Kalpana - Beyond imagination

The word 'kalpana' in Hindi means imagination. But the word 'Kalpana' that I have used in the title doesn't refer to imagination but to a girl by name Kalpana from Gujarat who is beyond imagination. Students from 5 different colleges made their presence felt today in Bangalore to attend a session about ENTREPRENEURSHIP by Team IU(Inspiration Unlimited) and international inspirational speaker Mr. Sujit Lalwani. A large group of youth participated in this event and out of these there was one girl by name Kalpana who has an inspiring story to share with us.

Kalpana was enrolled into a Marathi school during her early childhood and had to study completely in Marathi. Then for her higher classes during schooling, she was transferred to another school that taught in Gujarathi. There was no option for her to study in an English medium school. After her schooling, she was sent to Bangalore to study in IKON nursing college to pursue B.Sc in nursing where the complete syllabus was taught in English alone. Indeed this was a big shock for Kalpana as she had to shift from regional medium school to English medium college all of a sudden absolutely without any expertise in English. However with the encouragement of her dad, she took up this bold step and entered Bangalore. This is just a brief introduction about Kalpana. To learn about how she managed through these language barriers let's see some Q&As;

How did you feel when you were transferred to schools teaching in different languages?

When I joined a Gujarathi institution to learn science I was very afraid. Then, I told myself that nothing is impossible on this earth. Even my dad encouraged me and I gave my best in the exams. Everyone around me was schocked that a girl from Marathi background had fared well in Gujarathi medium.

When you were trasnferred from Gujarathi medium to English medium institution, how did you face the challenge?

I almost doubted myself if I would be able to do anything but then consoled myself that now I couldn't turn my back on education and leave. I felt sad thinking that my dad would be disappointed to know that his daughter had accepted defeat. Hence I decided that I would put in my best efforts and learn. Today, though I make mistakes while speaking in English, I can understand English completely. I am even proficient in Marathi, Gujarathi and Hindi.

When you started practising to communicate in English how was your experience?

In our college, speaking in regional language is prohibited. So, when I used to speak in English with my Gujarathi friends they used to get irritated with the mistakes that I made while speaking and would ask me to stop speaking in English, but today the same friends appreciate me for the kind of fluency that I have mastered in speaking in English.

When you felt bad hearing to your friends' comments what did you do?

I used to cry a lot when my friends teased me. I have a habit of writing my daily dairy. I used to pour down my feelings in it. I blamed my dad for not enrolling me into an English medium school but my dad told me that I would be proud about him when I would be the topper of the class even in the English medium college.

When you were changing schools and college, your language medium was changing which upset you but because of that today you know Hindi, Marathi, Gujarathi, Nepali and English and you are a multilingual person today. How do you feel about it?

By learning different languages, I have even learned different cultures of which my friends are a part of. Hence I can mingle with all friends of mine very easily because of which I have many friends.

What is your one message to those who feel inferior while communicating in English?

Please don't think negative. Tell yourself that you will be able to do. Instead of thinking that things will not happen, give your best to make things happen. I gaurantee that if you try, you shall definitely succeed.

Who all do you want to thank for being an inspiration in your life?

First of all, I want to thank my dad about whom I am very proud of. He is the reason for my success today. In spite of low income levels, he is spending a lot on me and my studies and providing me all the amenities. Secondly, I want to thank that teacher of mine who encouraged me to go on the stage and talk to hundreds of people. Thirdly, I would like to thank Sister Devi who has helped me and my friends to get an exposure about different things happening around us and who has been a source of inspiration and encouragement for us always.

How to become multilingual?

Whenever anyone asks me as to what do I do, I reply saying that I am a multilingual inspirational speaker. I add the tag of being 'multilingual' right in front of my profession. In fact, I even remember that during my interview for a job, the interviewer was questioning me continuously for twenty minutes and not even once did he look at me. But the moment I answered for one of his questions that I could speak 5 languages, he immediately looked at me and I was sure that I had landed in the job which duly happened as well. While leaving my job after 3 years, my manager also mentioned to me that it was this ability to speak 5 languages that he remembered which I had told about myself to him about 3 years back.

