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I think I want to make works that explore my relationship to language.

I speak in Bengali with my parents and extended family, but in English with my sister. During my childhood, while living in Hyderabad, I spoke in Hindi with my friends and my sister, and learnt to read and write in Hindi at school. Because I'm a singer, I also learnt many songs in Telugu, but I never learnt the Telugu language. (I studied Bahasa Indonesia till year 12, but without the practice, I've forgotten most things).  

My media consumption at different stages of my life also shaped my relationship with languages.

I should also consider how my English accent changed while living in Hyderabad, and changed back after moving to Warwick, QLD.

Also consider the misinterpretation of language. This can be generational (like my sister and I always thought being called 'paka' was a shameful thing, but when I told maa that, she was taken aback because apparently it was a loving term, and kids saw it as that, in Kolkata). And of course there's the difference in the way we (my parents and I) use some words in English.

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Artists and artworks:

Zarina Hashmi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JK5GJ7ms0U

Zarina not knowing the translation of the Quran but knowing it by-heart reminded me of how I learn so many Telugu songs but never knew what they mean. While Zarina's is much more culturally rooted, mine's more situation I guess.

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Starting points for ideas:

1. Speaking different languages into the dictate function on Word. Also try out accents.

Problem:

The dictate function is not consistent with the sounds it detects from my Bengali speaking (It fluctuates very slightly when spoken English into it as well). To minimise this fluctuation, I removed the possibility of human variation by getting google translate to speak into the dictate function. But there was still variation in Word's detection from take to take.

I thought leaving the process up to automation and technology would make it somewhat universal, but since that didn't work, I'm going to have to decide what method of transliteration will be most authentic to the work. 

Sentences or word by word?

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I reached out to an aunty who is a Tagore traditionalist, for her thoughts on the project. At first, she was not taken and maybe even a little offended by the concept, because the crux of Tagore's work lies in the poetics. In the hundreds of songs that he wrote, not only are the lyrics extremely beautiful, but so is the very precise way in which he has scored them. So when in my work, I seem to be completely disregarding the poetry, of course it would seem disrespectful. So Madhu aunty suggested I provide a disclaimer.

However, I deliberately chose Tagore work for my concept, because of the importance of language in it.

The meaningless transliteration is that much more impactful because it treats the carefully crafted work of Tagore as just sounds, for a computer to try and fit onto a fixed 'logic'. The process completely erases the nuances of language.

12/10/20

I am currently learning a new song 'Ami Chini go Chini Tomare', which is a love song about a 'foreigner'. I thought the subject matter of the song would be fitting for the work.

 

I had a lesson with Madhu aunty today, and I learnt so many new things and started to learn how to read 'swaralipi'.

- Rabindra sangeet is very particular about its 'loy' (consisting of 'matra' and 'taal'). Expression lies in voice modulation. But unlike in adhunik music, where we sometimes play with and around the rhythm, in Rabindra sangeet, the rhythm is very strict.

- Rabindranath Tagore's elder brother Jyotirindranath Tagore's 'akar matrik' swaralipi (notation) is a little different to Bhatkhande's Hindusthani sangeet swaralipi. 'Komol/Kori' (flats and sharps) are written with different symbols as well.

Some people pointed out that the words that Microsoft Word produces aren't an accurate depiction of how non-Bengali Australian English speakers would actually hear and process it if they were asked to phonetically transcribe the song. However, I am aware of the ways in which some sounds could be registered in an exclusively English-speaking Australian, and Word does pick up on those. But as an exercise, I asked some of my friends to transcribe a song they hadn't hear before, and they so kindly (in the midst of assessment rush), offered to help out.

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Audio:

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