English to Malayalam Translator

This game was one of the games played during ‘Happy Hour’. I have already mentioned about ‘Happy Hour’ in my previous blog post. So let me explain to you about this game.



The Cultural Committee had requested me to host this game which I happily agreed to. Of course I did ask them to make sure someone was standing along with me just in case I needed help. So I had a co host with me on one side and a time keeper at the other side. Well, I was happy to host this game at the beginning, but as the game slowly progressed I regretted my decision to host it. Because the game was such a hit and huge fun to play, that had I not been the host, I too would have certainly participated in it whether I would win or lose.

The game was really so fun that apart from the participants, almost everyone in the audience had their say in it. In fact at the end of the game, they all even made me participate but as I was the host I was not eligible for the prize. Yet I played it because it was such an interesting and fun game. Literally everyone present in the cafeteria was laughing their lungs out! In the end we had two winners and they were given instant prizes.



Objective



The objective of the game is to translate or reply, to questions asked in English, back only in Malayalam. For those of you who are aliens, Malayalam is the language of Kerala, a southern state of India whose inhabitants are known as ‘Malayalees’ or ‘Keralites’ or more popularly as ‘Mallus’. Anyway, as per this game, I would ask the participants certain questions starting from their personal background to topics such as sports and pollution. The reply is to be given only in complete Malayalam sentences without even one English word. If they utter a word in English then they are out of the game and the next participant comes in.



The time limit given for each contestant is 2 minutes. Of course this is too little time to actually bring a real competitive game but as this event is taking place during working hours we have to stick to the time limits so that the game is over within the stipulated time and we can get back to our work. Coming back to the game, when a question is put forward, the reply must not have a delay of more than 2 seconds. Also, no replies will be accepted if it is given in one word answers. And that is where the challenge lies. You must reply to every question in full sentences only.



It’s a fact!



Generally, even though we belong to Kerala, most of us always speak in Malayalam with at least one word in English. And we are so used to it now that it has become widely accepted among almost every youth in Kerala. What happens is that the more we speak in this manner, the more we tend to actually forget how the word is really spoken in Malayalam. It’s true that nowadays, it is compulsory to speak in English in schools and at workplaces especially in MNC’s as we do most of the business in international standards and with foreigners. So such problems can be marginally highlighted when these kind of fun games are played. It’s not that we don’t like to speak these words in Malayalam, but our lifestyle has now compelled us to stop speaking 100 % fluently in Malayalam while relying on English for some words, a situation which, alarmingly, will slowly be renaming the Malayalam language to ‘Manglish’- a combination of both Malayalam and English.



8 Enthusiastic Participants



Anyway, this game had 8 participants who were very active and enthusiastic to win. The first winner was a highly explosive and ready-to-fire male whose farewell was just given to him as he was leaving from the company. Heh, the phrase I used does not describe him physically (skinny dude who's slightly improving a bit...), it's his communicative English and attitude I was referring to.... :) The second winner was a female who was as polite as she could be and as smart as we couldn’t even imagine. However, there was another contestant who was on the verge of winning and that with such a brilliant performance but in the end she committed one tiny error and that too just 2 seconds before the time limit. Otherwise she it would have really been a convincing win for her.



You deserve it Audience!!!



But most of all, it was the audience who also deserve equal appreciation because the whole time it was the joy and excitement on their faces that really filled the entire atmosphere. An encouraging force! They were so much into the game that the thrill of the entire event was evident on their faces. Many of them also gave their feedback saying that they would love to see such interactive games/sessions being conducted in future. “So Cultural Committee, we are keeping our fingers crossed..... :)”



The Time Keeper



And in the end some of my colleagues persuaded me to take the challenge as well. I agreed. My Co host started shooting questions at me to which I answered in Malayalam. Then all of a sudden questions started coming to me from the audience as well. Again I was replying in Malayalam itself. In the middle I understood that my 2 minutes were up and in fact the game was still continuing on. I asked the time keeper and she said that there was no time limit for me. This means that they would stop only when I lose. Man, how mad I was with her- Bad Time Keeper!! So the game went on and I just wasn’t giving up.



‘Sameyam ayennu’ kutty pareyunnu: ‘Time’s up’ says the girl!



Finally a popular colleague in our office stood up and said that it’s enough and times up as we all had to get back to work. So I translated that sentence too and the game was over and I won. Unfortunately I was not eligible for the prize as I was the host for the game. So the prizes were awarded to the winners and everyone went on their way with big smiles on their faces and many funny moments to cherish.


You can view the video which our special cameraman captured in my mob cam during the event. Enjoy!