|
|
AshweethaShetty_2018W-_教育怎样帮我重写人生_
|
I was eight years old. |
那时我才8岁。 |
I remember that day clearly like it happened just yesterday. |
对当天所发生的事,记忆犹新。 |
My mother is a bidi roller . |
母亲的养家本事 |
roller:n.滚筒;滚柱;滚轴;碾轧机;
|
She hand-rolls country cigarettes to sustain our family. |
是用手卷一种叫比迪的乡下雪茄。 |
sustain:v.支持;支撑;遭受;证实;
|
She is a hard worker and spent 10 to 12 hours every day rolling bidis . |
她工作很卖力, 每天用上10至12小时卷烟。 |
bidis:比迪菸;比弟烟;(bidis是bidi的复数)
|
That particular day she came home and showed me her bidi-rolling wage book. |
有一天,她回到家里, 就让我看她的收入账本。 |
wage:v.发动;n.(通常指按周领的)工资;
|
She asked me how much money she has earned that week. |
她问我那周她挣了多少钱。 |
I went through that book, and what caught my eyes were her thumbprints on each page. |
我看了看那个账本, 注意到每一页都有她的指纹。 |
thumbprints:n.拇指指纹;印章;个性特征;
|
My mother has never been to school. |
母亲从未上过学。 |
She uses her thumbprints instead of a signature to keep a record of her earnings . |
她用指纹代替签名 去记录她的收入。 |
signature:n.署名;签名;信号; earnings:n.收益;收入;利润;赢利;
|
On that day, for some reason, |
那一天,我有个想法, |
I wanted to teach her how to hold a pen and write her name. |
要教她拿起笔来,写自己的名字。 |
She was reluctant at first. |
开始时,她不太情愿。 |
reluctant:adj.不情愿的;勉强的;顽抗的;
|
She smiled innocently and said no. |
只微微一笑就说不。 |
innocently:adv.纯洁地;无罪地;
|
But deep down, I was sure she wanted to give it a try. |
但我相信她是想要试试的, |
With a little bit of perseverance and a lot of effort, we managed to write her name. |
我们坚持练习了一会, 要费老大的劲儿, 才能让她写出自己的名字。 |
perseverance:n.坚持不懈;不屈不挠;n.耐性;毅力;
|
Her hands were trembling , and her face was beaming with pride. |
当时虽然她的手在颤抖, 但脸上却闪耀着自豪。 |
trembling:v.颤抖;极担心;焦虑;恐惧;(tremble的现在分词) beaming:v.发射(电波);笑容满面;播送;射出光(或热);(beam的现在分词)
|
As I watched her do this, for the first time in my life, |
那一刹, 是我有生以来第一次, |
I had a priceless feeling: that I could be of some use to this world. |
萌生一个有意义的想法: 要对这个世界有所作为。 |
priceless:adj.无价的;极贵重的;非常有趣的;n.非卖品;
|
That feeling was very special, because I am not meant to be useful. |
那种感觉非常奇特, 我并不注定会是有所作为的。 |
In rural India, girls are generally considered worthless . |
因为女孩子身处于印度偏远地区, 被认为是没有用的。 |
rural:adj.农村的,乡下的;田园的,有乡村风味的; generally:adv.通常;普遍地,一般地; worthless:adj.无价值的;不值钱的;卑微的;
|
They're a liability or a burden . |
只是一种负担和包袱。 |
liability:n.责任;债务;倾向;可能性;不利因素; burden:n.负担;责任;船的载货量;v.使负担;烦扰;装货于;
|
If they are considered useful, it is only to cook dishes, keep the house clean or raise children. |
如果她们还算有用的话, 就只是煮饭和打扫, 或者生儿育女。 |
keep the house:居家不外出;足不出户;
|
As a second daughter of my conservative Indian family, |
作为印度保守家庭里的第二个女儿, |
conservative:adj.保守的;n.保守派,守旧者;
|
I was fairly clear from a very early age that no one expected anything from me. |
从小就清楚知道, 没有人会指望我将来能做一点儿事。 |
fairly:adv.相当地;公平地;简直;
|
I was conditioned to believe that the three identities that defined me -- poor village girl -- meant that I was to live a life of no voice and no choice. |
