The World Translation Day

 Does translation matter? For sure, it does. Why, during and beyond the colonial era, the Maxmuller (and others of his ilk) translations made-n-marred  the ancient Indian identity. That central to existence translations are! 

Yes, errors of/in translations could create havoc, both seriously, and crazily. All of us know the jokes about the Russian translation of the Biblical injunction as "meat is less, but vodka is enough" or the German "Gift", that is, poison, killing the lasvicious senior of a German junior. 

Yes, linguistic diversity matters hugely. Yet the historical hierarchisation in this field has been rendered null n void due to the recent technologies such as the AI translators which are quite right for STEM areas. 

Anyways, most translations published and sold these days are of the "DIY" variety, even when it comes to the much maligned Humanities ever since the III-B erupted. As for literature, who cares anyways? In a world where the attention span is byte sized and copy-pasting influencers of the AI variety rule the roost, who is going to read hundreds of pages? 

Ah, there is another variety of translation, that is, medium wise. There are the audio books that translate tomes in to listen-able versions. Of course, who can how forget the film versions of books which mostly ruin the original. Remember the anecdote of the ass who preferred to chew the book to a reel? 

Well, when the real goes the reel way, translation is hardly transcreation. Rather, it is a mere business proposal, right!?!

Pratima@ Yet there are authors and translators true to their inner calling, and that saves the (translation) day.

Quote of the day:                                                              "Writers make national literature, while translators make universal literature.” José Saramago thus glorifies translation. No wonder, there are efforts in India to translate from and in to the very many Indian language. 

Word of the day: Transliteration                                  Transliteration is the process of writing words from one alphabet or writing system into another based on phonetic similarity (as is typically tried @ WhatsApp), preserving how the words sound rather than what they mean.

Yeh heart mange...

 On this day, just a day after the World Heart Day, let us talk a little about how not to hurt a heart. No, no, no, please do not worry that our blog would be full of homilies about how to heal a hurt heart, et al. 

Well, to begin with, I am not exactly sure whether in the "I, me, my" era, most people would bother about others! Apna timepass har kisi ka, apne apne hidden agende har kisi ke, hai na!?!? So let us not get in to such ugly slush, because in the process, we would get dirty in the wallowing which they anyway love! 

Instead, on this occasion, let us look at how we could avoid hurting our hearts, the art of healthy heart, in brief. The first basic, very simple, funda, folks, is drinking enough water. Yes, for the heart, and for the brain, to function properly, we should drink some eight glasses per day.  Otherwise, it seems, it is difficult for the heart to pump back the impure blood from the lower extremities. 

Next, do exercise, but not in excess. In the burning yearning to look fab, do not cycle away on the trademill for hours on end so much so that the lower extremities, that is, the feet ache, would not move, and you have to collapse in a chair. Any exercise, be it jogging, walking, swimming, trade-milling, which tires you out in the end, you better be wary about it.

Last but not the least, never ever compare, contrast, compete constantly with others. So called successes reach there after many (literal) heart-burns known to them alone. Let me give you an example. There was this student of mine from the S.P. College. I helped her with the IELTS. Now she is settled abroad (luckily, no constant Trump threats there!), but that was after three years of continuous, conscious and crippling efforts.  Most (im)migrants lead middle class lives there, however much glitter they may show off here. 

In brief, yeh heart mange a happy feel, a heart-y contentment, and a healthy lifestyle more!

Pratima@ The medical fraternity, too, is worried that the heart related dis-eases are getting younger (that is, the targets these days are in their early thirties!). Hence our blog post!

Quote of the day:                                                          Give your heart a head start!

Word of the day: sleep.                                              Sleep tight for your head n heart to be bright!

Let us understand ...

 Since we are in the fallacy land, let us understand two basic notions, deduction and induction, which help us understand, and hence express, better. Induction consists of a specific premise (

 

Debonair Dev and Principled Prima Donna

 Yesterday it was the birth anniversary of THE Lata Mangeshkar, while on September 26, it was the birth annivesary of the forever Dapper Dev Anand. Lovely memories mushroom in our minds the moment we think of these movers n shakers (because both changed the existing paradigms) of a bygone era that was the golden age of Hindi cinema. 

What can we say of Lataji's voice? Do read the lovely tribute P. K. Atre, one of the most acerbic satirists ever in Marathi, paid to that marvellous magic called Lata's voice. She is indeed the prima donna who was/is/will be the lead melody of measureless moments in countless lives.

Personally, I tremendously respect her for being a principled artist. To begin with, in THOSE days which were absolutely patriarchal, here was this chit of a girl who stood her ground. Life must have been truly tough. Yet she never gave in. 

It is due to her staunch stand that singers get any royalty at all. During that particular period, literally the whole establishment was against her, and yet she never compromised, and thence every singer, whatever be the quality of voice, has benefited, both in terms of recognition, and monetary benefits.

Why, she would not budge an inch, when she was ill-treated, be it by S.D.Burman or Mohammad Rafi, for instance. She was once insulted in Hyderabad. It took some thirty years for assauging that hurt. 

