Lorem Ipsum को कथा

Do you design, be it graphics or web design? or any other form of design type settings? Have you ever used Lorem Ipsum? What is your experience using Lorem Ipsum when designing for Nepali Unicode content?  

"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum."

You might have guessed till now, i am talking about the dummy text, yes Lorem Ipsum is a placeholder text, or filler or dummy text, that designers throughout the world use when working on  visual designs, web designs, any typographic work. If you are not familiar with Lorem Ipsum, i guess you are not in design. I might be wrong though, you should use it. Here is the reason why below.

Visit any site from Free Css Templates or search google for CSS layout, Photoshop design layouts or any sample design content of your interest  - you will end up with a nicely done design and Lorem Ipsum used as placeholder text.

If you like to know more about Lorem Ipsum, it’s history refer this wiki article or www.lipsum.com can be handy for you when working on designs and need a quick copy/paste version  of Lorem Ipsum.  We can find many Lorem Ipsum text generators that can give random latin text mixed up in paragraphs that can be sample content for us when designing web layouts. 

If you use Ms-word try typing following text in there to produce random lorem ipsum text

=lorem(i)

where,  i = natural number , genarates i paragraphs of random text

= lorem (i, j )

where i,j are natural number, where i = number of paragraphs and j = number of sentences per paragraph

 

Why Lorem Ipsum ?

Here’s a excerpt from wiki:

Even though using "lorem ipsum" often arouses curiosity because of its resemblance to classical Latin, it is not intended to have meaning. Where text is visible in a document, people tend to focus on the textual content rather than upon overall presentation, so publishers use lorem ipsum when displaying a typeface or design elements and page layout in order to direct the focus to the publication style and not the meaning of the text

Hope the idea is clear. It would always be better to use neutral content when presenting designs to our clients. That way we can, direct their focus on the look and feel of the design rather than on the sample content. Further, that sample content can be offensive sometimes.

i am working on a Nepal web site design, where i need all contents to be in unicode version. Traditional true type font would not render correct on every browser but thanks to unicode that we now can freely write नेपाली/Nepali anywhere in web and worry less about whether it will render correctly on the browsing end or not.

Here  i faced a problem, i was designing all sort of layouts for the site with Lorem Ipsum text, when design got ready and verified by my client (i convinced them all the text would be in Nepali in final version). Then, i started replacing dummy text with some Nepali unicode content! Huh, wtf? Did you know, the layout was all rendering
badly. All my effort for fixing the font size, margins, paddings – oh my, now i have to change them all to fit my Nepali unicode content. That was a complete waste of time.

Here’s a snapshot from sample free css template:  just for illustration

Noticed the font size 3em there in the <h1> style rule? See how nicely the “Welcome to my website” fit in the layout??  Below is the snapshot when i tried changing content 
to Nepali unicode.

 

Can you see the font-size:3em on Firebug inspect? Hope you can. But with this style rule our content looks a bit tangled, and not fitting nicely in the overall layout. And below i tried playing with different font size to fit the content: here’s the snapshot

I went on replacing contents and changing css rules to fit my new content. I think, the scenario has always been like it when any of we worked on such projects. You might say that, the length of the text has destroyed the layout, yeah a sort of that too is responsible for the destroyed layout but i have here something more to say. 

Lorem Ipsum = ?

Wiki says,

A close English translation for Lorem Ipsum might be "pain itself" (dolorem = pain, grief, misery, suffering; ipsum = itself) .

 

If we want to say it in Nepali – it would translate as : दुख आफैमा

Below are two paragraphs that are mostly used as lorem ipsum text, which is in latin. The text is derived from Ciero’s De finibus bonorum et malorum (On the Ends of Goods and Evils, or  [About] The Purposes of Good and Evil ); Ciero was a Roman Philosopher/(106 BC) of the time.

The original version (with the excerpted items highlighted –which we are using now). Read the text in bold and you’ll catch the Lorem Ipsum dolor sit.. flow which sounds familiar, ain’t it?

Section 32/33 of the Book

[32] Sed ut perspiciatis, unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam eaque ipsa, quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt, explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem, quia voluptas sit, aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos, qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt, neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum, quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci[ng] velit, sed quia non numquam [do] eius modi temporainci[di]dunt, ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit, qui in ea voluptate velit esse, quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum, qui doloremeum fugiat, quo voluptas nulla pariatur?

