Although , I speak , read & write English fluently, my basic education was done in Marathi, one of the many Indian languages . I learnt basic math,science, history & geography in Marathi. Somebody once told me that if & when you start dreaming in English, it is then that you have mastered that language. I believe I dream in English & I almost,always think in English( the fact that I am writing this blog in English is a proof of that ) however, when it comes to basic math facts such as addition, subtraction, multiplication or division, my brain automatically translates all the numbers in Marathi,I do the math in Marathi,translate the answer back in English & then answer ,all in a few seconds. I know my multiplication table up to 12 , but If you question me in English,I translate the numbers in Marathi, calculate, retranslate in English & then answer . I don’t know if any or all the people that speak more than one languages do this …Rambling on this Sunday!
“In the event of a sudden drop in pressure, an oxygen mask will drop from above. Secure your own mask first before assisting others.” The first time I heard this, I was flying for the first time in my life on an international flight from Mumbai to Atlanta via London. I was so excited to go to America on my own that I did not really pay that much attention to this routine preflight announcement. Since I had flown to America, it also meant flying back, again, several times to go home. I heard the same announcement during all those trips but at that point, they were still some words, their true meaning still had not registered. Then came another first time of my life, this time it was flying with my first born, for the first time. By this time, I was not as excited about flying, the novelty had completely worn off. Now I am only concerned about the safety of my baby, he is sitting in my lap, one year old. Then they make the above preflight announcement, in several diffe...
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