Certainly Uncertain

Growing up, I internalized the notion of being in an Identity Crisis, as much of my childhood was enmeshed in one. At the tender age of five, I was whisked away from everything familiar to me; from the place I was born in and the place I learned to call home—Canada. After living apart for almost five years due to my father’s employment in India, my parents had finally decided that it was about time our family settled down in one place and this place just so happened to be the city of Mumbai in India. Not anticipating the enormity of the move at the time, I left Canada with my little box of timbits, a big smile and not to miss out, a very strong Canadian accent. Little did I know how problematic this "foreign" twang of mine would turn out to be.

It was finally the day of my admission process to the school in our new locality; a considerably big day that shall hopefully check off the looming worry of getting into a school. After several months of hunting for apartments across almost all of Mumbai, we had finally bought our own in a building called Avalon, and the school in the vicinity was the one I was about to apply for. With almost 20 schools sprawled across the suburb, it was essential for me to get accepted to this one as it was merely a 7 minute drive from my apartment building and the less the commuting time in Mumbai, the better.

Accordingly, said process actually involved an interview with the principal. What the school desired to "interview" a 5 year old about is still beyond me. Nevertheless, my mother had prepared me well enough for this interview by asserting simply two things repeatedly: a) be polite and b) smile wide.

As we lingered at the main reception in the grand school lobby, anxiety started coming over me. My eyes frantically scanned the long queue of parents and children waiting to be interviewed by the principal.

To distract myself from the situation, I began speaking to my mother regarding our next trip back to Canada. However, in the midst of our conversation, I realized that a lot of glances were being shot my way. Was there something on my face? Had I been wearing my shirt inside out? Why were people staring at me?

"Mom, why are people looking at me weirdly?" I voiced my concern in a hushed tone.

"They are probably just reading the notice board behind you," my mother brushed it off.

But the ogling did not cease. And soon enough with the ogles came suppressed chuckling. I think I even caught a—"She speaks so strange, doesn't she?"

I was so confused and troubled by the situation.

"Can we please just go back to my old school?" I croaked as vivid memories of my teachers and friends projected themselves as fleeting images in my mind.

"I promise we will be done in no time with this interview and I am sure you will love this school!" My mother tried calming my qualms.

Finally, after almost an hour of waiting outside, we were called inside the room.

“Hello. How are you today? ” A friendly voice ricocheted as we crossed the threshold into the principal's office. 

“I am good. How are you?” I piped up before my parents had a chance to respond. The warmth in the voice had promptly made me feel at ease, being the reason I responded as I did. 

The principal's glance immediately averted from my parents to me. "Wow, she has a really strong American accent!"She exclaimed.

"I am actually Canadian but I have a few American friends too..." I began rambling on with a familiar glimmer in my eyes, before my mother intercepted me with a slight tug on my elbow.

I immediately ceased talking.

The principal looked a little taken aback, as children in India are not usually very conversational with adults and the social butterfly act coupled with my hyper demeanour, oft tended to alarm those around me. 

My parents exchanged an uncomfortable peek and laughed nervously as my embarrassed mother handed the principal a folder containing the official documentations. 

We were seated and as the principal began perusing through the papers, she paused at one point and said, "Hmm..Canadian? Interesting...Okay, well there should not really be a problem with her admission to this school. Although, I hope she can speak Hindi?” She looked askance at my parents.

"Yes ma'am, we are..um...working on it." My father at least tried to sound convincing.

The principal, not very impressed, simply bobbed her head and after scanning through a few more documents, or at least pretending to do so, monotonously drawled, "Okay then, that is it for this interview. It was great meeting you. You shall be notified by the school in a week."

As we were about to leave the office, the principal fished out a candy from her chest of drawers and held it out to me. “Would you like some candy?” she extended her hand. Having learnt never to accept anything from a stranger, I politely declined her offer with a “No, thank you.”

That seemed to be the last straw. “Of course, why did I think she would like Indian candy.” She sneered scornfully.

