Errant codes and their erasing

When they started living as our tenant, there was bound to be some communication issue. The father was in a way my trainee in that he had come to me for learning to speak in English. In that sense, I should be getting a disciple or at least someone to support me. However, the ingenious attitude of my own family members was to seek to inform him that I was his friend at first (not his trainer), and slowly to shift that information and to let me know that he is my equal. And then later on to get him to understand that I am his subordinate. For, professionally he had a professional qualification which if positioned on a good social platform could get him social acclaim. At the same time, I was continuing my age-old stance that I will not go in for any formal Indian qualifications at any time in my life.

N & S knew little English, and in Malayalam, they were quite the extremely subordinated children. In fact, I do not recall seeing anyone like them. They must have been around 8 and 7 at that time. They had no training in walking on the road without anyone holding them. However, in spite of these issues, at home, they did take up a very truculent attitude to Ashwina & Varuna. When Ashwina & Varuna were out in the courtyard quite preoccupied with various hobbies, N & S would climb up on the upper storey of their house and call them by name and make catcalls and boo. Now, there was this issue also. They were younger to Varuna and elder to Ashwina. The booing was a distraction and not much more. However, it perturbed Varuna & Ashwina. So I was compelled to do something.

The basic issue was that the children were kept at home with no permission to mix with the outer society, which was more or less totally Muslims. Culture conflict would be there. They came from a less cosy social area. As to them being with Varuna & Ashwina, there was the question whether they were willing to learn and speak in English. Here I will have to take up the ancient question of why the British taught the ‘Indians’ English. It is generally taught in the schools that the British did it to enslave the ‘Indians’. Not only was that argument rank nonsense, but also wily. For anyone who knows the ‘Indian’ languages would understand that giving anyone the chance to learn English is the greatest liberation a man can be given. Not the opposite. Yet, people who do not know the benefits inherent in English simply fall for the cunning indoctrination and go around parroting the same.

The children’s father, being my trainee, did know the grandness in learning English. However, the mother had an opposite view. The question was, what was wrong with ‘Indian’ languages? It was a stance to display one’s shallow patriotism. This patriotism is there in many ‘Indians’. It survives till they or their children get a British or US visa. Once that is achieved, then they go around displaying cute photos of their children in the companionship of White kids or persons. A proximity to other colours is not that much appreciated. However, the GB or US tag, of whatever colour, is a very powerful one.

It was then that I was compelled to ask their father to take a definite stand about English. He later told that his wife and he had a long talk about it. He told me that the children were handed over to me for English training in whatsoever manner that I thought fit. It was decided that Ashwina would be their trainer. It was acceptable for everyone concerned, including the children.

Now this scenario has to be explained. Ashwina would be around less than four years of age. N & S were senior to her in age. Varuna was older than both of them, by a few years. In Malayalam it was quite easy for a youngster to accept a senior in age person as a trainer, for there are automatic verbal codes that assign the proper subordination. They immediately started calling Varuna as Varuna Chechhi (Elder sister). Now, there was this correction to be immediately enforced. First of all Varuna was not their sister. If it was ‘respect’ that they meant by this verbal code, it was unacceptable. For it suggested a powerful link to Malayalam ‘respect’ versus ‘degradation’ codes. So, they were told to address Varuna as Varuna only.

Here again problems come in the codes. If Varuna is called Varuna Checchi, immediately the other associated words for She, Her, Hers etc. automatically move into the higher indicant highly ‘respectful’ form. Removing the word ‘Chechi’ was equivalent to removing ‘respect’, which is not a thing any sensible person would ask for in Malayalam and other ‘Indian’ languages. Not only N & S, but even their other associates would also start using lower indicant words towards Varuna and Ashwina. Now this was one major problem with trying to remove the negativity in these children. The possibility of them pulling down Varuna & Ashwina to social levels beneath their own levels.

How was I to handle this? The fact is that every ‘Indian’ instinctively know these things, even though the modern English natives do not have any inkling of these things and their powerful negative actions.  

Now what about Ashwina? She was to be their trainer. Now this training was not the typical classroom training that is easily visualised when one mentions the word ‘training’. Ashwina would mingle with them, play with them, take them out, to the river for swimming, for outdoor games, for jogging etc. They would be insistently asked to talk in English. I saw Ashwina doing a fantastic job in this regard. Every minute she would be mentioning ‘Speak in English’ at least five times, in the initial days. Both N & S had been told by their parents to ‘obey’ Ashwina. 

Terrific illustrations

From my own life, I can relate two different incidences that can cast an illustration on this aspect. Many years ago, around the year 1983, when I returned to the village where my parents had bought a house many years back, I was not much known by sight by everyone. Since one of my parent was a very senior government officer and such other frill reasons, the house was treated with ‘deference and respect’ by the local people. When people came to our house, I was also addressed and treated with extreme honour, not usually lend to a local youngster. The senior people in the society also treated me with deference not shown to a youngster.

Being quite bored with monotony of the existence in a village wherein the people seemed quite removed from a city-life, many of them treating a menial job in an Arab’s house in the Middle East as the greatest achievement in life, and also due to certain sly limiting actions on me by my own family members, I used to go to the local river for swimming. At the time, the servant boy in the house also would be there with some of his companions.