我要注定背负三个包袱—— 农村里来、贫穷的、女孩—— 既定成规我是要过一种 没有话语权和选择权的生活。 |
identities:n.身份;本身;本体;特征;同一性;相同;(identity的复数) defined:adj.有定义的,确定的; v.使明确;
|
These three identities forced me to think that I should never have been born. |
这三个包袱迫使我这样想 我原本不该出生。 |
Yet, I was. |
我就是那样想的。 |
All throughout my childhood , as I rolled bidis alongside my mother, |
整个童年,每次我在妈妈身边卷烟的时候 |
throughout:adv.自始至终,到处;全部;prep.贯穿,遍及; childhood:n.童年;幼年;孩童时期
|
I would wonder: |
我都很迷茫地问: |
What did my future hold? |
“我将来会怎么样?” |
I often asked my mother, with a lot of anxiety , " Amma , will my life be different from yours? |
又会焦虑的再问母亲, “妈妈,我将来是否可以跟你不一样? |
anxiety:n.焦虑;渴望;挂念;令人焦虑的事; Amma:abbr.美国-墨西哥医学协会;
|
Will I have a chance to choose my life? |
我有机会选择自己的生活吗? |
Will I go to college?" |
我可以上大学吗?” |
And she would reply back, "Try to finish high school first." |
她就会回答, “你还是先上完高中才说吧。” |
I am sure my mother did not mean to discourage me. |
我了解母亲不是成心打击我。 |
discourage:v.阻止;劝阻;阻拦;使灰心;
|
She only wanted me to understand that my dreams might be too big for a girl in my village. |
她只想让我明白 那些梦想对这个乡村的女孩来说, 也许太大了。 |
When I was 13, I found the autobiography of Helen Keller. |
我在13岁的时候, 发现了一本海伦·凯勒的自传。 |
autobiography:n.自传;自传文学;
|
Helen became my inspiration. |
我很佩服书中的海伦。 |
I admired her indomitable spirit. |
她那不屈不挠的精神。 |
indomitable:adj.不屈不挠的;不服输的;不气馁的;
|
I wanted to have a college degree like her, so I fought with my father and my relatives to be sent to college, and it worked. |
我要学她一样能取得大学文凭, 于是我与父亲及亲戚们争吵, 争取上大学的权利, 最后我成功了。 |
relatives:n.亲戚;亲属;同类事物;(relative的复数)
|
During my final year of my undergraduate degree, |
在大学的最后一年, |
undergraduate:n.本科生;
|
I desperately wanted to escape from being forced into marriage, so I applied to a fellowship program in Delhi , which is about 1,600 miles away from my village. |
我要拼命摆脱强迫的婚姻, 于是我申请了一个在德尔里的奖学金, 那地方离我们的村1600英里。 |
desperately:adv.拼命地;绝望地;不顾一切地;极度地; applied:adj.应用的;实用的;v.应用;使用;申请,请求;(apply的过去分词和过去式) fellowship:n.友谊;奖学金;研究员职位; Delhi:n.德里(印度城市名);
|
(Laughter) |
(笑声) |
In fact, I recall that the only way I could fill out the application was during my commute to college. |
我记得是在去大学的路上 填写那份申请表。 |
recall:v.记起;回想起;使想到;勾起;召回;n.记忆力;记性;回归请求;回收令; application:n.应用;申请;应用程序;敷用; commute:v.减刑;交换;通勤;代偿;n.通勤(口语);
|
I did not have access to computers, so I had to borrow a college junior's cell phone. |
我找不到电脑, 只能去借大学高年级同学的手机。 |
As a woman, I could not be seen with a cell phone, so I used to huddle his phone under my shawl and type as slowly as possible to ensure that I would not be heard. |
但女性是不能被看见用手机的, 那时我总是用披肩遮住手机, 尽量慢慢地打字, 以防被别人听到。 |
huddle:vt.把...挤在一起; vi.蜷缩; n.拥挤; shawl:n.围巾,长方形披巾;vt.用披巾包裹; ensure:vt.保证,确保;使安全;
|
After many rounds of interviews , |
数轮面试之后, |
interviews:n.面试; v.对(某人)进行面试(或面谈);
|
