Re: Telugu Thesarus

Rao Veluri (rveluri@smtpgate.anl.gov)
Tue, 28 Jan 97 11:41:02 CST


     
    In reference to the publication of Telugu Thesarus 
    Madhava garu wrote:
     
    ---Cut---    
     
--- Especially it is useful for someone who wants to write
    Telugu poems using Chandas and do not get right words 
    suitable for the meter.---
     
    ---Cut---
     
    Madhava
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The statement above by Madhava garu regarding the special 
purpose of the Telugu Thesarus intrigued me! Actually, it 
reminded me of a poem by Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), an American 
poet of considerable reputation. It took me a while to dig up 
for the poem; and the time spent was well worth it!
     
This poem is from Sandburg's collection entitled 
" Honey and Salt(1963).
     
     
                Is Wisdom A Lot of Language?
     
                Apes, may I speak to you a moment?
                Chimpanzees, come hither for words.
                Orangoutangs, let's get into a huddle. 
                Baboons, lemme whisper in your ears. 
                Gorillas, do yuh hear me hollerin' to yuh? 
                And, monkeys! monkeys! get this chatter -
     
                For a long time men have plucked letters 
                Out of the air and shaped syllables.
                And out of the syllables came words
                And from the words came phrases, clauses. 
                Sentences were born - and languages.
                (The Tower of Babel didn't work out - 
                it came down quicker than it went up.)
                Misunderstandings followed the languages, 
                Arguments, epithets, maledictions, curses, 
                Gossip, backbiting, the buzz of the bazoo, 
                Chit chat, blah blah, talk just to be talking, 
                Monologues of members telling other members 
                How good they are now and were yesterday, 
                Conversations missing the point,
                Dialogues seldom as beautiful as soliloquies, 
                Seldom as fine as a man alone, a woman by herself 
                Telling a clock, "I am a plain damn fool."
     
                Read the dictionary from A to Izzard today. 
                Get a vocabulary. Brush up your diction.
                See whether wisdom is just a lot of language.
     
                -- Carl Sandburg
     
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Posted by
     
Venkateswara Rao Veluri