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Telugu speaks to me of growing, moving forward, succeeding.
‘@LóRiLi?¿?[xqsVN]??sV;?’ That’s from omniglot.com; I’m looking at the Telugu alphabet; I note Telugu is
spoken by about 75 M people in Andhra Pradesh and neighboring states. Telugu is Greek to me, and I wouldn’t
learn it for all the Home Theater systems in the world, but I’m head over heels in love with it now.
If I were a scientist and would like my knowledge in poultry husbandry to serve the Telugu people, would it be
better for me to learn Telugu, or for the Telugus to learn English? I have had to learn English myself.
There is a middle ground: I hire a Telugu who knows English and train her on my science – or at least, to translate
Telugu into English good enough to ask me a pertinent question.
That’s the idea of the Virtual Academy for the Semi-Arid Tropics (VASAT). I’m in Addakal in the Mahboobnagar
district of Andhra Pradesh, where VASAT has been partnering with
If I were a scientist and would
like my knowledge in poultry
husbandry to serve the Telugu
people, would it be better for me
to learn Telugu, or for the Telugus
to learn English? I have had to
learn English myself.
the all-women Adarsha Mahila Samaikhya (AMS) since 2004 ‘to
foster learning and information exchange between rural families
and expert institutions’ (icrisat.org/vasat). Fine. I hear Telugu and
I’m beginning to understand. Telugu is an ancient tongue that
can grow further; VASAT is a new, revolutionary language that has
grown out of its own experiences that the whole world should be
listening to.
I suddenly realize that VASAT has in fact transformed Telugu
into a different language the whole world already
understands.
And how can the world suddenly understand Telugu? Why, it’s in English of course.
‘@LóRiLi?¿?[xqsVN]??sV;?’ First, let me inform you that, aside from Telugu, VASAT speaks Hindi – and English,
French, African, Braille. You see, VASAT is a virtual coalition of the willing:
African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development
African Virtual University-Universite Abdou Moumouni
Africare
Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture
Comite Permanent Inter-etats de lutte Contre la Secheresse dans le Sahel Centre Regional
Commonwealth of Learning (COL)
Conseil Superieur de la Communication, Niger
Desert Margins Program (DMP)
The Telugu Paradigm