[33] At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus, qui blanditiis praesentium voluptatum deleniti atque corrupti, quos dolores et quas molestias excepturi sint, obcaecati cupiditate non provident, similique sunt in culpa, qui officia deserunt mollitia animi, id est laborum et dolorum fuga. Et harum quidem rerum facilis est et expedita distinctio. Nam libero tempore, cum soluta nobis est eligendi optio, cumque nihil impedit, quo minus id, quod maxime placeat, facere possimus, omnis voluptas assumenda est, omnis dolor repellendus. Temporibus autem quibusdam et aut officiis debitis aut rerum necessitatibus saepe eveniet, ut et voluptates repudiandae sint et molestiae non recusandae. Itaque earum rerum hic tenetur a sapiente delectus, ut aut reiciendis voluptatibus maiores alias consequatur aut perferendis doloribus asperiores repellat..

Below is the english translated version of the original latin text:

H. Rackham's 1914 translation (with major source of Lorem Ipsum in bold)

[32] But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?

[33] On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue; and equal blame belongs to those who fail in their duty through weakness of will, which is the same as saying through shrinking from toil and pain. These cases are perfectly simple and easy to distinguish. In a free hour, when our power of choice is untrammelled and when nothing prevents our being able to do what we like best, every pleasure is to be welcomed and every pain avoided. But in certain circumstances and owing to the claims of duty or the obligations of business it will frequently occur that pleasures have to be repudiated and annoyances accepted. The wise man therefore always holds in these matters to this principle of selection: he rejects pleasures to secure other greater pleasures, or else he endures pains to avoid worse pains.

Lorem Ispum for Nepali Desigs?

Like the development or design situations i mentioned above, what if we had any standard dummy text to be used ? This was just what i thought for the moment when i suddenly realized that  i need to replace all those sample Lorem Ipsum content with something that looks random unicode nepali content. So sad, we don’t have one!

I have argued above that, content to be used as placeholder text shouldn’t have any sensible meaning. But it was my curiosity that led me to go through what is their behind the Lorem Ipsum text.  I ended up with my own interpreted, Nepali version of Lorem Ipsum or say दुख आफैमा version.

i don’t understand latin, neither google translate helped here, with reference to the English version, Oxford Dictionary and our Nepali Shabdakosh, and few other English-Nepali/Nepali-English dictionaries, below is what i ended up in:

Closely look at the original text in latin – section [32], the Lorem ipsum passage starts at: 

Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit 

Which would mean:

"Neither is there anyone who loves grief itself since it is grief and thus wants to obtain it"

or  in Nepali

को नै छ र यहाँ जो दुख आफैमा मन पराउछ, किनकि यो दुख हो, त्यसैले त उ यसलाई पाउन चाहन्छ

Translation to [32]

तर मैले तपाइहरु सबैलाई भन्नैपर्छ, कसरि अबुद्धियुक्त तरिकाले सुख लाई बद्ख्वाई गर्ने अनि दुखलाई प्रसंशा गर्ने सोचको जन्म भयो, साथै म तपाइलाई यो प्रणालीको इतिबृति दिनेछु र सत्यको खोजि गर्ने महान खोजिकर्ता, मानब सुखको प्रमुख निर्माणकर्ताको सच्चा दर्शनहरुको बर्णन गर्नेछु | कोहिपनि सुखलाई यत्तिकै अस्विकार गर्दैन, मन पराउदैन वा नकार्दैन, किनकि त्यो सुख हो, तर किनकि उ तर्कसंगत ढंगमा सुखको खोजि गर्न जान्दैन अनि अत्यन्त दुखदायी परिणाम भोग्न पुग्छ | त्यसरीनै, कोहिपनि त्यस्तो छैन जो दुख आफैमा मन पराउछ, खोज्छ वा चाहन्छ, किनकि त्यो दुख हो, तर किनकि कहिलेकाही त्यस्ता परिस्थितिहरु देखापर्छन जसमा कडा परिश्रम र दुखमा नै उ कुनै अपार सुख प्राप्ति गर्छ | एउटा सानो उदाहरण लिनुपर्दा, हामीमध्य कति छौं जो निरन्तर कठिन शारीरिक कसरत गर्न तत्पर हुन्छौ, यसबाट केहि फाइदा लिने बाहेकको अरु कुनै कारणमा ? तर कोसंग के अधिकार छ, त्यस्तो मान्छेको गल्ति औल्याउने जो त्यो सुख छान्छ जसमा कस्टदायी परिणाम छैनन ? अथवा त्यस्तो मान्छेको जो त्यो दुख त्याग्छ जसमा कुनै सुखदायी परिणाम छैन ?

