Okay, so I wanted to do something different this week. I’ve been seeing these “weekly horoscope” things pop up everywhere, and I thought, why not try making one myself, but in Tamil? I mean, I speak Tamil, I read a bit, so how hard could it be, right? Famous last words.
First, I needed to figure out the actual content. Like, what do you even say in a horoscope? I started by looking at some English ones online, just to get a general vibe. Lots of vague stuff about “opportunities” and “challenges” and “inner reflection.” Okay, noted.
Then came the Tamil part. This is where things got tricky. My spoken Tamil is pretty good, but writing? That’s a whole other beast. I needed to find the Tamil words for all the zodiac signs. Thankfully, Google Translate exists, but I also double-checked with my Amma, because, you know, Google Translate isn’t always perfect.
- Mesham (Aries)
- Rishabam (Taurus)
- Midhunam(Gemini)
- Kadagam (Cancer)
- Simmam (Leo)
- Kanni (Virgo)
- Thulam (Libra)
- Viruchigam (Scorpio)
- Dhanusu (Sagittarius)
- Magaram (Capricorn)
- Kumbam (Aquarius)
- Meenam (Pisces)
I spent a good hour just wrestling with the alphabet. I practically had to re-learn how to write! I found a Tamil keyboard app for my phone, which helped, but it was still slow going. I felt like a kid again, struggling to form each letter correctly.
After I finally had the signs down, I started trying to translate some of those general horoscope phrases into Tamil. Again, lots of help from Google Translate and my Amma. “Opportunity” became ” வாய்ப்பு (vaaippu),” which I kind of knew, but “inner reflection”? That took some work. We settled on something like “உள்நோக்கிய சிந்தனை (uḷnōkkiya sinthanai),” which I think is right.
I tried to make each horoscope a little different, but honestly, I was mostly just making stuff up. I’d write a sentence in English, then spend like ten minutes trying to figure out how to say it in Tamil. It was… exhausting.
The Final Product (a small sample)
Mesham (Aries): இந்த வாரம் உங்களுக்கு புதிய வாய்ப்புகள் வரலாம். உங்கள் ஆரோக்கியத்தில் கவனம் செலுத்துங்கள். (Intha vaaram ungalukku puthiya vaaippukal varalaam. Ungal aarokkiyaththil kavanam செலுத்துங்கள்.) – This week, new opportunities may come to you, and you need take care of your health.
Rishabam (Taurus): குடும்பத்தினருடன் நேரத்தை செலவிடுங்கள். நிதி ரீதியாக கவனமாக இருங்கள். (Kudumbaththinarudan neraththai selavidungal. Nithi reethiyaaga kavanamaga irungal.) – Spend your time with your family. And, be careful finically.
…and so on for all the signs.
It took me way longer than I expected. I’m not even sure how accurate it is, but I did it! It might be totally nonsensical to a native Tamil speaker, but hey, I learned something. And I definitely gained a new appreciation for how hard it is to write in a language you’re not completely fluent in. Maybe next week I’ll stick to something simpler.
