This American spent 20 years studying Tamil

Brian Linebaugh pauses to assume. He has simply been tasked to do one of the crucial arduous jobs ever: sing.

After a number of seconds, he breaks into an impromptu rendition of ‘Nenje Un Aasai’, a Rajinikanth track he used to hum a few years in the past. Somewhat sheepishly, he says, “Sorry, however that’s the very best I can do.”

Sing he won’t, however communicate he can. He rattles off a Thirukural with aptitude. He has learn a little bit of Subramania Bharatiyar and even recites the favored track, ‘Sentamizh Nadu’.

Brian Linebaugh is an American knowledge engineer primarily based in California within the US. However that’s not all; he has additionally nursed a fascination for the Tamil language for twenty years and has put all that down, together with visuals, within the type of a documentary titled ‘Past Phrases’.

Drawn in the direction of the language

Brian’s fascination with Tamil started when he heard the language being spoken amongst Indian kids in his faculty in California. “There was one thing about it that drew me, “ he remembers. Whereas different American kids in his class would go for guitar or soccer lessons, Brian would try to talk fundamental Tamil phrases. “I purchased a number of books on studying Tamil, and even learnt to say phrases like ‘manjal’ (yellow), ‘sivappu’ (learn) and ‘gnayiru’ (Sunday) however I actually wished to talk it fluently. For that, I wanted immersion. I realised I wanted to work together with individuals in social conditions.”

So, when he was 19, Brian took essentially the most radical resolution of his life. He packed his baggage, travelled alone a thousand miles and landed in Madurai in Tamil Nadu. “I used to be simply blown away by every thing there,” he remembers, “The sights, the sounds and…the language.”

In Madurai, Brian discovered a retired Tamil professor to show him the fundamentals of Tamil. Staying in his home and following the standard guru-sishya technique, Brian’s mornings can be dedicated to theoretical lessons, proper from the alphabet to condemn building. “However the actual magic occurred within the afternoons,” he says, with a glint in his eye, “I’d attempt to mingle with the individuals.” On some days, he would attempt to discount for bananas at a road nook, whereas on different evenings, he would enquire with the drivers within the close by auto stand concerning the fare to get to the Madurai Meenakshi Temple. “Repeating the language and observe how they reacted was vital to get to some degree of competency,” he says.

After a number of months, Brian headed again to the US to do a Masters diploma in Tamil below famend professor George Hart at College of California, Berkley. “It’s an enormous enterprise to be taught each the written and spoken language. For a local speaker, it won’t be an enormous deal as they’re comparable, however for a foreigner, it’s nearly like studying two completely different languages.”

Brian Linebaugh
| Photograph Credit score:
Thamodharan B

Totally different features

All this has helped Brian an ideal deal whereas filming his latest documentary, one which had him speaking to over 200 individuals throughout 4 international locations (India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore) the place Tamil is spoken. “My preliminary considering with the documentary was to spotlight the completely different spoken Tamil dialects. After we noticed the footage, we realised we had greater than language…the aim of the movie turned a celebration of Tamil tradition and humanities, with contributors talking within the native dialect.”

Past Phrases – Tales from Tamil Landscapes, by Brian and his spouse Janaki Seetharaman,had a world premiere on the latest Jaipur Worldwide Movie Competition and is eyeing a streaming deal. It’s in Tamil, with English subtitles. “What we convey to life are the regional arts, from therukoothu (road theatre) to tholpavakoothu (shadow puppetry). We should always watch and encourage these artwork varieties,” says Brian, who can also be a fan of Tamil cinema, having adopted the works of Bharathiraaja and Bhagyaraj.