There is a proverb for every occasion. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Clearing an overflowing cupboard, I came across an old school notebook filled with English sayings meant to be written on the classroom blackboard at school each day. Browsing through the pages, I could not help smiling as I recalled grandma and mother coming up with sayings in our local language to match each situation that I encountered in my younger days.
When I utterly refused to have my hair tied into two plaits, grandma would mutter with a serious face, “So the rabbit you caught had only three legs.” I would simply laugh and would question her if any rabbit had just three legs. She had meant that I was being very stubborn. When I was reluctant to learn driving since I was not brave, my mother would smile and say, “Learn thievery and forget it,” subtly planting the idea that I should master all skills. I would slyly ask her if that included thievery too.
Noticing my lean build and the meagre amount of food that I ate, I could hear mother whispering, that, only if you have a canvas or a wall, you can draw. It implied that without sound health you cannot work and do all the things you wish to do. When I used to struggle with embroidery and crochet, she would encouragingly say that whoever is patient will rule the world. It carried the message that one should keep trying, have patience and not give up.
During the summer holidays when the scorching heat was at its peak and I was reluctant to help in the kitchen, I recall grandma saying the picture of the bottle gourd in your book will not serve to make curry. She was emphasising that practical experience was more important than bookish knowledge.
Sometimes aunt would join in and her favourite line was, the habits you develop when you are young, in the cradle, you tend to carry to your grave. This was meant to stop the frequent inclination I had to bite my nails. When I tried to hide the low marks I scored in mathematics which was my weak point, she would remark with a straight face that this was like hiding a whole pumpkin in a pile of rice. The pumpkin being huge is well nigh impossible to conceal in a pile of rice.
A popular saying which frequently cropped up during our conversations went thus: an angry person has little sense. It makes me calm down. When I look into an encyclopaedia, I am reminded of a saying often heard in my household. What is known would equal a handful of sand, what is unknown would equal the vast expanse of the whole world. It echoes what we are repeatedly told today, that, learning is a continuous, lifelong process.
All our Indian languages are replete with such interesting sayings. Language learning in today’s classroom can be turned into a rewarding and enriching experience if children are encouraged to rediscover the treasure trove of innumerable sayings and proverbs in their mother tongue that exist from time immemorial. The ensuing discussion will awaken in them a desire to delve deep into the richness of our vernacular languages.
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