A Unique Way of Learning Gujarati
by Dr Ira Shah (MD (Pediatrics)) on 20 Jun 2020
Even though my mother-tongue is Gujarati, I was not very fluent in the language. My thought processes would always be in English. Even though we used to speak Gujarati at home, it was a very Mumbaish type of Gujarati and not the shuddh Gujarati. (If we went for Gujarati plays, quite a few dialogues would sound alien to me...). Though I had Gujarati as a third language in school from the 5th-7th standard, I could not write or read properly in Gujarati.
Kaka (Satguru Devendra Ghia) had given me the gift of divine writing which I have mentioned in another post. Initially, the writing would only be in English and not at all in Gujarati. Even when Kaka (Satguru Devendra Ghia) used to sing his Gujarati bhajans, most of the time, it would go over my head and I would just sit there playing with him. It was somewhere in the year 2000-2001, Kaka (Satguru Devendra Ghia) was singing one of his Gujarati bhajans. We were in Asha Parekh hospital and sitting in the cabin of Dr.Mona Mehta (sonologist). Alpa was also there. After Kaka sang the bhajan, he asked me "samjayu? (Did you understand)" I replied that I could not understand, as it was in Gujarati. Kaka looked at me with angry eyes and said in a sharp voice, "Gujarati nathi aavadtu! (Don't know Gujarati!). That look changed something inside. At that time, I did not realize what it was. The next moment, Kaka was back to normal and he sang a few more bhajans. In the year 2014, I had gone to the pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet- a path changing experience. It was in Kailash that the divine flow of writing started in Gujarati. I was amazed at how I could write in Gujarati as I had not practiced it or done anything about knowing the language more. The divine flow in Gujarati continues till date. How I could write in Gujarati was a mystery to me. The realization dawned that the look that Kaka had given me in 2000-2001 was a blessing and he had instilled the blessing of Gujarati language at that time. Now, when I read Kaka's bhajans, I realize, he has written it in such a simple language (in those days, I used to think, it was very difficult) and the deeper meanings of the bhajans stand crystal clear.
Now I know, why he made me learn Gujarati and what a way to learn !!