games: What’s Rubbish? and Farming Game (Kids)
EPA also has a whole section on interactive kids’ games – mostly for older kids, but here’s a simple one. Happy Earth Day! |
(left); 
by Stockmar (right).
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