Language Log

« previous post | next post »

China fired the first shot with this infamous Doklam video called "7 Sins of India".  It's all about a remote spot on the border between Bhutan and Tibet, where India is now confronting China in an attempt to preserve the territorial integrity of tiny Bhutan.  This is the same area through which China invaded India in 1962, pushing south as far as Siliguri.

India has now countered China's propaganda video, which has been dubbed crudely racist by many, with a cute, corny video of its own called "Dangal in Doklam".

"Dangal in Doklam: After 7 Sins, Here’s India’s Sonu Song for China"

Deeksha Sharma    the quint

Updated: 23 August, 2017 9:18 AM IST

Prefatory notes:

Sonu in "Sonu Song" refers to a popular movie song producer / composer in the Indian movie industry called Sonu Nigam.

The proper nouns are names of people, places, films, and songs, mostly in India or Bhutan.

Doklam is 洞朗.

Bhutan is 不丹.

Quint is the name of an Indian magazine.

"Ghajini" is the title of an Indian Bollywood movie.  The lead character is a man named  Ghajini, who suffers from memory loss.  In the case of China, “selective amnesia” might be apt to characterize Ghajini.

"3 Idiots" is another Indian film, this one a comedy about backyard inventions.

"Dangal" is a film about wrestling and has come to mean "commotion; combat".  The movie Dangal is based on the true story of Mahavir Singh Phogut, a Hindu Jat from Haryana. As with the previous two movies, "Dangal" was a big draw in China.  It is about a father who trains his daughters to become world-class wrestlers, against all odds. In that sense, the movie "Dangal" has a strong message, in that it takes a stand against patriarchy, male subjugation of women, poverty, etc. So Dangal is about standing up to traditional societal tyranny and established prejudices.  In this context, the meaning of the sentence is clear:  “You don’t want a war (or better still, conflict with India “standing up to” you), Dangal style.

[More notes following the lyrics are marked by asterisks.]

========

Here's the song (in Hindi, followed line-by-line with English translation).  It's called:

Dangal in Doklam            (commotion at Doklam)

=====

China tujhe India pe bharosa* nahi kya? / China, you did not trust India?

In Doklam you are doing jhol jhol / In Doklam, you are creating a mess

So, The Quint is doing your pol khol! / So, The Quint is unmasking your real self

China tujhe India pe bharosa nahi kya? / China, you did not trust India?

Doklam pe you are making road road / In Doklam, you are making roads

Border treaties fully kiya ig-nore / You are fully ignoring border treaties**

PLA must stop all this tod-phod / PLA must stop all this subversion

Doklam ko akela tu chod chod / You must withdraw from Doklam

China tujhe India pe bharosa nahi kya? / China, you did not trust India?

Bhutan bole doklam apun ka / Bhutan says Doklam is theirs

India bole doklam Bhutan ka / India says Doklam is Bhutan’s

Phir kyu nahi manta ye China? / Then why does China say it's theirs?

China tujhe India pe bharosa nahi kya? / China, you did not trust India?

Bhutan se apni hai dosti / We have friendship with Bhutan

Tujhko hoti hai jelousy / You feel jealous

Isliye tu kare zabardasti / That’s why you are applying force

China tujhe India pe bharosa nahi kya? / China, you did not trust India?

China has panga*** with Taiwan / China has issues with Taiwan

China has panga with Japan / China has issues with Japan

Har neighbour ki China kheeche tang tang / You jerk around every neighbor of yours

China tujhe India pe bharosa nahi kya? / China, you did not trust India?

Memory teri kya hai chhoti / Your memory is short

Have you got symptoms of Ghajini? / Do you have symptoms of Ghajini?

Do you consider us 3 idiots? / Do you consider us 3 idiots?

Surely you don’t want Dangal / Surely you don’t want any combat

Doklam ko chhod varna Dangal / Leave Doklam alone, otherwise combat

Bol..you don’t want Dangal! / Speak up, you don’t want combat

Bol..you don’t want Dangal! / Speak up, you don’t want combat

=====

*can also mean "faith"

**China emphasizes an 1890 treaty, but there are more recent treaties that China completely ignores. The 2009 treaty, for example, clearly makes it binding on India and China not to unilaterally ALTER the status quo at the trijunction area without first coming to a final agreement in consultation with third party Bhutan, which was not a party to the 1890 agreement.

