Challenge 2 - 12-Oct-2013: Learn Gujarati

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So I was beyond the kiddy alphabet learning stage on the second day itself. After that I tried to write a couple of Gujarati paragraphs daily to get a feel. But after getting irritated by my horrible hand-writing (note to self: look up dyslexia), and after my wife's laughter had died down, I decided to simply practice reading everyday.

The reason for my fast progress is not because I am a fast learner like Mr. Data from Star Trek Next Generation. It is because I already know how to read and write Hindi, and I already know how to speak Gujarati. So this is literally about re-mapping the neural cells in my brain to map the new slightly different Gujarati text to the already familiar speech.

So everyday I take a gujarati magazine and read an article or two. Now, in english, I can devour a 1000 word article in a matter of minutes. In gujarati, it is another animal. I read slowly and painstakingly and if I do get all the alphabets right, I still get confused coz I don't understand the word. So I ask my dear wife. She shows a lot of patience for the first 48 times that I ask her. Then she quietly goes to the kitchen and makes as if working. :-\

But it is a lot of fun. My only complaint is the lack of good readable material in Gujarati. In English, there is so much variety in writing styles, from the amazingly witty Stephen King to the easily digestible Chetan Bhagat. I think in my early stages of reading, I have not come across much interesting stuff. This is, in a way, slowing down my learning progress.

So, for now, my challenge has morphed into finding good Gujarati reading material instead of learning to read Gujarati. If any of you can suggest something would be much appreciated and I would make every attempt to obtain it and read it.

Some interesting facts before I wrap up:

1. Per the 2001 census, 45.7 million people speak Gujarati. The population of New Jersey is 8.8 million, and New York is 8.3 million. We Gujarati's could easily invade New Jersey and New York....wait, we already have. Ha Ha Ha...OWNED!
2. The Gujarati script is based on the Abugida system rather than the Alphabetic system. In the Alphabetic System, each vowel has an equal standing with a consonant. Not so in the Abugida system. Here the poor vowel is demoted to being merely an attachment of the consonant to modify it's sound (Oh! The discrimination!).
3. The Gujarātī script is also known as the śarāphi (banker's), vāṇiāśāi (merchant's) or mahājani (trader's) script.  But then sometimes even Gujaratis are called bankers, merchants and traders (and NOT as a compliment).
4.  It is the language of Mahatma Gandhi (The Father of the Nation), and Mohammed Ali Jinnah (The Founder of Pakistan). This little fact invokes so many thoughts in my brain that I am rendered speechless! :-\

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