"Some birds aren't meant to be caged, their feathers are just too bright"- Morgan Freeman, Shawshank Redemption. This blog is from one such bird who couldn't be caged by organizations who mandate scripted software testing. Pradeep Soundararajan welcomes you to this blog and wishes you a good time here and even otherwise.

Thursday, December 09, 2010

Are there any software testing blogs from Indians that are really Indian?

हम क्यू नहीं अपने बाषा में टस्टिंग ब्लॉग नहीं लिक्थे? में जब रशियंस की ब्लॉग दुन्द्था हूँ तब मेरे को रशियंस बाषा की टेस्टिंग ब्लोग्स मिलता हैं. वैसे ही चिनेसे या जपनेसे या गेर्मान टेस्टिंग ब्लोग्स बी हैं. अबी थो जीमेल की गेनेराल सेत्तिंग्स में त्रन्स्लितेरतिओन आप्शन एनाबले किया थो सब भाषा. ( एक इंडियन की स्तिथि ऐसे हैं देखो, मुझे कोंफुसे हो रहा हैं "भाषा" कोर्रेक्ट हैं या "भाशा")


आप इंग्लिश में टाइप करो और औतोमटिक हिंदी त्रन्स्लतिओन मिल जाता हैं. उसमे आपको इन्तेरेस्तिंग बुग्स मिलेगा. अगर आपका मत्हरू भाशा हिंदी हैं, थो आप ही इसको टेस्ट कर सकते हैं. क्या आप सोच रहे हैं की चिनेसे वाले हिंदी भाशा को टेस्ट कर सकते हैं? 

मेरे इंडियन भायों और बहनों, मत भूलो की आपकी भाशा में सोचना और लिकना भूलना नहीं. शायद आप मेरा हिंदी में थोडा गलती होगा, थो क्या? में थो आज सें हमारा हिन्दुस्तानी भाशा में टेस्टिंग ब्लॉग ज़रूर लिकने वाला हूँ.  

ನನ್ನ ಪ್ರೀತಿಯ ಕನ್ನಡ ಬಂದುಗಳಿಗೆ, ನನ್ನ ಹೆಸರು ಪ್ರದೀಪ್ ಸೌಂದರ ರಾಜನ್ ಅಂದ ಮಾತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ನಾನು ತಮಿಳಿಯನ್ ಅಲ್ಲ. ನಂಗೆ ಇಂಡಿಯಾ ಮುಖ್ಯ ಆದರೂ ನನ್ನ ಮಾತೃ ಭಾಷೆ ಕನ್ನಡ. ನಂಗೆ ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾತನಾಡುವುದು ಬಹಳ ಇಷ್ಟ. ಆದರು ನೋಡಿ, ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಬರದು ಬರದು ನನ್ನ ಮಾತೃ ಭಾಷೇನೆ ಮರತ್ ಬಿಟ್ಟೆ. ಸಕ್ಕತ್ ಅವಮಾನ ಅಗುತ್ತೆ ನನಗೆ.  ಆದ್ರೆ ಇನ್ ಮುಂದೆ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಪ್ರದೀಪ್ ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಟೆಸ್ಟಿಂಗ್ ಪೋಸ್ಟ್ ಬರಿತಾನೆ. ಹಾಗೆ ನಿಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಟೆಸ್ಟಿಂಗ್ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಬರ್ಯೋಕೆ ಕೇಳುತಾ ಇದೀನಿ.

ಇನ್ನು ಕೆಲವೇ ವರ್ಷದಲ್ಲಿ, ನಾನು ಬಹಳ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಟೆಸ್ಟಿಂಗ್ ಪೋಸ್ಟನ್ನು ಬರಿತೀನಿ. ನೀವು ದಯವಿಟ್ಟು ಟ್ರೈ ಮಾಡಿ. ತಪ್ಪಾಗಿದ್ರೆ ಪರವಾಗಿಲ್ಲ ರಿ, ಬರಿಯಕ್ಕೆ  ಶುರು ಮಡುದ್ವಲ್ಲ ಅದೇ ಸಾಕು. ಬನ್ನಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಭಾಷಯಲ್ಲಿ ಟೆಸ್ಟಿಂಗ್ ಪೋಸ್ಟ್ ಬರಿಯೋಣ.

என் இனிய தமிழ் மக்களே, உங்கள் பாசத்துக்குரிய  பிரதீப் சௌந்தரராஜன் பேசுகிறேன் :) நான் பிறந்தது  ஒரு மாதவா கன்னட குடும்பத்தில். படித்ததெல்லாம் பெங்களூர் பள்ளி கூடத்தில். கன்னடம் தான்  படித்தேன் ஆனாலும் தமிழ் மீது ஒரு பற்று உள்ளது. பொறியியல் படித்து திருச்சியில் உள்ள மூகாம்பிகை கலூரியில். தமிழ் அப்பொழுது தான்  கற்றேன். சன் டிவி பார்த்து, சொல்லுவதை  கேட்டு  கேட்டு  படிக்க கற்றேன். இரண்டு சுழி "ண" மற்றும் ஒரு சுழி "ன" எங்கு  வரவேண்டும் என்று இன்னும் தெரியாது ஆனாலும், தமிழில் நான்  டெஸ்டிங் ப்ளாக் போஸ்ட் எழுதுவேன் . 

