Language List.

Here's a list of languages I know, and can speak, and others that I've learnt, even to just a basic level :

• English : Pretty much my first language. Specifically speaking, Midland/Midwestern American English (the variety in and around Cincinnati OH) with generalized Americanisms. Also Indian English, to a lesser extent (Madras English).
• Sourashtra : My native language/mother tongue. Can speak it fluently, but it's not a very established language by itself and lacks a lot of nouns which I usually use English ones in place of. I have a Sourashtra dictionary, and the formal language seems pretty Sanskritized, which is fine. But I've never really had any occasion to use anything other than the conversational language. Maybe if I tried writing in it.
• Tamil : Can read the script with some difficulty. Am comfortably conversational, though I have a thick accent while speaking it and can mess it up badly while nervous. Can get the gist of formal speech using more Sanskritized vocabulary. Cannot understand 'Pure Tamil' at all (Using mostly Dravidian roots, ie). Can't really understand poetry/lyrics in it.
• Hindi : Can read the script easier than Tamil, but not to the extent of English. Indic scripts are extremely logical and have few ambiguities, arguably, Devanagri has the least. Can understand conversational Hindi and the gist of stuff spoken in formal Sanskritized Hindi. Can't really understand poetry/lyrics in it, or more Perso - Arabic vocabularies and usages. Learnt it in school, but forgot most of what I learnt, except for the Sanskritized vocab. Phonology is like a simplified version of Sourashtra's, so no problem there.
• Spanish : The first language I've actually attempted learning properly, with classes and the like. I can read it well (thanks mostly to the alphabet). I have no problems with pronouncing any of the phonemes, though now and then I stumble on the 'rr's while speaking fast. Can speak it without much accent, and I can approximate different regional accents, too. Vocabulary wise, still need work. Weak with prepositions. Semi fluent, but making lots of progress thanks to classes. Will be writing the DELE A2 exam in November. Can understand song lyrics but poetry, not so much.
• Portuguese : I attempted Portuguese after Spanish, when I started getting into Bossa Nova and Brazilian music in general. Later, I got deeper into it. My background in Spanish helped. Speaking, can do with some thinking. Not fluent at all, but probably could get around in Brazil with a phrasebook for reference. Thanks to music, can understand a decent amount. Studying Spanish helps, because the two languages have many things in common, first off, a Romance structure and general form, as opposed to English's Germanic, common vocabularies, similar conjugations (Though definitely not the same - just similar). Can understand lyrics and poetry with a dictionary to help (The flow of Portuguese is naturally very lyrical, and has more in common with lyrical English than lyrical Spanish for some reason, maybe the French influence on English and Portuguese is to blame?). Lovely phonology, challenging, yet worth it! I can make most of the sounds, I think!
• Japanese : The only East Asian language I've tried. I can read Hiragana. Don't know Katakana. I know the meaning of around 200 - 300 individual kana. Cannot speak or understand much, except for some words and phrases. I've forgotten most of the tiny bit I learnt, years ago. Phonology is dead easy. Has some of the most melancholy poetry in the world - like Portuguese!
• French : I learnt this in school. Never could get it right back then. After I got into languages after finishing school,  I learnt some basic French in college, though I promptly forgot it soon after. Cannot really understand spoken French, or speak it myself (except for very basic sentences, probably). Phonemes don't seem too hard - All the phonemes that exist in Parisian French, seem to exist in either British English or Brazilian Portuguese, as far as I know. Or at least it feels like that. Can understand written French to a good extent relative to my basic knowledge of the language. For some reason, I don't really see the appeal of this language. Probably because it was a lingua franca rather than a practical language outside of Francophone regions, and now English has taken its place. You think it's classy? Watch  Un prophète. It can be as gritty or street as Cockney.
• Russian : I can read and write Cyrillic but I am slow at it. I have no knowledge of Russian except for a few words I learnt on Rosetta Stone, and some more from Soviet rock (Yes, that was a thing!). The only reason I put it up here is because of the alphabet. Phonology seems intimidating but probably won't be after some study.
• Urdu : I can read the Perso Arabic Nastaliq script with some difficulty. (The native Urdu script, different from Arabic and Persian's). Can understand certain Perso Arabic words. Can write it. The conversational form of the language is the same as Hindi. Only the lyrical and formal registers differ. Though all in all, I don't get the point of Urdu.  I mean, either go for pure full blown, ACTUAL Persian, or Sansrkitized Hindi. Why bastardize either? That's just my POV as an anal ousider though. Persianate words don't sound as good with an Indian grammar/rhythm to me, IHMO. Or maybe I'm just a purist.  And other than being a Sufi language, I don't get the point of Urdu. As an atheist/agnostic/apatheist, the whole sufism stuff doesn't really appeal because GOD KHUDA GOD. No disrespect to the language though, just my views. Phonology same as Hindi's. (Because same language, in a way).
• Persian : Has a substantially easier form of  Perso Arabic script than Urdu. Makes it way easier to read and write. The language is actually extremely easy except for grammar. Especially for Indians. Phonology is like a simplified Hindi phonology, with like a very few exotic sounds thrown in. (I think no more than 3). Has some of the most beautiful poetry in the world. But to understand it, would probably need to know Persian REALLY well. Persian words, terms, suffixes pop up a lot in Medieval Indian sites that Sultanates and the Mughals built, their cities, and their cultural stuff. I don't really have much of an idea of spoken Perisan, it's more of the cultural Persian.
• Arabic : The script is even easier than Persian's. It's got a wide reach, and was one of the most influential languages of Asia and Africa in it's classical form. I can understand some words, and lots of toponyms (place names) and people's names. Also, Arabic words pop up a lot in Medieval Indian sites that Sultanates and the Mughals built. And place names here, too. Like Persian. Has a crazy phonology that is totally alien to me. I don't really have much knowledge of spoken Arabic, but I have an idea of cultural Arabic.
• Swedish : I tried to learn it, and I stopped after a while. It's a very harsh, grinding language. It didn't appeal to me much. Turns out, most Swedes are fluent in English (I think stats are 90 + %!), and there's not much point in learning the language. In fact, some of the best metal lyrics I've heard were by Swedes! (Opeth, Pain of Salvation!)