I never got a call back from the school. 

Bilingual Brainiacs

The article, "Bilingual Mind: Understanding how the Brain Speaks Two Languages," essentially elucidates on the complexities of the process of language acquisition. The casual conversational tone employed by the author allows the general reader to follow through the article without having to dodge labyrinths of esoteric vocabulary that would otherwise be comprehended only by psychologists or neuroscientists. Accordingly, the author sheds light on the fact that the process of attaining the fundamentals of any language culminates with the acquisition of about 50,000 words and the complimentary syntax and tenses principles of the language. I was already blown away with that statistic in the first paragraph of the article. However, what I found even more astounding was the fact that this was only the process for monolinguals. For those individuals who are bilingual/ trilingual or have knowledge of even more languages, the process of acquiring an additional language is equivalent to repeating the primary process for the complimentary number of times!

To a mono-lingual, this may sound exceedingly absurd. However, as an individual who speaks multiples languages, I find this fact even more absurd than a monolingual would! The sole reason being, I grew up speaking two language simultaneously, however I never actually reflected on how complex the process of language acquisition could have been. Nevertheless, my dilemma is quantified in the succeeding paragraphs where the author explains how the learning of two languages at a time is "work young children are not aware they are doing". This was probably why I was so oblivious to the noteworthy trait of multilingualism I possess. 

The article goes on to reveal how statistically, multilinguals outperform monolinguals at the Stroop Test due to the rapid code-switching they are accustomed to. Furthermore, potential differences in the structural development of a brain, based on language absorbing capabilities, is a wide-spread field of exploration that researchers are depending on to synthesize further analysis. While majority of the article is informational and allows the reader to comprehend the concept of bilingualism, the end of the article accents to the reader the pros and cons of bilingualism. The former comprising of rapid cognitive synthesis and stronger resistance to neurodegenerative diseases whilst the latter signifying the absence of large banks of solidified vocabulary at a younger age. 

All in all, the key ideas presented in this article unified to convey the complexities of language acquisition. Subsequently, this article certainly evoked a better sense of understanding of my own grasp over languages. To me, the acquisition of languages is an art; an art so abstract, the beauty of it lies in its abstruse intricacies. 

Thank you for reading!

P.S. Two posts in a day? I really am on a roll. 

English Emersion to English Immersion

Another day and another blogpost? Wow! The Lang and Lit course has miraculously allowed me to live my life-long dream of running a blog with more content than merely half a drafted blogpost. Quite an accomplishment really. Alors...

This particular post shall act as a medium of reflection on the short article "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan. In the article "Mother Tongue,"  the reader is introduced to the incessant conflicts Tan's Chinese mother is victim to due to her inability to eloquently converse in English. While Tan centralizes her article on the overarching mandated significance of the English language and vividly illustrates the horrid experiences her mother had to deal with as a non-native English speaker, what raises my concerns on the contrary is the pedestal that the English language has been hoisted on in today's world. I mean, it is for certain that the English language acts as a universal binding force between people of different ethnicities, however, does this interactional language possess the power to debilitate the bond prevalent in pre-existing languages of different communities? Maybe so.

To clarify where I am heading to with this post, let's take into consideration an example personal to me. Growing up, I went to elementary and middle school in the city of Mumbai in India. As mentioned in my preceding blog post, the national language of India is Hindi. One would hence expect that this is the most commonly spoken language in schools and amongst peers. However, that is completely false. In fact, the school I went to did not permit students to converse in Hindi unless it was during a Hindi lesson. The dominant language thus was English. Did I establish the fact that this was an Indian school and not an International school? Well that is how it was in majority of the schools. The emphasis laid on English strangely superseded that of on the actual national language of the country.