There was one time during the monsoon months, when the waters were quite a torrent. I was swimming. Quite nearby were the servant boy and his companions. In the swimming dress (at that time only a thin cotton towel), all of us looked the same, with nothing to identify me apart from the servant boy and his companions. There was a wooden bridge across the river, with pillars in the river.                        

There was a man crossing the river the bridge. He was a person who used to come to our house. When he came addressed me, he would put on a very deferential pose and use quite ‘respectful’ words of address and referring. As he moved across the bridge, he saw my head protruding out of the waters, and me holding on to one of the pillars of the bridge to escape the tremendous pull of the torrential waters. He saw me as one among the servant boy’s companions. He went into a terrible stream of words, meaning, ‘Leave the pillar’. However, if the same sense of the lower indicant words he used were to be translated into English, it would more or less, ‘Bloody *****, leave the pillar’. However, if the same words were addressed to the servant boy, it wouldn’t seem thus to him.  For, Indian feudal language codes allow such words to be used to the servants, and they are not discomforted by them.

The invisible adjectives

Here I need to digress a bit and mention that almost all ‘Indian’ feudal language lower indicant words and sentences (when they are used in the degrading sense) when translated into English, an adjective of ‘shi*’ or some other words actually needs to be added to convey the correct word sense. On the other end, when higher indicant words and sentences are translated into English, an adjective words like that of ‘gold’, ‘golden’, ‘precious’, ‘priceless’, ‘invaluable’ etc. would need to be added to convey the correct sense. The tragedy with the current-day understanding of feudal language speaking persons’ words and speech is that modern English nations do not understand this ‘shi**fication’ of their nation that is incessantly taking place. For, as in the example given above, only the ‘Leave the pillar’ gets understood in English as the other part is slyly hidden during translation. However, the ‘shi**fication’ of persons, institutions and events goes on, and the nation and its refined common man go down, making themselves despicable to their own national ‘higher’ level citizens.

Breaching my security wall

Now, there was the issue of N & S’ parents. When the father first came to me for learning English, he did address me as ‘Saar’. That word was powerfully erased and he had been induced to address me with my name with a Mr. prefixed. This stance itself was a dangerous thing for a teacher to do. For, the word Mr. doesn’t last long. When he mentions my name in many other social areas, it might not get conveyed. Only my mere name might move into their social conversation. However, if a Saar had been there as suffix, it would go along with my name, wherever and whenever I get mentioned. This is a very powerful code. For, it is a code that demands that I be ‘respected’, and that only higher indicant words for He, His, Him etc. should be used in my case. When I enter, there shall be a trigger in the codes that demand that many other people should acknowledge my superior presence. What I desire could very well become divine commands, as far as a great majority of the people present in the place. Moreover if there is any moral or ethical transgression on my part, it would be pure blasphemy to mention and discuss such things by the persons who ‘respect’ me. 

Now what did I do? I was in many ways requesting that I be denied of all these positive attributes and allowing a powerful breach of social security around me.

Later his wife also was my student for some time. She was to address me with a Mr. prefixed to my name. She would be around 10 years or more, younger than me, while her husband would be around one year elder to me. She addresses her husband with a ‘chettan’ suffixed to his name. It is a very powerful introduction of her husband in all places she mentions him. However, my stance was pure madness. When the husband and wife talk about any other ‘chettan’ or ‘Saar’, like Ravi‘yettan’ or Rajansaar, or Balan master, among themselves, the suffixes will not get removed. However, the moment they spoke about me, the Mr. will disappear and my mere name would get mentioned. Actually the mention of mere name signifies a subordinate or a servant in Malayalam, if not otherwise related.

Now, there is the presence of their children to be considered. When I said that the children also need to address me with a Mr. prefixed to my name, it had a really distressing effect on the father. For it more or less meant the elevation of the children to his own level in terms of communication and through that, to that of mental stature. He was of the opinion that the children should address me with an ‘Uncle’ suffixed to my name.

Well, that is a powerful placement. And all over India, children are made to remain at that level, just like the servants. For, it was in the language codes connected to various words and codes. However, it was a very stupid placement. For, I was not their ‘uncle’ in any sense of the term. And my training programme was to induce pristine English and not the tremolos version of English known as Gandhi English or coolie English. I insisted that since I was bent on training pristine English, the children also had to address me with a Mr. prefixed.

Now what was I doing? It was pure madness when seen from the colloquial social context. For, persons who were very clearly on the lower side of personal stature are being allowed to rise up. Actually the immediate effect is not of their rising up, but the pulling down of me from my stature. My stature was not connected to any strong pillars (like a government job, financial acumen etc.), but was on more or less based on my own mental feelings that I was not below anyone. The other issue was that these persons, even though they became quite comfortable in addressing me with a Mr. prefixed to my name, were still on the lower side of many other communication strings with their various relatives, social seniors, professional senior etc. who themselves were not of very good social stature. For they themselves existed on the bottom layers of various communication codes.

