One World, One English, The Many Languages of the Imagination

Guest Post by Meena Chopra

Meena Chopra is a Canadian artist and poet of Indian origin. 

She read the following paper at the Festival of South Asian Literature & the Arts 2013 held in Toronto May 3 to 5, 2013. Meena was a panelist on 'One World, One English, the Many Languages of the Imagination'

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Blessed are the people who become the vehicle to the inspired moments of the creative impulse in the language of their soul.

World is transitioning into a global village where English language is taking the front seat but not in a traditional British, American or any other way. It is evolving with variety of different realistic cultural influences. The biggest influence on new English is of the technological culture and the dynamism of the young who are the creative compelling users of technology. The idiom and syntax are changing fast. 

Manifestation of the subtle thought imaging is taking over directly from the mental sound vibrations in a language where we have started expressing in symbols like smilyes, pictograms and info-graphics etc. This visual expression of subtle thought is the immediate outer expression of our mental imagery perhaps descended on us from that one ultimate sound vibration (Shabd Brahm).   The entire generation is on the thresh hold of being more and more visual in their expression of thought.  

Underneath this visual explosion, English, with its new tools of expression is threading the beads of different languages so to speak, where the images of mind in their visual expression have started taking the lead.

What language does imagination has?  It is a question that eludes many of us. Whatever way our creativity gets stimulated, according to the researchers, as humans our thinking is mostly in images and is visual. To add, from generations, powerful imagery has always been an intrinsic part of any creative writing which actually surpasses the barriers of language and language becomes a medium of creative expression.

Einstein said that he always thought in images, in his words, "I very rarely think in words. A thought comes, and I may try to express it in words afterwards," 

So what we have observed with any of our senses, we can imagine; what we imagine, we image.

Traditionally in a country like Canada with its English predominance and linguistic diversity definitely breaks down the barriers to intercultural dialogue and promotes multilingualism as a fundamental tool for the prosperity of literature. Linguistic diversity also contributes to enhancing creativity and innovation at all levels of education and learning. There is a clear link between multilingualism and creativity because knowledge of languages gives access to other ways of thinking and to other cultures as well, reinforcing our creative capacities. This in turn has a positive impact on innovation.

In the changing environment where English is the predominant world language, Hindi like many other languages of the world is also transforming. It is becoming richer because of cultural influences for both in its usage, vocabulary and expressiveness. English language definitely has a major influence on Hindi as well as it has on many other languages in many ways. 

There are many remarkable Hindi literary blogs on the net. It is adapting very well to the transition and the idiom. This change is inevitable with technological progression where English is predominant.

Some facts and observations about Hindi language:

·        After Chinese, Hindi is the maximum spoken language of the world.

·        Hindi has been one of the first languages which was picked up by Google when they started adding and introducing languages to the net for a wider usage of technology with languages. 

·        Instant Google translations are available at hand for all languages.

Hindi Writers' Guild, the organization I represent here, was formed in June 2008. It is the first of its kind multi-faceted organization in Canada. Its prime objective is to educate and increase public understanding of Hindi literature and the language, also to develop the writing skills in Hindi language. Organization promotes South Asian writers and literature through seminars, lectures and conferences etc. Computer literacy and promotion of book publication in Canada are the main intents of Hindi Writers’ Guild.

To elaborate the organization is involved in the following:

• GUIDANCE IN THE ART OF HINDI WRITING AND HINDI LITERATURE
• FACILITATION OF COMPUTER LITERACY IN HINDI WRITING
• FACILITATION OF EDITING AND PUBLICATION OF HINDI BOOKS
• TRANSLATION AND PUBLICATION OF NON - HINDI LITERATURE IN HINDI
• ARRANGING LECTURES BY EMINENT LAUREATES ON HINDI LITERATURE, BUSINESS, ENVIRONMENT AND PHILOSOPHY
• HOLDING BOOK EXHIBITIONS, PUBLIC SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES TO PROMOTE HINDI LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
• PROVIDE TRANSLATION SERVICES FOR HOSPITALS AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS FOR INDIVIDUALS WHOSE MOTHER TONGUE IS NOT ENGLISH
• LIAISON AND COLLABORATION WITH CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS, NON-PROFIT COMMUNITY, GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAMS RELATING TO HINDI LANGUAGE AND HINDI LITERATURE
• HELPING IMMIGRANTS ASSIMILATE INTO CANADIAN SOCIETY BY DEVELOPING HINDI INDO-CANADIAN LITERATURE IN CANADIAN PERSPECTIVE
• MAINTAINING HINDI WEB-SITE FOR E-MAGAZINE AND E-LIBRARY FOR MEMBERS
  
  

http://hindiwg.blogspot.com/

Trans-creating my poem from Hindi to English. Sometimes I do it from English to Hindi

जीवन गाथा

उठती हैं
          गिरती हैं
      दर्पण हैं साँसें
   प्रतिबिम्बों को
   जन्म देती हैं

साँसें

         प्रतिबिम्ब, जो कई
            चिह्न बना देते हैं
                 दाग देते हैं प्रश्न -?
                 कई दायरों पर
              लिख देते हैं दायरे
              कई सीनों पर।

          छप जाती है
    समय के पन्नों पर
 जीवन गाथा।

Epic

It rises and falls.

Is it a mirror?

Breeding reflections

Earthlings

Multitude,

Stamping signatures

Carving the questions beyond-?

Limiting the limits.

Marking the boundary lines

inscribed in hearts. 

Binding and circulating

A printed lifeline.

An epic

Ending

on the blank sheets

of  time.

Is this my breath in action

my spirit in a straight line ?

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Photo credit: Jim Wilkes/TORONTO STARhttp://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2010/08/09/setting_sun_inspires_mississauga_poet_and_artist.html.

Festival of South Asian Literature & Arts

The Toronto South Asian Review (TSAR) organised a conference of writers of South Asian origin from the Indian subcontinent, the Caribbean and South and East Africa in 1983.

It was a breakthrough event that formalised a genre in Canada. The conference resulted in a slim yet seminal volume A Meeting of Streams: South Asian Canadian Literature, edited by MG Vassanji.

Last week (September 25 and 26) TSAR commemorated the ’83 conference by celebrating FSALA – the Festival of South Asian Literature and the Arts.

My sole purpose of going to the event was to meet MG Vassanji. I met him briefly and introduced myself. He was too busy with the festival.

Priscila Uppal, Ameen Merchant, Padma Viswanathan and Shyam Selvadurai were the speakers that evening.

The poems Uppal read were fascinating, especially the one about her mother’s family. It had a memorable line of women in her mother’s family being unhappy in different languages.

Selvadurai’s story of the troubled relationship between his mother and grandmother was searing.

It had an unforgettable scene of his mother collecting coins that his grandmother had deliberately strewn across from the floor.

Then the narrator starkly concludes, “At 29 my mother’s life had ended.”

Backbreaking housework kept me away from the next morning’s sessions.

I did attend the evening session because I wanted to hear Bapsi Sidhwa. She read a passage from Ice Candy Man (now called Cracking India).

Deepa Mehta’s fantastic film Earth is based on this novel.

Anosh Irani and Tahira Naqvi were the other writers who read from their works.

The evening concluded with inDance’s exquisite dance performance The King’s Salon. I don't understand Bharatnatyam. I didn't need to. It was exquisite.