Well, talent, rampant even otherwise, is god's gift. The way you respect that inborn treasure is what makes you a genius. I do not exactly believe the stories about her snuffing out others' careers, basically because Bollywood is such a bazzar. They would not bother about her if she were not useful to them. In such an ugly wor(l)d, she stands uncompromised! Salute!

Like Lataji, Dev Anand, too, was was unique. He was the Gary Cooper of the Golden era of Hindi films. A look-alike, he absolutely personifies that 'modern' charm, so distinct from the rustic roughness of a 'Leader' Dilip Kumar or the 'tramp' Raj Kapoor.

Personally, I highly respect him, yet again for being different. Why, right in the beginning of his career, he enacted extremely gray characters in films his friend, Guru Dutt, directed. In those days which could not imagine a live-in with a married woman, he did not mind being a Raju Guide! And, yes, till the end of his life, he was busy making movies, though, may be, without realising that the mode had moved on.

In brief, both these greats prove that life lived acoording to certain values and principles, makes it worthwhile. Hence this tribute on the occasion of their birth anniversaries!

Pratima@ Principled legends make magic!

Quote of the day:                                                          "When given an opportunity, deliver excellence and never quit," reasons Robert Rodriguez.

Word of the day: principle                                         A principle means a  rule for good behaviour, based on what a person believes is right.

 

A quickie of a summary!

 We have so far looked at the informal fallacies. These can be divided in to three major groups. The first type is informal fallacies of relevance wherein the premises of the argument are logically  irrelevant. Hence they depend on distortions, attitudes and feelings which are rationally unexamined. Straw man, red herring, ad hominem belong to this type. 

The second group, which we analysed last Thursday/Friday, consists of fallacies due to ambiguity which result due to vague signification, given the multiple meanings of words and loose grammatical constructions. 

The third type is the informal fallacies of presumption which arises because of insufficient and/or defective data. Begging the question, slippery slope, for instance, are the dilemmas we thus explored.

Pratima Agnihotri

The Revolutionary Fervour

Each to his own regarding his/her choice of the hero/heroine from the annals of the Indian Independence Struggle. I do admire many, especially those who are beyond the usual list of celebrities. Yet my most favourite patriot amongst all of them continues to be Bhagat Singh. Hence this tribute on his birth anniversary, not much remembered nor celebrated yesterday. 

Just compare him to the GenZ's, or what have you, of today. He sacrificed himself at the altar of the freedom struggle at a much much younger age. He fought an extremely unjust imperialist government reeking of capitalist tendencies. Yet not even once did he utter a single bad cuss word! And here we have the most foul mouthed freaks who are, moreover, justified by the oh-so-intellectuals!

In his early twenties, he was far better read, with a distinct progressive vision, and a clear plan of action full of commitment. Honestly, he never thought through wolfed down food! In fact, his almost forever fast from behind the bars shook the British Empire, and truly energised the nascent national feel.

That does not mean that he was a killjoy. Why, he is not only a scholar, an intellectual, but also a sincere author, and a fervent poet. In fact, he loved to mock most ironically the British 'masters'. Yet never ever was it vulgar nor in bad taste.

Actually, the great leaders of his times were not exactly on his radical revolutionary side. Yet never ever would you find, even in his extensive writing, a single ugly reference to anyone. Instead, his writings reveal an exceptionally well-read person with a very clear vision that cuts across both, class and caste. 

Nor did his parents create a huge hue n cry about his leadership. Equally committed to the freedom struggle was his entire kith n kin. Revolutionary fervour coursed along his veins. His vision was absolutely creative, constructive, and committed.

I adore him so hugely that I can write pages after pages on him. I consider it my great luck that I could read his collected writings for an article in "Kirloskar", while i got to review in "Newstime" the slew of films on him in the Centenary Year. 

Hence this paean in praise of him. Let me conclude it by saying that he read Marxism in depth, and he was acutely aware of the great traditions of our motherland. Yet never ever did he suffer from convenient tunnel vision, mired in this or that ideology. What mattered to him was the welfare of his nation. How I wish he had lived a little longer!

Pratima@ "Revolution did not necessarily involve sanguinary strife. It was not a cult of bomb and pistol." Such was Bhagat Singh's radical vision.

Quote of the day:                                                             "The world will always need revolution. That doesn't mean shooting and violence. A revolution is when you change your thinking." Absolutely, José Mujica!

Idiom of the day: tunnel vision                                  Tunnel vision is the tendency to think about only one part of a problem, plan, situation, etc. without understanding all its aspects

The Bandwagon Fallacy

 All of us are victims of this fallacy as jumping the bandwagon is easier done these days, what with influencers and the WhatsApp universities galore! 

The bandwagon fallacy is the logical error of assuming that a claim is true just as a behavior is often considered correct simply because it is popular.

It is also known as "argumentum ad populum" which means an appeal to popularity. This type of argument relies on the size of the crowd endorsing it and on the social pressure thus exerted rather than on actual evidence. 

The best examples of this fallacy would be in the worlds of advertising and/or politics because both depend in a way on the "millions cannot be wrong" mentality. The XYZ diet fad, for instance, is right because many follow it! 

Pratima Agnihotri