Disclaimer: My name is "irrelevant" and I am not a fundamentalist. Neither am I a supporter of linguistic jingoism nor any sort of regionalism.
Ask any young working professional today to write a paragraph on anything in their mother- tongue and you will realise the abysmal knowledge of their own mother-tongues. They will unconsciously end up using at-least 2-to-3 words of English, in each of their sentences. This number raises to an alarming level of 3-to-4, when it comes to speaking in their respective native tongues.
As we Indians revel in the great success story of our country, and move towards prosperity, most Indians today have understood the importance of English. And as we have moved along accepting it as our very own, we still quarrel over our linguistic ethnicities. In India, English has conveniently avoided or rather "escaped" the criticism, that it is facing today in Europe and Asia-Pacific. I have to admit that this is very fortunate and English will play a major role in national integration in India. But at what cost?
The common observation being that, today's young generation in India have conveniently forgotten what it is to be an Indian. Many do not know the counterparts of English words that they easily substitute, while talking in their bhasha. And this change is happening at an alarming rate in cities, and I expect this to catch up in the villages, as role of English in any Indian's life increases exponentially. Right from packaging of items to billboards, signposts and advertisements in our cities are mostly and many-a-times, only in English. India's linguistic diversity naturally makes English a link language across all states. But in this process of coming together, I think we are unconsciously losing something that makes us all unique. Something that makes us inherently, Indian.
No! Before jumping to conclusions, let me say that I am not opposing English in India. Quite contrary to that. I want knowledge of English to be mandatory. But I also think it is extremely important for everyone to be equally competent in their respective mother tongues, to say the least. (Let me repeat... "equally competent"). Incessant usage of English words instead of the original ones, that is ruthlessly followed today, not only sends some negative vibes about our linguistic capabilities, but is also playing a crucial role in killing other languages.
There are some arguments opposing this, which I shall counter herewith...
Some idealists think that doing any such a thing is a hindrance to development of languages. They give arguments of how Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, etc. evolved from Sanskrit and Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam evolved from Tamil.
I do not necessarily think that was a really great thing to happen. All these languages came into picture to simplify the original languages. But I believe that could happen even inside the language instead of mixing it with other languages. Mind you, that I am not opposed to idea of borrowing words, as-it-is, from say English, into our languages. But it will be extremely harmful for the language when you substitute usual words with English counterparts. Hinglish or Tinglish or Kanglish or whatever shit that we spit from our mouths, might seem all modernish and cool. But the more we use them, the more we out-date and kill all other languages that defines us as Indians, and end up using a single language everywhere.
So what if a language dies? How does it matter? Language is just another means of communication and serves no other purpose. Let it die...
Sadly my friend, language in today's world is not just a means of direct communication alone. Language is a science in itself, but usage of words in a language is an art. Many a times we say something, while actually meaning the entire opposite of that. And the listener understands the intentions only because he is well versed with the culture inherent to that language. Different languages have unique traits that others lack. Some have words that just have one meaning, some with words that have multiple meanings, and some even have words with both equal and opposite meanings. And all of these words blend together as unique m'elange, giving rise to valuable attributes like rhetoric, irony, sarcasm, etc. These are the things that makes conversations lovable and interesting. Language is an inherent symbol of culture. And as the world starts globalising, we increasingly see linguistic barriers being broken. That is a good thing for everyone. But having simply one language all over the world is not at all a good option, for a variety of reasons, that I need not point out here. Like every human being is unique, so are people from different regions/societies. Their daily usage of language not only allows them to communicate but also defines them as a culture and finally gifts the world with a different outlook on life. That is why the world is like a mosaic made up of different colored tiles, that come together to give the big picture. That is what makes this Earth an interesting place. All of its different beliefs, culture, traditions, etc., are unequivocally connected to each other with their respective languages. We lose the connection, and we will end up losing the rest too.
But you are stopping development ! Nothing remains constant...
Simply BS. People today think any change in life is modern and foolishly think it is for their good, without even thinking twice. Many times, while accepting changes, we lose something in the process that defined us. That might be good or bad. I also know that only thing constant in this world is change. Somewhere down the line, one thing will lead to another. But that is besides the point I am making. Hasn't Europe developed itself, while keeping its languages and culture intact? The rate of growth of English language today, has the power to eradicate all languages, and most imminently in the Indian subcontinent. Never in history were the world's languages in as much danger of being wiped out, as they are today. Progress of English as a world language might have done many wonders for humankind, in science, technology, research and business, among other things. But should we allow it to replace our own identities as Indian? Should we do so at the cost of losing all our linguistic diversity? Should we remain the same, or become just another America or Middle East or China ?
Today, linguists estimate that almost 2-3 languages in the world die every day! Europe and many other countries have already realised the innocuous threat posed by English, and have started acting by supporting their languages. Not by opposing English, which is the right way forward. But it saddens me that nobody in our "country of languages" is doing anything about it. Sadly, if this continues, India runs the risk of being monolingual, and threaten everything that India stands for today. The Chinese have imposed Mandarin/Cantonese and have monolingualised their entire nation to preserve their communism and they have already started paying the price for it. Analogously, we in India are unknowingly imposing English everywhere (instead of using our native languages for spheres such as history and literature, and most importantly, daily communication) and are murdering our already struggling languages.
My point here is not to stop any development. My point is to develop our Indian languages on par with leading languages of the world. If something in the language is inherently difficult, then change it... If we do not have a word, then take it directly from others. I am not asking Indians to act like the French and convert or invent laughable and unusable words for our languages. The aim should be to preserve our language in the same way we would like to preserve our historical monuments, traditions, music, and literature. The aim is to be perfectly bilingual in some sense. The aim is to hold on to our roots like the kite's thread, while we keep rising higher and higher in the sky...
P.S. Do you have a differing opinion on this issue? If not, please join the cause and support regular and proper usage of your respective mother-tongues. And if you are one of those Indians who do not agree on this at all, then try talking for a paltry 5 minutes continuously in your mother-tongue, avoiding all English words that already exist in your language. You will then know what I mean...
