Following are some of the
comments which I have received from my viewers ranging from appreciation to
ridiculing. They are chronologically arranged.
“Your
video on Idli is very useful. I’m a Gujarati and I like your South Indian preparations
which are without Onion and Garlic”
“Gayatri, it appears from your narration that
you are quite conversant in English. Why
don’t you try English narration also”
“Your videos are very nice. I’m proud to be a
Telugu Vaadu”
“Madam,
are your videos targeted for Telugus only? Why don’t you narrate in English?”
What
language is she speaking, funny!!! LOL
(:-
I think, time has come for
me to express my stand in the matter. Before I tell what I have in mind, I am
reminded of an instance in Gandhiji’s life.
During independence struggle
a person approached him and said, "Gandhiji, I want to get converted to
Hinduism". Gandhiji enquired as what prompted him to take this decision? The visitor replied “I like your ideals and
want to follow you. Therefore , I want to change my religion”. Gandhiji told him, that no religion is
inferior or superior and one should love his religion and follow the path of
righteousness.
From this incident, I take a
clue that a person should first love himself. If he loves himself, he would love
his family, his society and his country. Loving one-self includes loving ones language too. Often there is a
tendency to misinterpret that if one loves something, he hates the other. This
is far from truth. Example, if one says that he likes mangoes, it doesn’t mean
that he dislikes other fruits. If
I love my child, it’s never to be interpreted that I hate other children. I love INDIA, it doesn’t mean I’m at war with other countries to annihilate and
obliterate them from the face of Earth.
Since my marriage I have
been out of Andhra Pradesh till 2006. My child was born and brought-up entirely outside
Andhra Pradesh. Unlike many of my other Telugu friends, I adopted a policy to
speak only Telugu at home. Today my child can speak chaste Telugu with Krishna
District accent. Surprisingly it is these
Telugu friends, who did not speak and encourage Telugu at home with their children in the past, started
complaining now (at a much later stage in their life), that their children are getting lost culturally
and are picking up Non-Andhra Cultures. Here
the moot question is, were we able to help them to “Love Themselves”, when they were small? If they have to love themselves they should
love their home, of which their mother-tongue is also an important
factor. Loving oneself is a crucial
aspect of personality development, where it connotes self-confidence.
If we start loving
ourselves, we also start looking around to see how others are enjoying their
life. I celebrate Sankranti with Pongali, Dusherra with Chenna Podo Pitha, Eid with Semvia and Christmas with a Cake. I love my culture, therefore I am able to appreciate others languages,
festivals, food and cultures too!!
I’m proficient in English,
Hindi and Telugu. I understand Oriya and Marathi also. I have adopted a policy to
speak in Hindi with a North-Indian, Telugu with an Andhrite and English with
others. If there is a common Indian
language between me and my visitor, I prefer to talk in that language and
express my respect to my visitor.
Similarly, I like English
too!! To balance between my love for my mother tongue i.e Telugu and show respect to the
audience’s accessibility, I have decided to narrate in Telugu on my Videos and
post the Text of the recipe in English. If one reads the English text of the recipe on
my website and watches my video, he is bound to understand the content in its
entirety. The first comment mentioned above in this article is from a US
settled Gujarati lady. It is a testimony to indicate
that language is never a barrier. Similarly,
the first and only person to contribute to “Porigintivantalu” as on date is a Gujarati, Dr. Khatwani from
Ahmedabad.
If language was to be an hinderance for understanding my videos, 8 % of my viewers wouldn’t have been
non-Telugus. At times I ponder whether man’s
evolving a language, (unlike other animals) is in itself has become a mental barrier
for which he is becoming a brute fanatic? Click here to watch a video on making Tofu, where the person in the video hasn’t uttered a single word, yet conveyed beautifully what he wanted.
Thus my videos would continue to be in
Telugu, and I respect all other languages, cultures and foods. I promise to post and share with you more and
more videos on the dishes which I have prepared at home and enjoyed with my
family. They need not be only Andhra Dishes!!!
Honestly I also do not believe in superlative phrases like, “The most Authentic”, “The Best”, “Purely Traditional” etc.
No one can be branded as a bad cook and no one can be adjudged as the best chef. Both the extremes do not exist. It’s just an experimentation in ones kitchen. Some have time and interest to share, while some don’t have the opportunity to share their knowledge with the world.
I am blessed for being able to share
and have your viewership.
Enjoy viewing my videos in
TELUGU and keep reading the Text of the recipe in ENGLISH !!!!!!!
