Aneesha

 ​I am a Keralite , and while I can read and write Malayalam , I often feel the weight of its limitations in my daily life. I was raised in a somewhat sheltered environment, with my social circle mostly restricted to my parents and school friends. Through this experience, I’ve realized how deeply language shapes family dynamics. ​Though I was born into a Malayalam-speaking family, we—like many in my generation—tend to use contemporary English words instead of their Malayalam counterparts. A few days ago, I overheard my mother talking to a neighbor about a core memory involving my sister and my paternal grandmother. Back when my sister was in kindergarten, my grandmother, who had little formal education and spoke very little English, tried to show her a goat. ​She said to my sister, "Nokk, athann aadu" (Look, that is a goat). However, my sister didn't know that "aadu" meant goat, and my grandmother didn't realize my sister only knew the English word. They beg...