I got into the fellowship program with a full scholarship . |
我获得全额的奖学金。 |
scholarship:n.奖学金;学问;学识;学术成就;
|
My father was confused , my mother was worried -- |
我父亲很困惑,母亲也很担心—— |
confused:adj.困惑的; v.使糊涂; (confuse的过去分词和过去式)
|
(Applause) |
(掌声) |
My father was confused, my mother was worried, but I felt butterflies in my stomach because I was going to step out of my village for the first time to study in the national capital. |
我父亲很困惑,母亲也很担心—— 而我却无比兴奋, 因为这是我头一次 可以离开村庄 去首都那里学习。 |
Of the 97 fellows selected that year, |
那一年共有97名奖学金的获得者, |
I was the only rural college graduate. |
只有我是来自偏远乡村的学生。 |
There was no one there who looked like me or spoke like me. |
我和别人的外表和口音都不一样。 |
I felt alienated , intimidated and judged by many. |
我感觉得很孤立,胆怯, 时常被人指指点点。 |
alienated:adj.疏远的;被疏远的;v.使疏离(alienate的过去式); intimidated:adj.害怕的;受到恐吓的;v.威胁,恐吓;(intimidate的过去式和过去分词)
|
One fellow called me " Coconut Girl." |
一个同学叫我“椰子姑娘”。 |
Coconut:n.椰子;椰子肉;
|
Can you guess why? |
知道为什么吗? |
Anyone? |
有没有人知道? |
That's because I applied a lot of coconut oil to my hair. |
因为我在头发上擦了很多椰子油。 |
(Laughter) |
(笑声) |
Another asked me where I had learned to speak English, and some of my peers did not prefer to have me on their assignment teams because they thought I would not be able to contribute to their discussion. |
另一个人问我,我从哪里学的英语, 还有一些同学, 不欢迎我加入他们的功课小组, 因为他们认为, 我不能在讨论的时候有所贡献。 |
peers:n.平辈,同事(peer的复数);v.凝视;比得上(peer的三单形式); prefer:v.更喜欢;宁愿;提出;提升; assignment:n.分配:(分派的)工作,任务: contribute to:有助于;捐献;
|
I felt that many of my peers believed that a person from rural India could not supply anything of value, yet the majority of Indian population today is rural. |
我想那些同学认为, 一个从印度偏远乡村来的人, 不会提出任何有价值的观点, 而当今大多数的印度人都来自乡村。 |
majority:n.大部分:大多数:多数票:成年人:
|
I realized that stories like mine were considered to be an exception and never the expectation . |
我发现,像我这样的经历 只会被当作一个特例, 绝不是一个期望。 |
exception:n.例外;异议; expectation:n.预料;预期;期待;希望;指望;
|
I believe that all of us are born into a reality that we blindly accept until something awakens us and a new world opens up. |
我相信,我们都是生下来就要 盲目地接受现实, 直到我们被警醒, 新世界才向我们敞开大门。 |
blindly:adv.盲目地;轻率地;摸索地; awakens:vt.唤醒;唤起;使…意识到;vi.觉醒;醒来;意识到;
|
When I saw my mother's first signature on her bidi-rolling wage book, when I felt the hot Delhi air against my face after a 50-hour train journey , when I finally felt free and let myself be, |
当我看到母亲卷烟 收入账本上的第一个签名时, 是乘坐了50个小时火车之后, 当我感觉到德里那燥热的空气吹拂在脸上时, 当我最终感觉到被赋予生命的自由时, |
journey:n.旅行;行程;vi.旅行; finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地;
|
I saw a glimpse of that new world I longed for, a world where a girl like me is no longer a liability or a burden but a person of use, a person of value and a person of worthiness . |
我就看见了那个我所期盼的世界, 在那里,像我一样的女孩, 不再是负担或包袱 而是个有用和有价值的人 一个有生存价值的人。 |
glimpse:v.瞥见;[诗]闪现;n.领悟;概况;见识;一睹; worthiness:n.值得;相当;有价值;
