Bridging the gap!

Fortunate are those who know to read, and even more are those who can, in more than one language.

My mother tongue is Tamil, but my mother’s language is English, even though she loves Tamil. So, I’m introduced to literature of English and Tamil at a very early stage.

As much as I love reading in both languages,I love to write in both as well. Since, most of my communication is required to be in English, writing in English has become more common than my mother tongue.

My blog wasn’t started on an impulse. I first decided on the tag line, “aZhagiya salanangal“, then on the name “Ripples”. Also the very first post I conceived for my blog was in Tamil, which can be read here and I eventually translated it into English, here.

The reason I shifted to English is for two reasons. First, my Tamil audience is so limited, that there is no point writing solely in English is understandable to them. Secondly, my respect for the language is the highest and I don’t use it in vain. So I started writing in Tamil, only after a long thought process and for the content very close to my heart.

I mean no disrespect for English, as that’s the first language I prefer to communicate with a stranger and that’s the language that has given my words a global audience!

To find a balance between my passion for writing in my mother tongue and for reaching global audience, I stepped into translation. And that opened a whole new horizon for me.

I started translating only on my blog and for my own work, but later extended it to translate movie lyrics, just so, those who weren’t able to understand Tamil could understand the beauty of the works in Tamil. That led me to working and becoming co owner of the site, lyricaldelights.com

This venture has led me to take my passion to next level, when I started translating the works is my favorite poet in Tamil, Bharathiyaar. The project is still a work in progress, but what’s done so far can be found here.

I’m not sure whether I would be this content if I was able to write in just one language. But being the bridge between the two has made me even more purposeful and content.

Today is World Literacy Day! And I dedicate this post to everyone who’s taking a step forward to make the world a little more wider with knowledge!

I’m taking my blog to the next level with Blogchatter’s #MyFriendAlexa