Why are Bengali and French cultures alike? — Transcript

What happens is that the French and Bengali being so very similar in many ways.

They have a way of expressing which is very similar.

Not only the stock of words, the tone of the language, the way of speaking, the face expressions.

And of course, the musicality of the language, because if people think in the same way, and the French think in a very musical way, the Bengali think in a musical way too.

Bengali and French, Bangla and Le Français.

Do aise bhashaye jin ko apne apne regions mein the sweetest language ka darja hasil hua hai.

Aur do aisi bhashaye jin mein sounds merge hoti hain in very interesting ways, almost musical ways.

Quand il me prend dans ses bras, il me parle tout bas.

Je vois la vie en rose, il me dit des mots d'amour, des mots de tous les jours, et ça me fait quelque chose.

Priyo name daki.

Bolo kon priyo name daki.

Man bhangabo manini.

Darale duare mor.

Having said that, dono languages itne closely related nahi hai.

Bengali aur French ka origin kafi alag root se hua hai.

Dono bhashaye Indo-European language family ke members to hai, but inka evolution do alag branches se hua hai.

Jahan Bengali Sanskrit aur Magadhi Prakrit ke combination se bani hai.

Wahin French bani hai Latin aur Gallish ke combination se.

Linguistically door hone ke bawajood, dono sanskritiyon mein kuch common cultural parallels hain.

For example, dono cultures kafi creative cultures hain.

Dono ne apne apne tarike se cultural renaissance experience kiya.

And both these cultures have seen the highs and lows of power.

Toh, kya aisa ho sakta hai ki ye common texture is not the result of any linguistic parallels, but the cultural parallels.

By the way, jin ki awaaz aap shuruat mein sun rahe the, wo thi Neline Mondal.

Affectionately called as Neline Nadi.

I got to talk to her this November while I was in Chandannagar, a city that is 50 kilometers north of Kolkata.

It was once a French colony.

Since Neline ma'am is originally from Belgium and now has been living in Chandannagar since 1989, she is fluent in both French and Bengali.

And so I knew she would be the perfect person to talk to.

Ebang amader protipod theke bujhan.

Shostite kenoi.

What's protipod theke aati shondipat shob kichu hoy.

This year my good friend Pratyush, from whom I have been learning Bengali, ne mujhe Chandannagar ke unique Jagaddhatri Puja ko attend karne ke liye invite kiya tha.

I was obviously very excited because I have never experienced the Puja vibe before.

For three days I stayed at Pratyush's place in Chinsurah, enjoying auntie's delicious dishes.

And then hum evenings ko explore karne jaate the numerous Pandals of Maa Jagaddhatri.

I learned that geographically this part of Bengal along the bank of Ganga was once called the Mini Europe of India.

Because yahan multiple European powers ke multiple colonies coexist karte the side by side.

For example, the Portuguese colony of Bandel was next to the Dutch colony of Chinsurah, next to the French colony of Chandannagore, next to the Danish colony of Serampore.

All next to the capital of the British Empire, Calcutta.

Therefore, ye bolna exaggeration nahi hoga that Europe has had a big influence in Bengal.

Traveling along the bank of the beautiful Bengali French town of Chandannagar, I could notice the influence of French architecture, culture, language.

All of that on Bengal.

Isi overthinking ka natija hai ye video jismein main aur tum explore karne wale hain is Indo-French connection ko.