This mentality of English being absolutely critical for existence in this world has infested certain communities so greatly that the tribal languages are being comparatively less prioritized. Correspondingly, according to linguistsociety, there were roughly 6800 distinct languages being spoken globally in 1996 (1). Nonetheless, linguists have expressed their grave concern regarding the rapid decline of this number as more and more languages are on the verge of extinction. Some linguists have even gone as far as hypothesizing the loss of 40% of the remnant languages by the end of this century! Can there come a point where it all boils down to just 10 languages? Can you begin to fathom a world where perhaps English is the only spoken language? A world where the languages our communities once identified with crumble irreparably?

It may be true that this occurence won't unfold in the span of our lives. But the mere proposition is frightening.

Swinging back to the article itself, Tan makes a valid point about the adversities her mother encounters, however Tan herself does not bring up any points in accordance to her connection with Mandarin/Cantonese. She mentions how she speaks to her mother in "fractured" English. However, the reader is left in a cloud of ambiguity in terms of whether Tan herself spoke Mandarin/Cantonese?

I personally believe that it is so crucial to be able to speak your own language. This particular notion holds even more gravity if one is not residing in their home country as they are already in a sense detached from their culture. Thus, perhaps in the form of metaphorical compensation one must strive to learn their mother tongue. Regardless of where an individual is from, I strongly believe that one should take great pride in their roots and not try to escape them in any way.

This post turned out to be way more serious than I intended for it to be. Hence, as a feeble attempt to end on a light note~

                  What do you think about the supremacy of the English language on a global scale?

Again, if you actually made it to the end of this, congratulations!

Works cited

1. By Some Estimates, 80% of the World's Languages May Vanish within the next Century. "What Is an Endangered Language?" Linguisticsociety,org. Linguistic Society of America, n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.

श्रीया बवेजा। Shriya Baweja।

The crux of my master identity indubitably rests in the title of this post, which also coincidentally happens to be my name. Having identified by Shriya Baweja for the past sixteen years of my existence, I am mightily convinced that this is the name I will be sticking to for the rest of time.

So let's break it all down.

The roots of the name Shriya can be traced back to it's Sanskrit origin. Sanskrit was essentially the principal language of Hinduism and is today eminently associated with the literary works in the sacred Hindu texts. Accordingly, in Sanskrit, the name Shriya has a range of denotations including— fortune, auspicious, talent and accomplishment. Ipso facto, Shriya is also considered another name of Goddess Lakshmi— the Hindu Goddess of wealth and prosperity. Therefore, it is safe to say that the name Shriya is very much intertwined with elements of Hinduism.

While the preceding paragraph may make it seem like Shriya, due to it's Sanskrit significance, is a rather common name in Hindu societies, that could not be farther from the truth. The fundamental reason for this is the fact that the name Shreya is deemed as the customary translation of the original Sanskrit term. However, the nuances of Sanskrit are such that despite sounding similar, both names accent different qualities. Consequently, Shriya is a very unique name in my culture. The number of birthday cards I have received with the name Shreya printed on the front? I lost count several years ago. My last name, Baweja, does not really hold much significance in terms of the literal meaning of the name. However, the Sanskrit-derived name has emerged to imply family, warmth and harmony.

To me, my first name—Shriya— connotes several powerful aspects as mentioned. Subsequently, the name also drives me to live up to it's significance. I constantly strive for accomplishment in what I put my mind to and I would like to believe that this trait is emanated from the aura of my name.

Thank you for reading!

Let's not get curried away!

Please feel free to jot down notes on how to be as Indian as possible throughout this post.

Namaste *insert folded-hands emoji* from the land of butter chicken and naan. I hope you have had a wonderful day so far. I actually have had a marvellous day. Kicking it off with my daily yoga routine, complemented by the soulful chanting of "Om" through an "Indian Yoga Tunes" CD I picked up from LuLu while shopping for spices, I truly couldn't have asked for a better start to my day. The serenity I acquired from my morning yoga was nevertheless vanquished by the brain wracking long day of math that ensued. I mean, math is probably the only productive use of time that Indians like investing in, isn't it?

