My folks at home do speak Kanarese,
Cameras command me to say only "Cheese!"
Teachers expounded the British version-
The American I picked up from hours of television.
Curricula and cartoonists coached me Marathi,
Garbas and grocers bespoke Gujarati;
Hindi I imbued from common vocals,
And Bambaiyya argot was trained on the locals.
School days began with Rabindranath's Bong,
Sunidhi sings Punj now in every other song;
I rote-learnt Shakira's español Objection,
And Gita instructs in the sacred diction.
Konkani wafts in from the neighbours' lingo,
Tamizh was instilled by collegial jingo;
Travelling revealed to me a number of patois,
And shayaries taught me the jargon of fatwas.
Accuse me of doublespeak, of polyglottony,
Call me a snake with many a prong-
Oh but woe! and behold the irony:
Words fail me in my own mother tongue.
[*My mother tongue is Tulu, which I speak as well as I do the Zulu;]
Cameras command me to say only "Cheese!"
Teachers expounded the British version-
The American I picked up from hours of television.
Curricula and cartoonists coached me Marathi,
Garbas and grocers bespoke Gujarati;
Hindi I imbued from common vocals,
And Bambaiyya argot was trained on the locals.
School days began with Rabindranath's Bong,
Sunidhi sings Punj now in every other song;
I rote-learnt Shakira's español Objection,
And Gita instructs in the sacred diction.
Konkani wafts in from the neighbours' lingo,
Tamizh was instilled by collegial jingo;
Travelling revealed to me a number of patois,
And shayaries taught me the jargon of fatwas.
Accuse me of doublespeak, of polyglottony,
Call me a snake with many a prong-
Oh but woe! and behold the irony:
Words fail me in my own mother tongue.
[*My mother tongue is Tulu, which I speak as well as I do the Zulu;]
8 comments:
This was awesome!! :D
Thank you, IceMaiden!
I lied how apt the title is, Abhishek! :)
I hope that was a touchscreen typo :)
The title often takes more thought than the poem itself!
Haha yes it was! I liKed the title! :)
I like reading your blog re :)
Good to hear! I will continue to write even if two persons like reading what I write :)
I need to continue writing, too. It's been a while. You inspire me. :)
and so the announcements in locals are made in 3 different languages!!
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