Language - Writing - Thought

To write, it is very important to understand in what language we think. Often, our expression language being english, our writings in english are translations from our thinking language (often mother tongue or the closest language to it). The way in which we frame our thoughts in english heavily depends on translation of ideas from our thinking language to communication language. We try to inculcate a habit of writing in our studios/sessions. Writing helps crystallize thought, understand our structure of thought.

What I actually want to discuss here is that I have found students expressing much better if allowed to express in their own thinking language. If one is familiar with reading another's thinking language, the maturity of thought is evident. We often read English passages written by students and feel they are not good enough.

I wonder if i am biased when i push students to express themselves in writing. May be that is not what everyone is comfortable with.

Students crave for instructional notes. They never feel like having their own versions of understandings. I used to assimilate my understanding in a separate book right from the 8th standard - I prepared my own notes, I would look up 3 textbooks and pick the easiest sentences to build my answer. I would note down whatever extra the teacher told apart from the textbook - but i do realize that it's only about me! The world is not the same.

What writing does to me, it may not do the same to anyone else. Writing helps me clarify my thoughts; reconsider my thoughts, or even reflect upon my thoughts. I am a confused person. But I constantly find ways of channelizing my confusions into workable things. I think confusions have potentials. One can explore them.

But there are so few of them who like to explore. Students are so less exploratory. Or may be I am too ambitious. But when I donot find myself in a company of exploratory people, I feel lost. How paradoxical! Often i sit in family gatherings and be quiet for hours. Perhaps they talk of different things. Or perhaps I think of completely different things.

Cycloid on sine wave

After reading my post on cycloids, my friend from Harvard tried actually doing this experiment and sent me an interesting video.

This was long due.
Here it is for all!

Ageing

Sonal (Sunderarajan)once said, ageing feels so good. I think I agree to her!

Lost stories

I must say that I lose so many of my posts to time. As they say, thoughts run faster than light. Every morning, my mind thinks excellently well, when thoughts come to me quite structured, on different issues, different things, intense debates! however, I am never in a position to record them. They almost evaporate during the day itself! I dont know how to revive them! I have therefore started to maintain a separate diary for my thoughts which shall become papers at some time in my life. But i wonder if that will happen anytime soon.

As more and more people start reading the blog, the lesser it remains private. Although I am happy that there a slight more readership, I am not sure if it must curtail the recording of my thoughts - because some of these thoughts are personal commentaries on some people around me! But those better not be shared. Otherwise, this space would become highly political.

On the other hand, some one must suggest me how can I record thoughts while I am travelling, or even how to record them especially when they are escaping at the speed of light!

there was a story I wanted to write long back, about a year back on the issue of heat in the city, made graphics for that, and now have no frame of mind to put it down. On the other hand, there are texts which are written but not posted, an almost 1500 word incomplete experience of my uncle's last days in the hospital... when i read it again after almost 1.5 years, it placed me back in time, in the tense moments that we as a family experience. Perhaps that is when writing becomes important to me, to relive these intense moments, that sometimes give a lot to learn...

so let me try if I can record any of my past/lost stories...

:)

Baghban II

Parents, even if they try to, cannot live without expectations from their progeny. This is perhaps a natural instinct – a give and take relationship. In ‘70s there were already films which raised the issue of children ignoring their parents while they grew old. The recent film was Baghban. Where does the problem actually lie? Every age is a generation, so there ought to be a generation gap in a parent and child span. 30 years. Very few of the older generations actually are able to connect to their children. There is a change in the value systems, in the way things are understood around them and even the priorities of children change. Then how are relationships understood and expected to remain ideal? Parents always expect their children to take care of them, to support them, to help them financially. Yes, they did that for us too when we were small. But didn’t they know they had to do it anyway before having a child? Are children investments - Social, moral, financial, emotional? And when they do not give expected returns, issues spring up.
I don’t think there has been any film constructed from the point of view of the children. There is a tremendous pressure on the children itself – balancing their own ambitions, managing the family (starting a new one, and keeping the old one), etc. The argument will be: “We did that too” – to which the counter argument is “then why don’t you understand the situation? The circumstances and the complexities of life today have increased, only because the number of options available have increased.” It’s infinitely difficult to communicate this to the parents. Communication has always been a tricky issue in conventional Indian families. Most of the children fear the head of the family. Hence, all talk is routed through someone.
When children grow older, able, and self dependent, they do not understand what kind of a relationship to maintain with the otherwise head of the family. This head of the family is generally a head primarily because he/she supports the family financially, according to me. Another is of course the political power that he has in the family. When this head retires, the power automatically transfers to the succeeding financial figure. But how does this new financial position get constructed? I mean, when does a son or daughter decide that he/she would start contributing money for household affairs? How are such decisions taken – these are extremely political, and what when the number of earning heads are more than one?
Education, although on one hand enables children to become more sensitive to parents, it also makes themselves more ambitious and rational. In the pursuit of rationality, children question most things – what they wear, eat, drink, live, use and even relationships. How must parents handle this? Or what should the parents expect out of such relationships? Parents try and educate their children as much as possible, but isn’t it hitting their own heads? Because children are going to be more self contained, self exploratory and self sufficient – perhaps a law of nature. Each time in each generation is a new individual constructed. This is bound to be different from the old one. But this new and old creates a lot of friction.
Someone told me that some friction is good. If a child chooses to keep his/her parents happy, is it necessary that his/her happiness too lies in that? These questions bother me all the time. My ethical stance is to keep everyone around me, related to me in any way, happy. How does that help me though? I wonder.

(more to come)