Colluding with creepy negativity

There was a related issue that was bothering me, and more or less was affecting my logic in regard to the above question. The children were improving and more or less arriving at very near to Varuna and Ashwina in many qualities, including physical games, including swimming, jogging, cycle riding etc. For, I used the allow them to go cycling even on the road, under my supervision. In many ways, it was a powerful mental calibre improvement that all these things were giving them.

However, what was the affect on Varuna & Ashwina from this interaction? Well, they were getting identified with children who were being kept at the Nee, Oan (Avan), Oal (Aval), Chekkan, Pennu, edi, eda levels by varying kinds of persons, which could include their parents, their servants, teachers, neighbours, relatives and even casual acquaintances of their parents.  Well, is there anything wrong in these things? Well, ultimately it is these things that create the ‘Indian’ looks. ‘Indian’ looks itself has to be discussed in detail.

Indian looks

INSERT IMAGE OF AMERICAN INDIAN

I will briefly mention Indian looks. Later, I will try to elaborate. There is no such thing as a single Indian looks. Each language decides the looks of the persons who speak it as a native language. Even native-Malayalam speakers’ children, when they are born and bred in other native language atmospheres, do not have the Malayalam looks. If they do not know Malayalam at all, then there is very much limited Malayalee looks in them.

However, inside each of the ‘Indian’ feudal language speaking groups, there will be diametrically opposite stances in the expressions and physical looks and postures. This is directly connected to which part of the indicant code level a person exists. For, individuals are affected by a lot of different kinds of indicant words from varying locations. The resultant of this will have to interact with the inner virtual codes to exactly form a person’s looks and features. Here such things as mental connectivity to persons and social locations also effect. As also the issue of what level was the father, and the mother’s evaluation of the person who copulated with her to create the child. This theme is quite a complicated one, and I cannot go deeper into it.

Affect of lower indicants

Now speaking about the effect of each of these lower indicant words, I need to elaborate this much. Each of these words is a lower indicant, pejorative word. However, the effect they create on each person varies much depending on who is targeting whom. It differs: affectionate tone of a parent, the taunting words of a boss, the s******ing derision of a servant, a companionship of a friend, intrusive pose of an outsider, an impertinent stance of a neighbour etc. all have different affects. Moreover, it also depends on the size of the targeted person in terms of age, social position, professional stature, financial condition, physical size etc. Even though the lower placed person is usually the target of this attack, the negative effect is more if the targeted person is of a higher stature. He or she will feel it terribly more. As if he or she is pulled down from a high platform right into the gutters.

Cosy comfort of the subordination

Now coming back to N & S, they are the targets of such words. Even though their parents use it as an affectionate tone of subordination, it is taken up by others and used in the tone of compelling subordination.

When they get addressed as Nee, and referred to as Oan (Avan) or Oal (Aval) etc. they do not feel much discomfort in the same manner an ‘Indian’ servant wouldn’t feel any distressed on being asked to sit in the kitchen floor to eat while others eat at the dining table.

Dodging the negativity

In the case of Varuna & Ashwina, these words and their social meanings are not used. For, they do not know Malayalam and the behaviour to them is as per the codes in English. Neither high nor low. Yet, on being acknowledged as friends of N & S, their stance gets compromised. Even though what they act out may not seem cantankerous in English, in Malayalam their casual stand would be a sort of impertinence. However, that was not an issue, for they were identified as being different, and so such a categorisation was not there.

Ashwina used to take training of senior persons in our English training programme, right from around age 5 or even below. However, this was done by placing Ashwina above the word codes, by not allowing pejorative lower indicant words on her. Since she did not know Malayalam, there was no issue when she addressed the senior-in-age trainees by name. For, she did not have any feeling of having transgressed any limits. However, when N & S accompanied her in the training programme, I could see that her capacities were being compromised. For, as N & S had improved much in their English, they had no qualms in competing with Ashwina as an equal. The only effect it has on Ashwina is negative, for others who are trainees get a feeling that they are dealing with some youngsters from the Malayalam group.  

For, way back in Malayalam, Ashwina’s stature was easily lowered by the use of powerful lower indicant words, which were not mentioned in front of us, but definitely used by N & S’s parents in the privacy of their home. In many ways, this is one sly character of ‘Indian’ social communication. A very different expression in front of others, and the exact opposite when they are not there.

N & S were at home in Malayalam, and for them to call senior persons by their name was equivalent to rank discourtesy and outrageous impertinence. Now this was a problem in the training programme. For, then I had to powerfully introduce them as separate from Ashwina. It could be identified as discrimination. However, if I did not discriminate, then the trainees would naturally get agitated and furious. For, when N & S addressed them by name in English, it naturally has to appear in the Malayalam codes also. There it becomes criminal and highly provocative.

Apart from this, by the very identification of N & S as equal to Ashwina or possibly senior to her in age, the English stature of Ashwina was quite obviously seen as diminishing. So there were times, when I had to really worry about how to combine everyone together in the training programme.

However, when one moves around with persons who are understood to be lower in some manner, the lower stature rubs on the other. In two ways. One in the eyes of the others. Second, in themselves the lower positioning gets encoded.