***panga
Pangaa or Panga [Devnagari:पंगा, Gurumukhi:ਪੰਗਾ].  This is a Panjabi word borrowed into Hindi.  Here is a useful linguistic note on its meaning in Panjabi — "an issue; a fight".

Perhaps the reason they chose the Panjabi word "panga" in the song was that frontline Indian troops are almost always Sikh, Jat (Hindus), and Punjab regiments.  Even with quotas for other states and castes, Jats, Punjabis, and Sikhs still make up a large proportion of the Army

Here's a Chinese translation.  It's not perfectly literal, but tries to retain the meaning, and it rhymes.

=====

Zhōngguó, nǐ bù xìnrèn Yìndù?

Nǐ zài Dònglǎng zuòwēizuòfú

Wǔdùyīn wǎngzhàn zhèng jiēfā nǐ de zhēnmiànmù

Zhōngguó, nǐ bù xìnrèn Yìndù?

Nǐ zài Dònglǎng xiū lù

Biānjìng tiáoyuē shìruòwúdǔ

Jiěfàngjūn bìxū tíngzhǐ yīqiè diānfù

Nǐ bìxū cóng Dònglǎng gǔn chū

Zhōngguó, nǐ bù xìnrèn Yìndù?

Bùdān shuō Dònglǎng shì Bùdān lǐngtǔ

Yìndù shuō Dònglǎng shì Bùdān lǐngtǔ

Wèihé Zhōngguó shuō Dònglǎng shì Zhōngguó lǐngtǔ?

Zhōngguó, nǐ bù xìnrèn Yìndù?

Wǒmen hé Bùdān hùxiāng bāngzhù

Nǐ jiù jídù

Suǒyǐ nǐ dòngwǔ

Zhōngguó, nǐ bù xìnrèn Yìndù?

Zhōngguó gēn Táiwān nán xiāngchǔ

Zhōngguó gēn Rìběn nán xiāngchǔ

Nǐ gēn línguó dōu nán xiāngchǔ

Zhōngguó, nǐ bù xìnrèn Yìndù?

Nǐ jìyì tuìbù

Nǐ gēn Gājíní yīyàng míhú?

Nǐ yǐwéi wǒmen shì Sāngè Shǎguā zhī tú?

Nǐ dāngrán bù xiǎng zǒu shàng zhànzhēng zhī lù

Nà jiù lí Dònglǎng yuǎn diǎn, fǒuzé dǎng bù zhù

Dàshēng shuō ba, nǐ bù xiǎng zǒu shàng zhànzhēng zhī lù

Dàshēng shuō ba, nǐ bù xiǎng zǒu shàng zhànzhēng zhī lù

中国，你不信任印度？

你在洞朗作威作福

五度音网站正揭发你的真面目

中国，你不信任印度？

你在洞朗修路

边境条约视若无睹

解放军必须停止一切颠覆

你必须从洞朗滚出

中国，你不信任印度？

不丹说洞朗是不丹领土

印度说洞朗是不丹领土

为何中国说洞朗是中国领土？

中国，你不信任印度？

我们和不丹互相帮助

你就嫉妒

所以你动武

中国，你不信任印度？

中国跟台湾难相处

中国跟日本难相处

你跟邻国都难相处

中国，你不信任印度？

你记忆退步

你跟嘎吉尼一样迷糊？

你以为我们是三个傻瓜之徒？

你当然不想走上战争之路

那就离洞朗远点，否则挡不住

大声说吧，你不想走上战争之路

大声说吧，你不想走上战争之路

=====

What I find most fascinating about the Indian video is how heavily it is based no Bollywood culture and how it mixes languages fluidly.  The Chinese video, in contrast, bases its approach on the "Seven Sins", which may have been inspired by the "Seven Deadly Sins" of Christianity.  Moreover, the Chinese video — despite canned (sarcastic) laughter at a fake Sikh with a pasted-on beard — is deadly serious from beginning to end.  The Indian video has a real Sikh with a real beard (see the note on "panga" above), and it's funny from start to finish (best of all are the hilarious toy guns "Made in China").

[H.t. Ilango Gurusamy; thanks to Melvin Lee, Surendra & Vijay Gambhir, and Sunny Singh]

August 24, 2017 @ 10:45 pm · Filed by Victor Mair under Language and politics, Language and the movies, Translation

Permalink