|
By the time my fellowship ended, my life had changed. |
当我完成那个奖学金项目的时候, 我的人生已经改变了。 |
Not only had I traced my lost voice, but also had a choice to make myself useful. |
不仅我已经找回失去的话语权, 也选择作为一个有用的人。 |
traced:v.发现;追踪;追究;描绘;记述;(trace的过去分词和过去式)
|
I was 22. |
那时我22岁。 |
I came back to my village to set up the Bodhi Tree Foundation , an institution that supports rural youth by providing them with education, life skills and opportunities. |
回到自己的村,建立一个 叫宝迪树(Bodhi Tree)的基金, 这个是个帮助偏远地区年轻人的机构, 为他们提供教育、生存技能和机会。 |
Bodhi:n.菩提树(佛教的圣树); Foundation:n.基础;地基;基金会;根据;创立; institution:n.制度;建立;(社会或宗教等)公共机构;习俗;
|
We work closely with our rural youth to change their life and to benefit our communities . |
我们和那些年轻人紧密合作, 致力于改变他们的生命,为社区创造价值。 |
communities:n.社区;社会;团体;共有(community的复数)
|
How do I know my institution is working? |
我是如何知道我的机构是否取得成效呢? |
Well, six months ago, we had a new joinee. |
六个月前,我们有个新成员。 |
Her name is Kaviarasi. |
她叫卡瓦拉斯。 |
I first spotted her in a local college in Tirunelveli during one of my training sessions . |
我在蒂鲁内尔维利的 一个当地学院里第一次看到她, 当时我正在做培训。 |
spotted:adj.有花点的;有斑点的;v.看见;看出;发现;让步;(spot的过去分词和过去式) sessions:n.会议;会期(session的复数);
|
As you can see , she has a smile which you can never forget. |
你们可以看到,她的微笑令人难忘。 |
As you can see:正如你所看到的;你是知道的;
|
We guided her to get an opportunity to study at Ashoka University, Delhi. |
在我们的引导下,她获得了在德里的 爱舍卡大学的学习机会。 |
Ashoka:n.阿育王(印度孔雀王朝的第三位君主);
|
The best part of her story is that she is now back at Bodhi Tree as a trainer working with dedication to make a change in the lives of others like her. |
最有意义的是, 她现在回到了宝迪树做教员, 兢兢业业地工作,帮助其他 像她一样的人,改变命运。 |
dedication:n.奉献;献身;(建筑物等的)落成典礼;(书、音乐或演出前部的)献词;
|
Kaviarasi doesn't want to feel like an exception. |
卡瓦拉斯不想让人觉得 她的情况是个特例。 |
She wants to be of use to others in this world. |
她想在这个世界, 成为一个能帮助别人的人。 |
Recently , Kaviarasi mentored Anitha, who also comes from a remote , rural village, lives in a 10-foot-by-10-foot home, her parents are also farm laborers . |
最近,卡瓦拉斯辅导了安妮塔, 一个也是来自偏远山村的女孩, 住在一个100平方尺的家里, 她的父母也是辛勤耕种的农夫。 |
Recently:adv.最近;新近; mentored:v.辅导(mentor的过去形式); remote:adj.偏远的;偏僻的;遥远的;久远的; laborers:n.劳动者(laborer的复数);工人;
|
Kaviarasi helped Anitha secure admission in a prestigious undergraduate program in a top university in India with a full scholarship. |
卡瓦拉斯帮她拿到了 一个享有盛誉的大学项目入学的录取, 而且拿到了这所印度顶尖大学的全额奖学金。 |
admission:n.入场费;进入权;招供;门票费; prestigious:adj.有名望的;享有声望的;
|
When Anitha's parents were reluctant to send her that far, we asked the district administration officials to speak to Anitha's parents, and it worked. |
当安妮塔的父母不想送她 去那么遥远的地方读书时, 我们请求这个地区的领导 去说服她的父母, 结果成功了。 |
And then there is Padma. |
接下来,有一个叫帕德玛的。 |
Padma and I went to college together. |
帕德玛和我上同一所大学。 |
She's the first in her entire village to attend graduation. |
她是她们村里第一个大学毕业生。 |