~~

...And Classes End.

My semester classes have ended, finally! Come to think of it, I don't know when they began, and they ended before I even settled into the sem.

But I'm not complaining, no, hah.

I've got exams though, from Monday. Need to start studying a bit. Sems are from mid October or so. Might have to turn in some assignments too, so I've got that to look forward to.

My Spanish classes have been getting knocked up a notch as well ("Oh, it's Elzar!") and I need to gear up for that. Half the people in our class have left. That's bad and yet good. Bad because it's more serious and there's less joking around and less of a casual atmosphere, but good because we're getting more done, learning more, and the teacher, Ana, can give us more individual attention.

Right now, we're learning the difference between two types of past tenses (there are THREE). The conjugation itself is pretty easy, but knowing which to use when and where is annoying and will take a while.

Books I've read this week : 1984 - George Orwell and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz. Oscar Wao was pretty cool, loads of dark humor and the regular kind, with lots of Spanglish and movie/book/comics references thrown in. Would be a must read, except for all the Spanish words.  1984 had a pretty disturbing ending, which I didn't expect either. But I guess enough's been said about it lately, lol.

My Thoughts on (Parts of) Ulysses. Part 1.

In one of my last posts, I was talking about how I had started reading a lot again. Whenever I'd look for recommendations, I'd see Ulysses by James Joyce high on the recommendations as one of the best, if not, THE best work in English. Other people disagreed with that, saying it was a heap of exaggerated trash, too self indulgent, whatnot. I decided I'd give it a try myself.

I read a bit last year, on Wiki. I wasn't in a mood to pay much attention, plus it's hard to on the computer, so I gave up pretty much before I began, promising that I'd try properly, later.

I forgot about for a few months and kept reading books that I COULD finish + understand (including, but not restricted to the ones in the list I put up). Then, I remembered what I said to myself. 

