Struggles with Language

As I wandered around the old city, there was a fear at the back of my mind nagging at me. While it was fun to dismiss the need for language while playing a game, I realized that I would struggle to deliver the presentation I had planned. My presentation was about the game of Dahdi or Nav Kankri, a game we find etched under the Butterball in Mahabalipuram and in numerous temples across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and even at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. The same game, as I’ve said before, is mentioned in the Book of Games commissioned by Alfonso X of Castile under the name of Nine Men’s Morris. 

I thought it would be interesting to focus on the game and its cultural moorings in India and its link to Spain. I had done a lot of research on the game because, for me, there were many riddles in my mind. However, I was given a mere 20 minutes, and even with a translator, I felt that what I had planned to communicate would be too much to fit into 20 minutes. Translation would take up time as well. 

Secondly, our translator herself was not very fluent in English. I was struggling with what to do and then came up with the idea of modifying my entire presentation. I did not realize how much technology could help us today. I was able to get videos quickly recorded by substituting the English voiceover with Spanish and, in some cases, adding Spanish subtitles. The team in India was incredible, pulling this off virtually overnight so I could receive everything before I woke up in the morning. 

The presentation was shortened and made crisper, focusing on only 2-3 points rather than a dozen as I had initially planned. The videos regarding our efforts to popularise traditional games were visually engaging and easy to understand, with a couple of lines of introduction from me and the Spanish subtitles and voiceover. 

I’ve spoken a lot in India, but that day I was nervous. My friends know that I have no trouble talking, particularly when it comes to my specialty. The knowledge is at my fingertips, but here, it was not about knowledge; it was about communicating to people who had no understanding of your culture, your history, your heritage, or the language you spoke. It was going to be a challenge. 

But once my team had put together what we had planned, my confidence grew. I was hopeful that it would go down well and that I would make India proud.