அது தமிழில் உள்ள பற்றுக்காவும் மற்றும் உங்க மாதிரி தமிழை நன்றாக கற்ற ஆட்களை தமிழில் டெஸ்டிங் ப்ளாக் எழுத ஊக்குவிப்பதற்காக. தமிழில் டெஸ்டிங் ப்ளாக் எழுதுங்க, தமிழையும், தமிழையே நம்பி இருக்கும் இளைர் பட்டாளத்துக்கு  வழி காட்டியாக இருங்க.  வாழ்க வளமுடன் .

For those who don't understand any of the above written languages (Hindi, Kannada & Tamil) and you want to know the meaning, just read the title and you'd get it.

I am asking, why aren't Indian testers writing blog posts in their own languages? I see people from Germany blogging about testing in German. I have come across Russian blogs ( Take both Alexei's for example), I also saw a few Chinese & Japanese testing blogs. Not to forget, Polish, Dutch and even more.

I haven't come across one testing blog that's truly Indian in the language. I have decided to occasionally try writing in the languages I know. Its shame but true that I have forgotten how to write well in Indian languages. I learnt Sanskrit, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and a little bit of Telugu but can't write in any of them as fluent as I can do in English.  

If someone can write in any of the Indian languages and about testing, it would truly be the Indian testing blog. What I have been writing so far is an Indian's testing blog written in a foreign language. See the difference?

20 comments:

shilpa said...

that is because from young age we are thought to think in english. We learn english and then maybe hindi or some local language as second language. Since hindi and second languages cuts our audience into smaller groups we prefer english for the larger/majority audience.

Anonymous said...

But looking back and analyzing why we Indians write in English? The software we develop and test in India are mostly for US and UK in English. All Indian Software companies official communication language is English. And companies encouraging/forcing to learn, speak and write better English. So blogging in English really helps to improve English and also your testing skills.
--Dhanasekar S

Prem Nepak said...

Hi Pradeep,
I appreciate your efforts writing the blogs in Indian language. It is definitely a good idea.

Germans, Chinese, Russians do write their testing blogs in their languages. It is not only because of their affinity to their language but to reach the audience in their country who are not so English proficient.

It is not a blog of common topic but this is testing related bug. India has got over 30 widely spoken languages. And we have got testers from different states. So if I write my testing blog in Oriya, which is my language then you may not be able to understand. The objective of the testing blog to share the experience and knowledge. I believe language shouldn't be a barrier for this. I do read your blogs because these are in English. I can understand Hindi hence I can understand Hindi blogs. But what about other languages?

Out of curiosity 5 years back, I had tried translating some of the testing terminologies to Hindi. After that when I pronounced those hindi words and asked the hindi speaking people to identify the testing term, they couldn't.

Yes, I agree that all Indians should have a common Indian language for the testing blogs, may be Hindi as this our national language. Then we have to start using the Hindi terms in our day to day testing usage. I will be definitely waiting for the day.

Regards,
Prem

Unknown said...

Hi Pradeep,

This is a very interesting thought indeed. Just the other day I was wondering if I can still read and write in Hindi. Though, I did think that we work in english environments and all our learning has been in English so why bother writing technical stuff in Hindi? But on the other hand, most people in office communicate in their mother tongues coz its comfortable, so maybe a hindi blog will be accepted and appreciated by our hindi knowing ppl. I am so tempted to blog in Hindi now.

Thanks for this one!
Allmas

Robert said...

Perhaps it has to do with the field, itself. For example, Linus Torvalds is is Finnish, but he wrote Linux in English. When was the last time the programming language's conditional statement was written in Hindi?

And then if you did write only in Hindi, folks like myself wouldn't have a chance to enjoy your writing. :)

Pradeep Soundararajan said...

@Robert,

And then if you did write only in Hindi, folks like myself wouldn't have a chance to enjoy your writing. :)

If I were to have written in at least one Indian language + English, like this post for instance, you would have been able to read my posts. Probably enjoy them more, too.

I am suggesting to many Indian testers to write a testing blog in the language that they are comfortable. Doesn't matter if it is not English.

Ragavendhran said...

Good one thala

This made me to think the tamil term for software testing

"மென்பொருள் சோதனை"!!!

Will work on this in my next post thala...

Thanks for the trigger!!!

Anonymous said...

@Ragavendharan
அனைத்து பொதுக்கணினியியல் சொற்களின் தமிழாக்கம் இங்கு தொகுக்கப் பட்டுள்ளது.
http://ta.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E0%AE%AA%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%81:%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%8A%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%A3%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%A9%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%B2%E0%AF%8D
--தனசேகர் சு

Unknown said...