Let's be real. No. Math is not the epicentre of the Indian culture. Neither are curry, elephants, snake charmers and yoga. Consequently, I may have employed a little bit of an exaggerated sardonic tone in the preceding paragraph and would thus like to clarify that none of those elements were really constituents of my morning. Actually, who am I kidding? I may have done some math today... but that is besides the point.

What I am trying to essentially zero in on is the fact that Indian culture in the entirety is gravely misconstrued in the western world. Whilst I could rant on for hours and hours regarding this topic, the predominant misinterpretation that vexes me the most is the fact that some people, for reasons I am yet grappling with, believe that Indians speak in "Indian". To keep it simple, let's put it this way: Indians speak the language Indian just as much as Americans speak American and Canadians speak Canadian. Basically, we do not speak Indian. However, I do not blame anyone for being under this illusion. I mean, I do to some extent understand where this misconception may have stemmed from. When a country is home to about 22 official languages and 13 different scripts, non-natives may have the tendency of settling the confusion by simply classifying them all as "Indian". And that is perfectly okay for no Indian expects a non-native to be acquainted with all these languages. I myself can only name perhaps 10 at the most. Nevertheless, India's principle national languages, to this day remain Hindi (not Hindu) and English. So while we may not converse in "Indian", we do on the brighter side converse in Hindi often.

Fun Facts-
#1 I can speak 4 of the 22 official languages of India.
#2 I do not eat curry every day (what a terrible Indian)
#3 I cannot tolerate spicy food (is she even Indian?)
#4 I have never seen a snake charmer in my life (definitely not Indian)

Thank you for reading!

안녕!

Moi

Hello!

My name, as you may or may not be aware of, is Shriya Baweja. Despite being born in Mississauga, Canada, growing up I have always identified as a Canadian-Indian for my true roots lie in the depths of Northern India. Needless to say, I am very proud of being associated with both these incredible countries. 

Moving on...If I were asked to describe myself as a person, I would like to have resorted to a google search of my own name, however, since I do not hold much of a celebrity status (yet), I guess google won't be of much help here. 

Nevertheless, in all seriousness, I do believe that I, like several other individuals, have a rather complex personality. Whilst simplicity is something I do excessively appreciate and admire, I just never have been somebody who epitomizes it. On the contrary, now that I reflect on my existence in the entirety, I come to realize the gravity of the myriad of personal experiences I have encountered and how they have essentially moulded me to be the person I am today. Whether for the better or the worse, I shall leave that up to others to assess. 

Before I proceed, I think it is crucial for me to solidify the fact that I am a (self-proclaimed) logophile, which if you are not familiar with, can in informal terms be expressed as a "lover of words". Although colloquial jargon is something I try to keep up with, I am much more appreciative of legitimate words and phrases. But I promise not to "hate on you" if you prefer the former to the latter. 

Apart from using big words to establish my literary capabilities (or incapabilities—perception is a game changer), I do have a few other scattered interests which include— reading, acquiring new languages, running, baking, playing the keyboard and the guitar, being sociable and trying to be humorous. My long term goals would encompass conquering the International Baccalaureate and then heading to a prestigious university to pursue medicine. Whilst I continue to explore potential career options, at present I am truly inclined towards Paediatric Surgery. 

In terms of the significance of language in our mundane lives, I believe that language is a tool we often take for granted. While language is incontrovertibly the basis of "communication", in my opinion, the importance of language exceeds just that. For instance, the identity of a tribe or a certain group of people is reflected in their language. Furthermore, language can also be classified as an asset we inherit from our ancestors; an asset that acts as a binding factor within a community. Similarly, the study of different nuances of language, ranging from visual language to literal language allows one to engage with the dynamics of different people, their thought processes and how they utilize language to convey certain messages; thereby, transforming language into a powerful device that acts as a linchpin between primary perception and comprehensive analysis. 

If you actually made it to the end of this, congratulations!

Ps- My friend Marika claims that these pictures represent me accurately.