Any ‘crossroad’ situation in life lands us in a strange dilemma, ’cause, it throws up branches of possible routes right ahead but doesn’t grace us with even a faint clue about the one we can take.
One such – and a pretty compelling one at that – confronted us on the Hampi project.
Produced in English, it’s having the anchor and all the content experts address the camera in the same language. But Professor Somashekhar from Hampi University – our subject lead on the megalithic site at Hire Benakal (which is around 40 kilometers from Hampi) – handles ancient history and archeology in Kannada, the official language of Karnataka.
So, the crossroads we found ourselves at was whether we should encourage the professor to field our questions in English or Kannada. Though he could’ve easily pulled off his part in English, what escalated our dilemma was the fragrant flourish with which Kannada oozed out of his vocal chords. He sounded naturally poetic when he spoke in Kannada. Asking him to speak in English would be akin to committing grave injustice to his linguistic excellence.
But this observation just did not tilt the dilemma to one side of the scale, ’cause, the other equally powerful question weighed it down from the other end. Will one of the content experts speaking in the regional language sync well with the rest of them handling their part in English? Will Kannada stand out like a sore thumb? We weren’t sure. We were looking at equally compelling paths splitting right in front of us, branching off in different directions.
Now… the only thing that goads us forward at such cross sections is our gut feel. Just that we wouldn’t know how in the heaven it works. ‘Cause, it refuses to be guided by any reasoning of the human logic. Instead, it works on some supernatural terms of its own. It prevailed with us too. It ruled in favor of Kannada!
The upshot of the Oracle’s decision was nothing short of magical. The regional flavor of Kannada (the professor delivered with such finesse and elan) permeated through the entire discussion on the megalithic site. It, in fact, enhanced the effect of the content… many fold.
And, as for the message getting conveyed to audience foreign to the land, the sub-titles done to impeccable accuracy by Abhijeet (first from the right) filled in the communication blanks to a T.
Abhijeet sparkled yet again in bringing to the table his invaluable contribution, post the shoot. Setting aside more than a couple of hours of his day’s tight schedule, he patiently listened to each sentence of Prof. Somshekhar in the shot footages and translated its content into English.
I was just standing by, watching him in admiration. For, I knew that but for such ‘divine’ interventions, a project of this kind just can’t see the light of day. With this realization dawning on me, what else would I feel at the end of the day other than a deep sense of Gratitude?
Saint Maverick
SAINT MAVERICK 