Ram stared at the letter in his hand, utterly baffled. "What on earth is this piece of writing about, and what is it trying to convey to me? he muttered, his eyes scanning the strange symbols and letters. "I can't even begin to make sense of it."
Abhi, sensing an opportunity to tease, leaned in with a smirk. "How come? You failed to grasp the subject matter of your girlfriend's note or the coding lingo she applied . Maybe it's some love letter written in code, trying to keep it from prying eyes.".
" halt it, brother. This doesn't qualify as a love letter as you envisioned it", Ram advised abhi, giving him a frustrated expression. "There isn't a girlfriend of mine."
"Why was that female who laid out it to you, if it ain't a love letter from your lady love?She specifically offered something to you isolated, yet there are three men hanging over here." With a dubious smirk, Abhi inquired.
Ram threw up his hands in exasperation. "Why am I aware of that? I've never seen her before."
Sashi, who had been watching the exchange with mild amusement, stepped forward. "Alright, you two. Enough with the banter. Let me take a look at it," she said, gently pulling the letter from Ram's hand.
Even after giving the letter a close inspection, she still didn't understand what was said." This seems like an alphabet from long ago."
" An archaic tongue?" Abhi glanced over the letter that Sashi had sent. "Your girlfriend seems to have penned this in some kind of cipher dialect; I'm not sure what Dynasty she is from."
" Consider anything;", Ram paid little thought to the words of abhi.
Abhi, still not letting up, chuckled. "Maybe it's a prank. Someone could be filming this whole thing right now for a viral video. 'Guy gets ancient love letter in the mall'—sounds like the kind of Frank video that would go viral."
He glanced around, his eyes scanning the crowd for anyone suspiciously holding a camera, but there was no one around who seemed to be paying any attention to them.
Gowthami stepped forward with confidence. "Let me take a look," she said, extending her hand toward the letter.
"Indeed" , Gowthami received the letter from Sashi.
Gowthami responded, "I hope I can comprehend this letter," after taking a close look.
Rajeev stood calmly, watching her, not nearly as shocked as the others. He already knew that Gowthami had a deep understanding of ancient languages. It was something they had discussed before, but it was a talent she didn't often reveal.
Abhi, however, was taken aback. "Wait, what? Can you actually read it?"
Gowthami nodded, her voice calm but certain. "Yes. This is written in Pali."
"Pali?" Abhi echoed, still in disbelief.
"Yes, Pali," she explained, "a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language from the Indian subcontinent. It's a language that was used primarily for religious texts, particularly in Theravāda Buddhism. The Buddhist Pāli Canon, or Tipiṭaka, was written in this language, so it's studied a lot by scholars."
Sashi's eyes widened in surprise. "Do you have any knowledge about this language?"
" Ha, just a tiny bit", Gowtami began to describe the situation. "The language of the canon of Theravada is referred to as "Pali." The name seems to have come from commentarial traditions, where the Pāli (the original text cited line by line) was considered to be distinct from the translation into vernacular that followed it in the manuscript.According to K. R. Norman, the genesis of this term may be traced back to a misinterpretation of the combination pāli-bhāsa, whereby pāli was mistakenly understood as the name of a certain language:1.The term "Pali" is absent from the canonical literature, and in commentary literature, it is sometimes replaced by the term "tanti," which denotes a string or lineage. During a revival of Pali use as a courtly and literary language early in the second millennium CE, this name seems to have originated in Sri Lanka.
"Whoa, that's quite fascinating. Please elaborate". remarked Abhi in an intriguing way.
" Using his edicts written in at least three regional Prakrit languages in Brahmi script—all of which are very similar to Pali—Emperor Ashoka raised a number of pillars. Based on an earlier oral tradition, the earliest written account of the Pali canon is said to have been created in Sri Lanka. As to the Mahavamsa, the official chronicle of Sri Lanka, during King Vattagamini's reign in 100 BCE, Buddhist monks recorded the Pali canon because of a severe famine that struck the nation. James Prinsep utilized bilingual coins with Greek and Pali printed in the Kharosthi script to decode the Kharosthi abugida. The finding of the Gandharan Buddhist scriptures made this script especially important for the study of early Buddhism.
A uniform system of alphabetic values has been preserved in the transmission of written Pali, but these values have been rendered in a multitude of scripts. The Greek and Burmese-Mon scripts were modified by Thai king Mongkut to create the Ariyaka script in the 1840s. This script was meant to serve as a universal transcription tool for Pali and to supplant other regional scripts that were already in use, such as Tai Tham and Khom Thai.The script was never widely used. Different scripts are used by areas that practice Theravada Buddhism to transcribe Pali texts.
Myanmar: Burmese Mon
Cambodia: Khmer
India: Devanāgarī
Lao: Lao (formerly Tai Tham; since 1930)
Lanka: Sinhala
Thailand: Thai (formerly Tai Tham and Khom Thai; since 1893).
"Whoa, you really do know everything about them. However, can you recall these details? I understand that you have lost your memory of the past." Abhi questioned with a hint of uncertainty.
"An individual's IQ, general knowledge, awareness, or attention span are unaffected by isolated memory loss. Furthermore, it has no effect on identity, personality, or judgment. Amnesiacs can often read and write language, as well as pick up new abilities like riding a bike or playing the piano. Additionally, in some situations Most persons with Alzheimer's disease can still read as the disease advances into the intermediate stages of dementia, although this skill usually deteriorates with time. This varies; some persons with mid-stage dementia may still find pleasure in reading, particularly if it has been a lifelong habit" . Sashi immediately said.
As Sashi noted, Abhi didn't get much since he wasn't a medical student." Whatever it may be."
"It is contingent upon the individual's level of patience;" Rajeev said that" some individuals are just unable to recall faces, not the details of the subjects they have studied."
Abhi nath acknowledges their words. " Thus, rather than forgetting her abilities, Gowthami merely forgets those connected to her history. That was very excellent. "
" Alright, let me comprehend the way you checked out this message. The details about Ram that girl brought up in the letter. I believe that girl may have written this letter requesting marriage. I would want to see Ram marry the aunt that the little girl described. "Abhi was making mockery of Ram.
Ram immediately said, "No, I'm not going to marry any aunt."
Sashi looked at Gowthami and said, "Stop you guys, Gowthami read it out."
"Yes", Gowthami said, continuing to read the letter. "I believe it to be a brief message," she remarked.
( I comprehend that you intended me to be there, but how can I let go of my loved one and be ready to accept your wedding present, my hero?)
After reading the letter, Rajeev and Gowthami correctly identified the writer, and their joyous expressions increased.
Rudra sent a letter mentioning that he will be attending Rajeev's wedding.
Looking bewildered, Abhi said, "It appears to be a letter to Rajeev rather than for Ram."