Translation to [33]

अर्कोतिर, हामी नैतिक रुपमै बद्ख्वाई गर्छौ र मन पराउदैनौ, त्यस्ता व्यक्तिहरु जो कुनै क्षणिक सुखको बान्कीहरुको हर्ष र आस्चर्यमा छलिएका अनि अनैतिक भएका, इच्छाहरुमा यति अन्धो भएका कि, उनीहरु पछी आउने दुख र अप्ठेरो देख्न सक्दैनन; र उत्तिकै दोष तिनीहरुमा पनि जान्छ जो कमजोर संकल्पको कारण आफ्नो कर्तब्यमा असफल हुन्छन, यो कडा परिश्रम र दुखले पूर्णरुपमा संकुचित हुनु भन्नु जस्तै हो | यी मामलाहरु छुट्याउन एकदम सरल र सहज छन | कुनै फुर्सद को समयमा, जब हाम्रो इच्छाशक्ति स्वछंद हुन्छ र जब हामी आफुले उत्कर्षमा गर्न चाहेको केसैले प्रतिबन्ध गर्दैन, सपूर्ण सुख स्वागत गरिनुपर्छ र सपूर्ण दुख त्यागिनुपर्छ | तर केहि खास परिस्थितिहरु र कर्तब्य को परिबन्धहरु अथवा ब्यबसायिक दायित्वहरुमा, धेरैजसो यस्तो लाग्छ कि सुखहरु छाडिनुपर्छ अनि झिजोलाग्दो कुराहरु स्विकारिनुपर्छ | बुद्दिमान मानिस त्यसैले यस्ता मामलामा छनोट को यो सिद्धान्तमा अडिग हुन्छ : उ सुखहरु त्याग्छ ता की अरु ठुला सुखहरु सुरक्षित गर्न सकोस, वा उ दुखहरु सहन्छ ता की अरु नराम्रा दुखहरु भोग्न नपरोस |

Wow! What the insight. I nodded, Lorem Ipsum is the secret to pleasures and pains in life. On completing this translation and re-reading actually felt like happiness and sadness are mere the choices in life, the idea is we should know how and when to choose one. We have to choose both, but circumstances matter!

But, still, after going through the two paragraphs overnight, i was in confusion how to interpret the first line:

"Neither is there anyone who loves grief itself since it is grief and thus wants to obtain it"

As

 को नै छ र यहाँ जो दुख आफैमा मन पराउछ, किनकि यो दुख हो, त्यसैले त उ यसलाई पाउन चाहन्छ

i chatted with my gurus, discussed with my colleagues and I skyped with my friends about how can we interpret the meaning. We had some discussions:

Here are some lines my friends shared when i asked for the interpretation:
- दुखलाई माया गर्ने कोहि छैन, किन कि त्यो दुख हो, तर दुख चाहिन्छ
- कहिले काहीँ दुख पनि रमाइलो बनिदिन्छ

The meaning of the line sounds more profound when we read it like:

बुद्दिमान मानिस सुखहरु त्याग्छ ता की अरु ठुला सुखहरु सुरक्षित गर्न सकोस, वा उ दुखहरु सहन्छ ता की अरु नराम्रा दुखहरु भोग्न नपरोस,  …… को नै छ र यहाँ जो दुख आफैमा मन पराउछ, किनकि यो दुख हो, त्यसैले त उ यसलाई पाउन चाहन्छ |

Here is how the CSS template that i was playing around for the illustration, ended up filled with this translated Nepali text as a sample/placeholder:  http://bit.ly/nepsum

I concluded the experience as,  we need to find some Lorem Ipsum text that preserves the uniqueness and beauty our language, that encourages our designs on our own.

If you are now reading this line, i guess, you are, please do share some words about the post and also i would love to hear your views on better translation.

References:

- The template is used from http://www.freecsstemplates.org/
- Lipsum Web site : http://www.lipsum.com/
- Wiki Article about Lorem Ipsum: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorem_ipsum
- http://www.dictionary.com.np
- http://www.nepalisabdakos.com/
- Project I am involved in : Shabdasamyojan