There are many such incidents like the above which have motivated me to come up with this blog. In fact I plan to write a book on the same lines as well of which you can have a copy in sometime soon. Just before starting off with the book, I wanted to share some sample lessons from my journey of having developed the ability to communicate with people in 6 different languages and here they go;

1.Desire to talk

This is the foundation if you really want to be a multilingual speaker. If you want to be a writer who can read/write multiple languages, probably you can do it with silence. You must be willing to talk on any random topic with any random person in any random location. This randomness is what that will build the field for your trial and errors while learning a new language. The more you expand this field the more expertise you achieve in developing your linguistic skills. Start talking to more number of people from diverse backgrounds on different topics wherever you find a homo-sapien. Your language teachers will be few among these audience.

2.Persevere the practice

As a baby learns to spell letters and words first time in school through repeating and rewriting, likewise you will have to repeat and rehearse whatever new word or sentence that you learn in a new language. Many give up in the middle because they find themselves forgetting the recently learned words and sentences in the new language. There is no harm in learning it again if your forget once or a million times. Just keep your perseverance going until every new word/sentence that you learn in the new language gets registered in your subconscious mind which you can utter even while you're asleep.

3.Deliver without inhibitions

Oftentimes, in such occasions of learning new language we end up at the receiving end of tantrums and comments from friends, family and colleagues. These negative comments build a barrier avoiding us from moving forward to continue our practice. Just shed all such inhibitions. No one in this world was born perfect knowing everything. Everyone learned step by step and became what they became. Consider yourself as a child who has started an expedition towards being multilingual. A child can make umpteen mistakes until it learns and so can you. Just keep delivering your talks in the language you wish to and soon you will see yourself getting better and better day by day and the target to be multilingual doesn't stay far. Would you be interested to read more on how to become multilingual, then please share your feedback on www.facebook.com/ismohanbn

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Follow your craziness

I am born in India which is known for its unity in diversity. There are different cultures all across India. Every state has a unique language of its own. Every hundred kilometers the accent of the language changes within the same state. The food habits are different in different locations of India. Such is the strategic location of the country. Being very small in size still its known as a subcontinent in itself. I feel proud that I am born in this motherland of mine. If you just observe a currency note of India you can understand the diversity of the number of languages printed on it. I have just taken advantage of this.

I used to be really inspired and influenced when I used to watch cinemas wherein the same actor could act in different films of different languages and yet deliver super-solid performances. I definitely have to mention Dr.Kamal Hassan and Padmashri Rajnikanth who have been the highest inspiration in this regard. I used to feel that being multilinguistic meant being multi-talented. I was caught with this craziness of learning different languages and I started executing the same. I started watching films of different languages, started repeating the dialogues of the hero, learnt byheart some of the lyrics only to increase my multilinguistic skills. Friends around me started pulling my leg, ridiculed against this not-so-common-hobby. Some even said that I was killing the other language by trying to learn it. It hurt when those words were spoken but I didn't give up but continued the same. As a result of this craziness of mine, I learnt speaking in Telugu by the time I completed 2nd year of my graduation, by 3rd year completion I had a hold on tamil, by the end of 4th year I could handle a simple conversation in malayalam. I had no idea what this craziness would yield me in future but I was sure of only one thing that following the same was keeping me happy. Since being happy itself is the purpose of life I continued my craziness.

I thank God today for giving such a craziness to me because today this multilingual ability of mine stands as my asset for my career of inspirational speaker. I had wathed a video of Late.Steve Jobs who had mentioned that for succes you need to be crazy because any sane person will give up when he has no logical reason to follow. Only a crazy person would still retry to reach success. Hence endorsing his words I would like to share with all my dear readers to just identify your craziness and follow it irrespective of the criticism around because you never know what God has to offer. Your craziness might be the key to your life's treasure.

I am even crazy about learning from the feedback of my lovely readers on is.mohanbn@gmail.com
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