Ever try to tell a well known story in a language you aren't totally familiar with? I've lived here in Hyderabad all my childhood and know enough Hindi/Urdu mixture to get by without any hassles but when I have to tell Snow White and the seven dwarves, i knew I was going to have to stretch my limitations.
It was quite an out of body experience for me. You can see how jadooi aainas, zeher bhare sebs, and chhote safed dhaadi waale aadmiaren't a part of my everday conversations with the Hyderabadi autowallahs (had a book with pictures, so the five year old wasn't utterly confused but even he knew I could have done a better job). I kept wondering how to say evil witch or ways to effectively translate 'mirror, mirror, on the wall'. In the end buree rani and jadooi ainaa had to do (brothers Grimm turning over and over in their graves). And just before I had to end, 'raja ne snow white ko puppy diya aur uske gale mein atka hua seb nikal gaya aur woh uth gayee' had me laughing even before I finished the sentence.
However, seeing him smile after two days of total listlessness make my pathetic story- telling skills worth improving. Any suggestions for easier stories to translate?
I swear, docs get the best, and the worst, of the human experience...
I have a lot of respect for you lot.
hey, thanks. all in a day's job.