Page 52 - Masala E-magazine Vol 9 Issue 6 Junel - July 2018

COMMUNITY

“Do you think you are angrez?”

“Do you think you are angrez? Speak Punjabi!” my
grandmother would say loudly, urgently, or even calmly —
depending on her mood. I wish I had listened, because she
is right, for reasons beyond connecting with my roots.

Language determines the way we think — the extent to
which we think and how deeply we think. For example, the
Pirahã tribesmen Pirahã Tribe of Brazil uses words for digits ‘1’ and ‘2’, but all
amounts beyond that are referred to as ‘many’. There are
no words for ‘6’, ‘21’, or even ‘100’, infl uencing the way they
think and behave. If we are shown 10 apples in a line, and
are asked to bring out the same number from our bushel,
we can do it, but a Pirahã tribesperson would fi nd that
extremely hard.

In another example, researchers showed how we
categorised and recalled colours based on the languages
we have mastered. So if we spoke only English, we may
have looked at three colours and noted that two are
‘yellow’, while one is ‘blue’.
“ However, if we were Berinmo tribesmen, we probably
Words, or even ways that words
relate to each other, and their
would have remembered the differences between two
cultural implications existent in our shades of yellow, as there are more words to distinguish
language, ultimately extend our that hue in their language. Therefore words, or even
ways that words relate to each other, and their cultural
“ our thinking capacity.
thinking capacity. implications existent in our language, ultimately extend

It’s not just about

extending your

knowledge…

Mastering your mother tongue gives
you access to different facets of
yourself — how you feel about yourself
in Punjabi may be very different to
how you feel about yourself in Thai. If a
person takes the same test in Hindi or
English, he or she may reveal completely
different temperaments and both would
be true! This is an extremely rewarding
and deep journey of the inner self.

52 Masala Magazine
JUNE - JULY 2018