Hello Pradeep,

Well, I agree with your point and wonderful thought, that why not write your writing in your mother language!


I will surely sometimes give a try writing in my own mother tongue.

Regards
Ashik

testerab said...

I read this, and I thought "I could write a couple of blog posts in Welsh - except I don't know if anyone would read them."

And then I thought "ah no, I couldn't do that, I wouldn't have the vocabulary for software testing in Welsh, and I would have to explain every term I used from the start. So it wouldn't work."

And then I thought "hey, that's maybe not such a bad thing, is it? Maybe I'd learn from that. It's easy to just parrot the same phrases everyone else is using, but to sit and translate them back into your own language? It makes you take a fresh look at them."

Ranjit said...

अपनी मातृभाषा नहीं, बल्कि हिंदी हमारी राष्ट्रभाषा होने के नाते हम सभी को इस भाषा का इस्तेमाल करना चाहिए |
पाश्चिमात्य देशो के कई लोगों ने (mainly scientists) माना है के संस्कृत भाषा का विन्यास (syntax) कंप्यूटर के लिए आदर्श / परिपूर्ण है |
हिंदी और कई अन्य हिन्दुस्तानी भाषाएँ प्रक्रित और संस्कृत से बनी होने के नाते, हिंदी भाषा को एक जागतिक भाषा के स्वरुप में, ख़ास कर दुनिया की कई पाश्चिमात्य भाषाओं के सामान, लाना हम जैसे लोगों का कर्त्तव्य है|
प्रदीप का प्रयास तारीफ़ के काबिल है| भारत के ऐसे कई हिस्से हैं जो आज भी अंग्रेजी भाषा नहीं जानते और न ही वह लोग जानना चाहेंगे अगर उनपे अंग्रेजी थोपी न जाए| इन्ही लोगों में मिलेगा हमें पूर्णतः राष्ट्रीय टेस्टर!
मुझे फक्र है के मातृभूमि से इतने दूर होकर भी, मातृभाषा हिंदी न होने के बावजूद, में हिंदी में अपने विचार लोगों तक पहुंचा सकता हूँ|

Rahul Verma said...

Important point. I should try this in future.

Not on the subject of testing, but this is what I created and I host for an organisation related to music in Hindi/Punjabi/Urdu : http://www.suraangan.com, to contribute to Indian languages.

Don Joseph Kurian said...

How would I being a malayalee benefit from a testing blog written in sanskrit or tamil or kannada language all three of which i do not understand and read.If a person truly wants a wider community to benefit from his blog it has to be in a common language which mostly all testers can understand and that is - ENGLISH. I dont think this is the area where you shoudl be showing love to your mother toungue.
Kindly advise me if I'm wrong.

Unknown said...

While it is a good idea to blog in one's own language of speaking, it is not suitable for technical topics.

I agree that folks from other country blog on technical topic in its own language. For that I think, they didn't had any influence of English on their learning. English is a foreign language to say germans, japanese, chinese etc. For us, it has become a status thing (tongue in chic) as we use English (at times) to impress others, when it is not a thing to be impressed about (just the way we use our high-tech cellphones to show off).

I agree with Robert that English has a wider reach & hence more readers.

I disagree with Shilpa on "we think in English". We think in our own language & try to fit that in English, as we speak ;)

Pradeep Soundararajan said...

@ Don,

How would I being a malayalee benefit from a testing blog written in sanskrit or tamil or kannada language all three of which i do not understand and read.If a person truly wants a wider community to benefit from his blog it has to be in a common language which mostly all testers can understand and that is - ENGLISH.

If there are enough bloggers in testing who write in Malayalam, you would benefit from it. If you write about testing in Malayalam, it would benefit your juniors.

As I said, its not about writing in Malayalam only, you can write them occasionally at least.

The most read testing blog written in English must be far less than Mallus in IT, so there is still a lot of potential for readership.

I dont think this is the area where you shoudl be showing love to your mother toungue.
Kindly advise me if I'm wrong.


Here is what I want you to do. Write a few posts about testing in Malayalam and pass it on to people in final year of Engineering and ask them for their feedback, you'd know what to advice yourself.

AJ said...

Oh c'mon. The thought is more important than the language. Why dont we just work for Indian companies? Swadeshi momvement is it? :)

Amit said...

May be this is because we have 22 languages declared as official status by constitution of India.

sonam said...

Your blog was superb and you really explained it well.
Thanks for sharing.

Anuj Sharma said...

Promoting Indian Testers to start blog is a challenge in itself !!!!!

Nowadays, not even school kids write in Hindi, so by the time when a majority of the Indian testers will start blogging no one would even dream to write Blogs in their Native languages.

Also, I don't think it is a good idea because of the obvious reason that I won't be able to communicate my views to the world.


Regards,
Anuj Sharma
http://passionatesting.blogspot.com

suhasini said...

Good One pradeep.Great!!!!!