Lakshmi Pratury: The lost art of letter-writing

Prevoditelj: Tilen Pigac - EFZG Recezent: Mislav Ante Omazić - EFZG

So I thought, "I will talk about death."

Tako sam razmišljala, "Govorit ću o smrti."

Seemed to be the passion today.

Čini se da je to strast danas.

Actually, it's not about death.

Zapravo, nije riječ o smrti.

It's inevitable, terrible, but really what I want to talk about is,

Ona je neizbježna, grozna, ali ono o čemu, zapravo, želim pričati je,

I'm just fascinated by the legacy people leave when they die.

fascinacija ostavštinom koju ljudi ostave kada umru.

That's what I want to talk about.

O tome želim pričati.

So Art Buchwald left his legacy of humor with a video

Art Buchwald je ostavio svoje nasljedstvo smijeha na videu

that appeared soon after he died, saying,

koji se pojavio ubrzo nakon što je umro, govoreći,

"Hi! I'm Art Buchwald, and I just died."

"Bok! Ja sam Art Buchwald, i upravo sam umro."

And Mike, who I met at Galapagos, a trip which I won at TED,

I Mike, kojeg sam srela na Galapagosu, putovanju koje sam osvojila na TED-u,

is leaving notes on cyberspace where he is chronicling

ostavlja bilješke u kibernetskom prostoru gdje u obliku kronika bilježi

his journey through cancer.

svoje putovanje kroz rak.

And my father left me a legacy of his handwriting

A moj otac mi je ostavio nasljedstvo svog rukopisa

through letters and a notebook.

kroz pisma i bilježnicu.

In the last two years of his life, when he was sick,

U posljednje dvije godine njegovog života, kada je bio bolestan,

he filled a notebook with his thoughts about me.

ispunio je bilježnicu svojim mislima o meni.

He wrote about my strengths, weaknesses,

Pisao je o mojim snagama, slabostima,

and gentle suggestions for improvement,

i nježnim sugestijama za poboljšanje,

quoting specific incidents, and held a mirror to my life.

citirajući specifične događaje, držeći ogledalo mog života.

After he died, I realized that no one writes to me anymore.

Nakon što je umro, shvatila sam kako mi nitko više ne piše.

Handwriting is a disappearing art.

Rukopis je umjetnost u nestajanju.

I'm all for email and thinking while typing,

Ja sam za e-poštu, i mislim kada tipkam,

but why give up old habits for new?

ali zašto se odreći starih navika zbog novih?

Why can't we have letter writing and email exchange in our lives?

Zašto ne bismo mogli imati pisanje pisama i razmjenu e-pošte u našim životima?

There are times when I want to trade all those years

Postoje trenuci kada želim mijenjati sve te godine

that I was too busy to sit with my dad and chat with him,

u kojima sam bila prezaposlena da sjednem sa svojim ocem i čavrljam s njime,

and trade all those years for one hug.

i mijenjati sve te godine za jedan zagrljaj.

But too late.

Ali prekasno.

But that's when I take out his letters and I read them,

Ali tada uzmem njegova pisma i čitam ih,

and the paper that touched his hand is in mine,

i papir koji je dirao njegovu ruku je u mojoj ruci,

and I feel connected to him.

i osjećam se povezano s njim.

So maybe we all need to leave our children

Stoga bismo možda svi mi trebali ostaviti našu djecu

with a value legacy, and not a financial one.

s nasljedstvom vrijednosti, a ne s financijskim nasljedstvom.

A value for things with a personal touch --

Vrijednost za stvari s osobnim dodirom --

an autographed book, a soul-searching letter.

spomenik, pismo iz duše.

If a fraction of this powerful TED audience

Ukoliko bi frakcija ove moćne TED publike

could be inspired to buy a beautiful paper --

mogla biti inspirirana kupiti prekrasan papir --

John, it'll be a recycled one -- and write a beautiful letter

John, bit će reciklirani papir -- i napiše prekrasno pismo

to someone they love, we actually may start a revolution

onima koje vole, možda možemo započeti revoluciju

where our children may go to penmanship classes.

gdje bi naša djeca odlazila na satove krasopisa.

So what do I plan to leave for my son?

Dakle, što planiram ostaviti svom sinu?

I collect autographed books, and those of you authors

Sakupljam spomenike, i vi autori

in the audience know I hound you for them --

u publici znate da vas uznemiravam zbog toga --

and CDs too, Tracy.

i CD-e isto tako, Tracy.

I plan to publish my own notebook.

Planiram objaviti svoju vlastitu knjigu.

As I witnessed my father's body being swallowed by fire,

Kako sam bila svjedok kada je tijelo mog oca progutala vatra,

I sat by his funeral pyre and wrote.

sjela sam pored njegove pogrebne lomače i pisala.

I have no idea how I'm going to do it,

Nemam ideje kako ću to učiniti,

but I am committed to compiling his thoughts and mine

ali predana sam sastavljanju njegovih i mojih misli

into a book, and leave that published book for my son.

u knjigu, i ostaviti tu objavljenu knjigu mom sinu.

I'd like to end with a few verses of what I wrote

Željela bih završiti s nekoliko strofa onoga što sam napisala

at my father's cremation.

prilikom kremiranja mog oca.

And those linguists, please pardon the grammar,

A vi lingvisti, molim vas, oprostite na gramatici,

because I've not looked at it in the last 10 years.

jer nisam gledala u to posljednjih 10 godina.

I took it out for the first time to come here.

Izvadila sam ih van po prvi put kako bih ih mogla pročitati ovdje.

"Picture in a frame, ashes in a bottle,

"Slika u okviru, pepeo u boci,

boundless energy confined in the bottle,

bezgranična energija zatvorena u boci,

forcing me to deal with reality,

tjera me na suočavanje sa stvarnošću,

forcing me to deal with being grown up.

tjera me na suočavanjem da sam odrasla osoba.

I hear you and I know that you would want me to be strong,

Čujem te i znam kako želiš da budem snažna,

but right now, I am being sucked down, surrounded

ali upravo sada, povučena sam prema dolje, okružena,

and suffocated by these raging emotional waters,

i ugušena od tih bujajućih emocionalnih voda,

craving to cleanse my soul, trying to emerge

koje žude da pročiste moju dušu, pokušavajući izbiti

on a firm footing one more time, to keep on fighting and flourishing

još jednom na čvrstinu, kako bi se nastavile boriti i cvjetati

just as you taught me.

baš kao što si me učio.

Your encouraging whispers in my whirlpool of despair,

Tvoji ohrabrujući šapati u mom vrtlogu očaja,

holding me and heaving me to shores of sanity,

drže me i izdižu na obale razuma,

to live again and to love again."

kako bih živjela ponovno i kako bih voljela ponovno."

Thank you.

Hvala vam.