The Sacred Turtles of Kandavu A Fijian Legend 1. What is a legend? A legend is a very old story or set of stories from ancient times about famous events or persons. These stories are not always true . 2. Where does the story “The Scared Turtles of Kandavu” take place? The legend of the sacred turtles of Kandavu takes place in the Fijian island of Namuana. 3. Fiji: Fiji, a country in the South Pacific, is an archipelago (group of islands) of more than 300 islands. It's famed for rugged landscapes, palm-lined beaches and coral reefs with clear lagoons. 4. How, according to the legend, did the warriors of Kadavu save themselves a long journey by sea? The Fijian islands are surrounded by sea. The legends says that the warriors of Kadavu saved the time for a long journey by sea, by sliding their canoes on rollers up over the na...
A Poem by K Satchidanandan
The poem Stammer was originally written in Malayalam by K
Satchidanandan and later translated into English.
Stammer (British English) or stuttering
(American English) is regarded as a handicap and approximately one
percent of the world’s population suffer from stuttering.
For them simple social situations can be a humiliating
experience.
There’s a constant worry that what you’ll be called in class,
then the terror of public speaking and, of course, the relentless bullying
that comes with being a kid with a speech impediment.
On the surface, stuttering is a speech disorder caused by the
involuntary repetition or prolongation of certain words and consonants, but the
factors that cause stuttering range from genetics, child development,
neurophysiology, and family dynamics.
Moreover, stuttering can cause severe anxiety,
stress and depression in people who suffer from it.
There are many great men and woman, who have proven, that
being afflicted, with a stutter needn’t hold you back from chasing your dreams.
In fact, as Joe Biden once wrote, “You can beat it just like
I did. When you do, you will be a stronger man for having won.”
The poet here opposes the conventional notion that stammer is
a handicap. He says that it is a way of communication. It is not an
imperfection but a language.
Analysis of the Poem
The poem ‘Stammer’, is about human imperfection.
We are unable to fulfill all our dreams and wishes. So, there
is a wide gulf in between our dreams and reality.
We are also not able to communicate all that we would like,
through words and actions.
When the poet says that Stammer has become our mother tongue,
he is critical of our reactions to burning social and political issues. We just
stammer or turn our faces away from it, as if it does not affect us.
It may be because of fear, what others would say, that we are
unable to stand and react against what we have seen.
The Creator, made man in all his likeness. If man is
imperfect, so is God.
Even the God could not make the man with all perfections.
Then how can we expect, our self to be perfect.
God, too might have stammered, after the creation of man,
when HE thought of the problems, this new being would cause.
Whatever man does, has multiple meanings. His prayers,
actions and his life itself, is not what it seems.
Human words are like poetry, and we can interpret as we like.
Stammer is not a handicap. It is a way of communication. It
is similar to lameness, the unevenness of our footsteps. Only that this happens
between our words and its meaning.