She had been working with me at Bodhi Tree until one day she decides to go to graduate school . |
她一直在宝迪树工作, 直到有一天,她决定要去读研究生。 |
graduate school:研究所,研究院;
|
I asked her why. |
我问她为什么。 |
She told me that she wanted to make sure that she would never be a liability or a burden to anyone at any point in her life. |
她说她想确保 在她人生中的任何时刻, 都不会成为别人的负担或包袱。 |
Padma, Anitha and Kaviarasi grew up in the most tough families and communities one could only imagine. |
帕德玛、安妮塔和卡瓦拉斯, 你可以想像到 她们都是在最困难家庭和社区中长大的。 |
Yet the journey of finding my usefulness in this world served them in finding their usefulness to this world. |
然而,在我寻找自己价值的旅途中, 我帮助了她们发现 自己在这个世上的价值。 |
usefulness:n.有用;有效性;有益;
|
Of course there are challenges. |
当然,这个并不容易。 |
I'm aware change does not happen overnight . |
我知道这不是可以 在一夜之间就能改变的。 |
overnight:adj.夜间的; v.在夜间; n.(美)前一天的晚上;
|
A lot of my work involves working with families and communities to help them understand why getting an education is useful for everyone. |
很多的工作会牵扯到家庭和社区, 帮助他们理解为什么子女要接受教育 是对每一个人都有用。 |
involves:v.包含;需要;牵涉;牵连;影响;(使)参加,加入(involve的第三人称单数)
|
The quickest way to convince them is by doing. |
最实用的方法去说服他们 就是付诸行动。 |
convince:v.使确信;使相信;说服,劝说;
|
When they see their kids getting a real education, getting a real job, they begin to change. |
当他们看到自己的孩子接受教育之后, 得到了工作,他们就开始改变。 |
The best example is what happened at my home. |
最好的例子就是在我家里发生的故事。 |
I was recently given an award in recognition of my social work by the chief minister of my state. |
最近,我们州的州长颁发给我一个奖项, 以认可我的社会活动。 |
recognition:n.识别;认识;承认;认可; social work:n.社会工作; minister:n.部长;大臣;牧师;vi.执行牧师职务;辅助或伺候某人;
|
That meant I was going to be on television. |
这意味我接着要上电视了。 |
(Laughter) |
(笑声) |
Everyone was hooked on to the television that morning, including my parents. |
那天早上,所有我村里的人 都被吸引到电视机前,包括我的父母。 |
hooked:adj.弯曲的; v.(使)钩住,挂住; (hook的过去分词和过去式)
|
I would like to believe that seeing her daughter on television made my mother feel useful too. |
我相信,母亲看到自己的女儿上电视, 也感觉到她自己 也是个有用的人。 |
Hopefully, she will stop pressuring me to get married now. |
希望现在她不要再逼我结婚了。 |
(Laughter) |
(笑声) |
Finding my use has helped me to break free from the identities society thrusts on me -- poor village girl. |
发现自己的价值帮助了我摆脱 那个社会强加给我的定义—— 农村里来、贫穷的、女孩。 |
thrusts:n.[力]推力;刺;vt.插;插入;推挤;vi.插入;用向某人刺去;猛然或用力推;
|
Finding my use has helped me to break free from being boxed, caged and bottled. |
我发现了自己的价值帮助我冲破 那框架,牢笼和控制。 |
Finding my use has helped me to find my voice, my self-worth and my freedom. |
我也取得了自己的话语权, 自我价值和自由。 |
self-worth:n.自我价值;自尊;自负;
|
I leave you with this thought: |
我想留给你们一个想法: |
Where do you feel useful to this world? |
在这个世上,哪里才能 让你感觉到自己的价值? |
Because the answer to that question is where you will find your voice and your freedom. |
因为这个问题的答案 就是那个让你发现 自己话语权和自由的地方。 |
Thank you. |
谢谢。 |
(Applause) |
(掌声) |