Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Thanjavur Marathi Deshastha...a Heritage. Keep it Alive. Preserve it!

Dear Readers,

While talking to my sister's neighbor in Pune, I came to know that our Thanjavur Marathi was Ancient Marathi.
This person is a professor and is currently involved in creating a Marathi-English dictionary . Referring to words like "KIVAAD" for DOOR, he said that in ancient times this was the Marathi spoken and they DID refer to DOOR as KIVAAD and not DAAR as is done in Standard Marathi .

While we explore  this theory and find out more, let us all try and keep this language alive. Let this so well preserved language and culture not slip into oblivion. I appeal to Thanjavur Marathi Deshesthas of all generations, to help in making this a spoken recognized language.
Speak the Language ..at home . Try not to substitute with English words when speaking...difficult but give it a shot!
Make your TO-DO lists and grocery lists in Thanjavur Marathi....believe me, its fun!
I did do the grocery list in TM and had fun with 'Thaandulaach peeth' and 'Mirsingaach pud'
Have fun folks and let me know about your adventures!

6 comments:

  1. Dear Pratibha,

    I am also a TM speaker, living in NY. I read your comment with great interest, as I am working on a book about Thanjavur Marathi community. The experiences you describe are identical to mine, most Marathi speakers think I speak incorrect Marathi.

    I have a question and hope to hear answers from TM speakers: Why do we continue to use TM, even though it does not give us any economic advantage? I hope the TM speakers who visit this blog will be able to share some of their thoughts with me.

    I am so happy to read all the stuff on this blog. Hope to share many more thoughts in the months to come. Three cheers for your thoughtful comments...I simply enjoy it very much.

    Prof. Kamal (Meena)Keskar Sridhar
    Originally family came from Masvadh
    and settled in Thanjavur

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  2. I am a TM and i like to learn languages I know Tamil Telegu Bengali Hindi.
    I always felt that TM was a pidgkin language and for past two years tried to learn and speak good PUNE Marathi. Marathi language evolved from Pakrit at the time of Rashtrakutas in 9 th century.It developed under the rule of Yadavas in 12 th century .Bhakti movement in 13 th century boosted Marathi language.Marathi language came into contact with Northern languages like Hindustani in 17 th and 18 th century during the reign of Peshwas and a lot of Hindustani words were imbibed in it. Marathi was first standardised in the 18 th century by an European missionary who brought different dialects in Maharashtra together and standardised it.Furthur the language developed due to socio political movement in 20 th century.Due to Marathi drama and theatre the language is very vibrant in 21 st century.

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  3. I am a TM speaker. My name is Thanjavuru Ramachandra Rao Madhukar. We call the door as KAVAAD.

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