you speak four languages.
you use these words to be you.
and yet you still don’t know
if language empowers you?
if your language and their language is the same language?
I.
you have an identity crisis —
or at least your lousy English makes you think you do.
There have been too many times that you’ve been laughed at
for your sentence not making sense to them
for your writing not being up to their standard
for pronouncing something just so mildly wrong
for you are clearly not one of them
not the end of the world, right?
II.
you don’t think in English.
मैं हिंदी में सोचता हूँ ||
you’re always worried that the next word
coming out of your mouth won’t make any sense,
or that your out-of-place accent that
should’ve been deported by now,
might just make a guest appearance
on your reality TV show.
and then at that point,
it is no longer about colour and color
but about skeh-jool and sheh-dyool.
III.
पर हर भाषा में सबसे ज़रूरी बात होती है
की आपने उस चीज़ को कैसे कहा ||
we cast aside the beauty of language.
because we are too focused on
the insignificant mistakes made
in our world of synthesis and pronunciation.
rather than the emotions and thoughts
in the world of ignored art.
if only we cared about how we said things more,
तो गाली निकली भी दुआ लगती ||
Translations
मैं हिंदी में सोचता हूँ ||
I think in Hindi.
पर हर भाषा में सबसे ज़रूरी बात होती है
की आपने उस चीज़ को कैसे कहा ||
but in language the most important thing is,
how you say the thing.
तो गाली निकली भी दुआ लगती ||
then even a curse would seem like a blessing.