Remembering the warnings about the inscrutable use of language in the book, I picked a day I'd not be distracted by anything else, and when I'd have a 'heightened awareness'. I went to the library, made straight for the fourth floor and found their copy of Ulysses and went through the first chapter.

I had to read the introduction to get a sense of what to expect, and the annotations. There was an appendix in the back of the book I had to keep referring to to get a sense of the context and meanings of certain words (Latin, French, Irish Gaelic, Irish English - so far) and cultural aspects (mostly dealing with Catholicism and Irish and British culture of that period) and politics (Irish republicanism and unionism, British imperialism and apologists - but this at least I already had a good idea of because of the IRA and stuff and the history of 'our own' British Raj). I had to refer the appendix pretty often but I don't think there would have really been a way to get into the atmosphere otherwise, since 1904 Irish/British society/values are totally alien to those of my my own (which themselves are alien to me).

That day I finished the first chapter, Telemachus. I really liked it. Granted, it was still pretty simple compared to the rest of the book, but it serves as a good starting point to gradually (?) get into the feel of the next book. Though, the links with the Odyssey, I didn't get. It seemed normal, but had lots of quirky turns. It had a sense of simmering frustration on the part of Stephen Dedalus, the main character, especially with Ireland. It went suddenly, at random, into his thoughts, usually diverting from what was going on, or his own musings on them. 

Another day, I came back and read chapter two, Nestor. It was like the first but there were more internal musings, because it's set in a school where Dedalus teaches, and he's bored/frustrated with the kids (who wouldn't be). He makes some references to stuff related to Irish history, that I needed annotations the understand. He speaks to a fellow teacher and they talk about the state that Ireland is in, and once again we get the sense of Dedalus' frustration with his nation.

I tried reading chapter 3, but it was too vague and rambling. I skipped it for another time, and settled on chapter 4. This dealt with Leopold Bloom, an Irish Jew. Chapters 4 and 5, both with him as the focus, were less heady, but not easier to read, as Bloom has a very wandering mind and breaks his train of thought frequently for trivia. It dealt with more 'current' stuff, and day to day things. Both the chapters ended with things I can't imagine people writing about in the period Ulysses was published (1922) and so I was shocked. Chapter 4 starts with him hogging on meat and ends with him taking a dump. Chapter 5 has him thinking of women and checking out one, and ends with him ejaculating. Yes, shocker, hah, coming from someone using language like that while writing, to write about something like this and describe it too. (Not graphically though, thankfully)

That's all that I've finished successfully. I'm working on another post, about what I felt about what I've read so far (I know it's not enough to give a proper judgement, but bear with me), and the parallels I felt between India and Ireland (I was surprised by this), about his use of language, use of internal monologues, and things I could relate to in the book -- making it not just some piece of literature, but something relevant and insightful as well.

I wanted to include it with this post, but thought it'd be too big. Plus I want to make it good, and work on it, it'll take a while, what with exams and general laziness. More than a month probably. 

Indie Band Plan.

Been sick, so couldn't update and post about the books. I'll save that for later though.

So yeah.
My friend and I have been jamming some 60s/70s/80s stuff for a while. At first it was for fun, and without direction, but 3 months ago we kinda hit upon a sound for ourselves, pretty different from the other bands in the city. We finished some covers and got some own comps laid down.

We didn't have a backing band, but we thought we'd keep it 2 piece and acoustic till we did. We were aiming for a 70s ish type style. Semi jangly chords, with harmonized vocals and R&B type call and response stuff. Dancey bass and some Indian elements in the rhythms.

Unfortunately. He's left to Bangalore :\ And I'm now filled with these song ideas and these half finished songs just waiting to be jammed and finished. What's worse, I've found a backing band, a bassist and drummer who are ready to jam as well. But I need to decide what to do about the lead vocal/rhythm guitarist/co songwriter position. It's a real dilemma. Aaargh. 

Back! And here's a list.

Okay, so I'm back after a hiatus. My net's been back for a while but I've been too lazy to update for some reason. Meh.

