13 April 2009

Violets – mine and yours

violet-mood-gal-431x500


What I actually intent to write is about “Blues” – mine and yours. But I guessed that such a title might not get enough attraction for the traditional genre sense in which people write “blues”. So, now since you are here, let’s replace violet with blue.

The question is “Are they the same thing – my blue and your blue?” – This is a philosophical question which cannot be answered? Well, the very same thing which I and you call blue might be seen different by us. It could even be someone else’s yellow/red/green. 

Well, if you are confused, just feel free to think I am crazy! (and may accept your failure to grasp abstract things and come back for my next post).

So, having laid the foundation problem, let’s go to the next level.

The thing is, I want to know how Malayalam sounds to someone who doesn’t know Malayalam. One thing which I know about German, which no other German person knows, is that “I know how it sounds to a non-German”. (What a great discovery! isn’t it?) :)

Well, I know this about English too – especially by watching all those late evening HBO/Star/AXN movies – without understanding even a single word.

I was wondering whether there is any method to forget Malayalam for a few days and listen to others and feel how it sounds (and then remember it again).

I told a German friend about this “A native speaker’s WANT to know, how his language sounds to a non-native speaker?”.

To my question “How do you feel listening to my language?”, he answered quickly – “Bewildered”. :) [nothing can beat it.. right?]

Now when I expand this little problem to a higher level, it changes as below. Most of the English songs are fast numbers for me (and I believe that it is true for most of you who are not native English speakers). But would that be the same with native English speakers?

Or is it that Indian songs are inherently slower?

And if those songs are not too fast paced for them, would they find most of the Indian songs, which I find not-so-fast to be very slow?

266149602_c1cb8d64bdOr since they don’t know the languages in which the songs are written, would they find the songs faster than the English songs which are slow to them, but fast to me?

Well, if you are not confused till this point, you do deserve a piece of cake. Feel free. You have earned it. :)

If you have good answers to my questions, please tell me. Otherwise, write your name down and I shall inform you when I find the answers.

Signing off, Sands.

PS: My plan was to write some mundane thing. But turned out to be this. *g*.

PPS: Nothing special about Malayalam or Indian songs. Just that they happen to be my language and default music repertoire. Had I been Chinese, it would have been Chinese language and songs.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Vivek.

PS: “A native speaker’s WANT to know, how his language sounds to a non-native speaker?”.. I guess most of them had this question in their mind at some point of time..

Sakeeb said...

I think most asian songs are slow compared to english and european language songs. Try some korean/japanese/arabic/chinese/thai songs on youtube.

The english songs are insanely fast when its sung by a Black (The thekkumootil insurance corporation chairman calls them raper :-D)

Sands | കരിങ്കല്ല് said...

@ Vivek..

May be...


@ Sakeeb

Well, that is the problem right? We need an alien to answer that question well.

LOL for the Insurance company guy part! :)