Congress leaders, including VT Balram, came to the fore by joking that there was a grammatical error in the banner raised by the SFI against the Governor at Thrissur Kerala Varma College. “Your dal will not cook here…” was the banner that received the most criticism.
The reaction of SFI and left supporters is that they are criticizing without understanding the meaning of the sentence written on the banner.
Meanwhile, author and activist Dr. Meena Kanthasamy has clarified how she reads those posters on this issue. Meena says that this is the way to respond to some issues.
She explained in X that by not translating verbatim, it preserved the mystery and opacity of language and culture. The post was shared on Meena Kanthaswamy’s official X page
Full version of the post-
‘This is a perfect example of making something into English and not doing a literal translation without disturbing the mystery and opacity of language and culture…if you know what it means, you know it, if not. It would be better if at least an effort is made to understand it’.
This is such a perfect way to render something into English, and at the same time, leave it untranslated, allowing for the opacity and impermeablity of language/culture to remain undisturbed. Iykyk, if you don’t you don’t. If you take the effort to ask and find, great on you.
pic.twitter.com/gvYENe3b71 — Dr Meena Kandasamy (@meenakandasamy) December 19, 2023
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The protest is being led by SFI against the Governor’s inclusion of ABVP student representatives in the Senate of Kerala University.