Friday, May 1, 2015

நாளொரு பக்கம் 5


நாளொரு பக்கம்  5


Sunday, the March 1 2015

“Apathy at the individual level translates into insanity at the mass level.” -Douglas Hofstadter

Douglas Richard Hofstadter (born February 15, 1945) is an American professor of cognitive science. His research focuses on the sense of "I", consciousness, analogy-making, artistic creation, literary translation, and discovery in mathematics and physics. According to him,
‘...the mind is a very unusual piece of software, and the best way to understand how a piece of software works is to write it yourself...’.
The Quote traces the misbehaviour of the Crowd to the indifference of the Individual. Turning this upside down, let us look at what the concern and field-level action drive of an individual can do to the masses. Inflexible adherence to Truth, Non-Violence & Non- Cooperation by Mahatma Gandhi gathered support all over India among the educated and illiterate masses. The mantra, Satyagraha was that unusual piece of software; it wrote itself into our collective mind. The British Colonial rulers had to beat a hasty retreat.
-x- 
Image credit: http://www.adrianbruce.com/computers/mindmap/mindmap.jpg

நாளொரு பக்கம் 4: Moliere


Friday, the 28th February 2015
நாளொரு பக்கம்  4

“It is not what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.”
-Moliere, actor and playwright.” (15 Jan 1622-1673)
In the Fifties of the last century, the films ‘Scaramouche’ and ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ were famous. Molière, the renowned lawyer-turned-dramatist, who received a solid classical education, was a free thinker. He became friends with Tiberio Firorelli [author of the first film] and Cyrano de Bergerac. We see their influence in his reflective essays. And he frequently acted, sometimes under a clown's mask, with the troupe he managed. The French monarch Louis the XIV was most amused by Molière's comedy, Le Docteur amoureux.

The quotation is self-explanatory. An illustration will suffice to convey its message. We may lead an ethical life, always doing the right thing. That is not at all enough, says Molière. We must not acquieze into others leading an unethical life. It is not enough if you look after a poor person. You should also empower the poor person from confidence-tricksters. You must expose them.

-X- 
Image credit: https://www.delphiclassics.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Moliere.jpg

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

நாளொருபக்கம் 2

நாளொரு பக்கம்: 2

February 26, 2015
சம்ஸ்கிருதம் என்றாலே நன்கு  செய்யப்பட்டது என்று பொருள். அந்த புராதனமான மொழி நமது பாக்கியம். தெவிட்டாத இன்பமும் அதுவே.  அதன் நற்சொற்களின் கூட்டம் ஒரு பொக்கிஷம். ஒரு உதாரணம் இங்கே:
इ"#ः मध#रोऽ*प सम-ल/ न भ2यः ।
~ இக்ஷு : மது3ரோ’பி ஸமூலம்° ந ப3க்ஷ்ய :
கரும்பு இனித்தாலும் ேவருடன் உண்ணப் படுவதில்ைல.
~ Sugarcane, even if it is sweet. is not to be eaten along with its roots.
எைதயும் தராதரத்துடன் ெசய்வதின் பலைன உணர்த்தும் இந்த ஸுபாஷிதம் நமக்கு தமிழிலும் கிைடக்கிறது.
கைனகடல் தண்ேசர்ப்ப! கற்று அறிந்தோர் ேகண்ைம நுனியின் கரும்பு தின்று அற்ேற, நுனிநீக்கித் தூரின் தின்று அன்ன தைகத்தரோ பண்பு இலா ஈரம் இலாளர் தொடர்பு
நூல்: நாலடியார் 138 கற்றோர்களுைடய நட்பு, கரும்ைப நுனியிலிருந்து சாப்பிடுவதுபோல, இனிக்கும்,
நாளாக நாளாகச் சுைவ அதிகரிக்கும். கல்வியறிவு, நாகரீகம், இரக்க சுபாவம் இல்லாதவர்களுடன் பழகினால், அேத கரும்ைப அடியிலிருந்து தொடங்கிச் சாப்பிடுவது போல,இனிப்பில் தொடங்கி,போகப் போகச் சுைவ குைறந்து கைடசியில் கசப்புதான் மிஞ்சும்.
(கருத்து.) கற்றோர் தொடர்பு வரவர வளர்ந்து இனிக்குந் தன்ைமயது. 
-#-
Image credit http://womenworld.org/image/072012/A%20Folk%20Remedy%20For%20Leucorrhoea%20From%20Sugar-Cane_2.jpg



Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Günter Grass: நாளொரு பக்கம்




நாளொரு பக்கம்
இன்னம்பூரான்
Wednesday the 25th February 2015

“Translation is that which transforms everything so that nothing changes.”
-Günter Grass

Günter Grass is a globally-renowned creative writer, who won the Nobel Prize for his ‘The Tin Drum’. The citation praised his “frolicsome black fables (that)portray the forgotten face of history”. He hails from the literary movement: ‘coming to terms with the past (vergangenheitsbewältigung). He is a well- translated author and the quote is significant as his original texts invariably posed a challenge to the translators.
Excellent translations, like the ones that we find in the Katha volumes in our library are actually transcreations that do not stick to a word-by-word translation, but manage to transform and convey the author’s creation in such a chaste form that it looks as though the author himself wrote in a language with which he is unfamiliar.
... 

FN: We lost Günter Grass after I wrote this. In Homage, I place his picture on top.

Image Credit: http://static01.nyt.com/images/2010/11/14/books/review/Mohr-t_CA0/Mohr-t_CA0-popup.jpg