Lot's happened since I was last active. Too much, in fact. Someday I'll get around to writing it down here, maybe.

I've been reading a lot of stuff for the last year or so. After not having read much for like 3 years before that. They opened a library near my house, a pretty massive one with a huge collection of stuff... And well. I started reading a lot, I guess to compensate for those 3 years. Anyway. Here's a list of some of the stuff I've read since then, with a rating out of ten, with ten being the highest. Rated not necessarily by quality, but by how much it was relatable and made sense/made me think/rethink my view of things.

• The Dice Man, Luke Rhinehart - [8/10]
• The Search for The Dice Man, Luke Rhinehart - [7/10]
• The "A Song of Ice and Fire" Series, George R R Martin- [9/10]
• Galapagos, Kurt Vonnegut - [3/10]
• God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Kurt Vonnegut - [5/10]
• God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian, Kurt Vonnegut - [7/10]
• Choke, Chuck Palahniuk - [2/10]
• Time Out of Joint, Phillip K. Dick - [7/10]
• Book of Disquiet, Fernando Pessoa - [11/10] (Yeah, you read that right!)
• after the quake, Haruki Murakami - [6/10]
• In The Miso Soup, Ryu Murakami - [4/10]
• My Melancholy Whores, Gabriel García Marquez - [3/10]
• Strange Pilgrims, Gabriel García Márquez - [7/10]
• South of The Border, East of The Sun, Haruki Murakami - [8/10]
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Phillip K. Dick - [7/10]

Etc etc. There are lots more but yeah. I'm not gonna write them all down.

All this reading's really changed my perspective on stuff, since it was after a period of not really reading much other than masala stuff or thrillers/spy books.

After a long, long time of being bogged down with work and being tired, and other stuff generally, I've started appreciating language and the subtlety of words more, and their intricacies and imagery. I've started appreciating the smaller subtleties in life, the settings and scenes of day to day things. I've started getting more emotionally involved while listening to song lyrics, especially when it comes to stuff like 60s/70s music. Stuff by guys like Dylan,The Beatles, jazz singers, bossa nova musicians, folk musicians, CSNY, Floyd, Steely Dan and others gained additional dimensions suddenly. There's this willingness to see things from many perspectives at once, and see the pros and cons of each, that grows once you're past your selfish, selfcentered  mentality of your teens and start listening to people and what they have to say, and have the courage to admit that they might be right or to even consider things like that.

There's more I want to say on the subject... Especially concerning certain books specifically. When I post next (tomorrow, hopefully - but probably not, knowing me)!

No Internet Blues.

My internet's been down from the New Year, and I've not been able to come online much, much less update my blog. I've written some stuff that I'll post once I get back.

Till then~

The Ambience Yatra (?)

I was fooling around on my phone and thought I'd write something to pass time, with the Color Notes app. This is the result. I gave it a tentative title of  "The Ambience Yatra". It's from the point of view of a young man from Chennai who's driving on a road (one of the national highways). To Kathmandu via Bangalore and
Pune I guess (NH7).

I'm sorta happy with the result so far! Though it's pretty rambly.

~
The nostalgia in travel is dwarfed by the memories of places we've wanted to go to, that we've simulated in our heads. When you leave, you're leaving to something familiar - It could even be your home.

But in spite of loads of precautions I still feel apprehensive.

The haze on the road at night is everywhere. It's thicker than the incense from Durga Puja.

I look around at the road. Thousands of people have died over the years, I thought to myself. Armies, from Indian - Tamil, Telegu, Maratha - to Turks and Mughals, to Europeans - French, Dutch, Portuguese, British. And now there's nothing to show for it here. Just a sign saying 'Muthu hotel - Vegetarian meals available' and signs with Tamil writing scrawled over the front.

I think to myself - Is it good that we, as a civilization have put our defeats behind us, or is it a sign that we will be - as the cliché goes - doomed to repeat the mistakes of our past?

I shake my head. I'm too tired to think about it. It's been quite a while since I last slept.

~