There are many factors that are causing great loss to our
country. The English language is not even the least of them. On the contrary,
the widespread knowledge of English places us at an advantage. The ever
increasing number of people, who wish to learn the language or teach it to
their children, do so by opting for it with their hard earned money. So when Rajnath
Singh, the national president of the BJP, opines that English is bad for India,
the immediate reaction is laughter if not derision.
Singh is reported to have said: “The English language has
caused a great loss to the country. We are losing our language, our culture as
there are hardly any people who read Sanskrit now….We have started forgetting
our religion and culture these days.”(Times of India)
Languages run through their course in history. They evolve.
They move from relevant to obsolete and vice versa. Some languages like Latin
and Sanskrit are to be preserved for their classics, for study and research,
but not to be imposed for modern communications as spoken languages. English is
not considered only as the language of Britain but has become the international
lingua franca. It has not only lived beyond colonialism but grown to embrace
the terminology of modern science, jurisprudence, business and technology. It
has a rich and varied vocabulary, and has borrowed liberally from other
languages including those from India. In fact we can even claim that we have our
own Indian English. Our modern Indian English writers have won world-wide
acclaim, international recognition, and awards including the Man Booker Prize
for fiction several times. Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Amitav Ghosh, Vikram
Seth, Anita Desai and Kiran Desai are just a few names that dot the shelves of
English literature. Moreover, the better our knowledge of English, the better
will be our opportunities in the globalized education, business and industry.
And why do we blame any language for our national ills and
loss? It is the politicians, the bigots, the fundamentalists and fanatics who
are to be blamed first and foremost. It is they who incite and excite the
people for their own narrow ends, to divide and rule. If our country is not
prospering as much as it should have been, it is because of several factors
which we gloss over while bringing religion and language to the fore. Why are
we swimming, or rather drowning, in a sea of corruption? Why are there so many
scandals in almost every field, not just politics but sports, industry,
hospitals, schools, colleges, universities, media and even the defense
establishment? Even our religious institutions are not always above board. Why
are the crimes increasing by the day? Why have rapes become so frequent? Who is
responsible for the communal riots and the caste wars that take place every now
and then? What ails our systems? Any particular language? English?
The questions asked above require answers and solutions. Our
politicians evade these by raising emotional issues based on religion, caste,
culture and language. The British ruled over India but could not conquer our
culture. It is not so weak that the English language can destroy it. Let us
preserve the good values deeply ingrained in our culture but let oppressive
customs and divisive traditions be discarded. Let the English language open us
to the world, and let a gentle breeze from across our national borders blow
away the cobwebs that restrict us in many ways.
The English language, the postal system and the railways were
in fact some of the factors responsible for building up the Indian freedom
struggle. Leaders from the north and south, east and west of India could meet
and exchange views. They were as much inspired by the political philosophies and
revolutions of the western world as they were by the profound values of our own
civilization and culture. It is offensive to our national ethos for anyone to
state that we can so easily be swept off our feet. Obviously such individuals
and leaders do not understand the India which they want to rule.
I would like to conclude on a positive, personal note. I like
to speak Konkani, my mother tongue, but love to read and speak English. It is through
English that I have learnt so much about my country India. The Discovery of India, by Jawaharlal Nehru, taught me the idea of
a great India with a breathtaking variety of cultures and languages, each
unique and yet linked to the other. An
Idealist view of Life, by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, gave me an
understanding of Hinduism as a way of life. Talks
on the Gita, by Vinobha Bhave, deepened my understanding further. The
English translation of Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali made me more interested in the great Bengali doyen of
literature. And Prakash Thali’s English translation of Pundalik Naik’s Konkani
short story, entitled The Electric Dawn
in the November 1985 issue of Goa Today
magazine, made me want to read the author more. These were some of the books that
made me understand and appreciate the Indian culture better. And all of them
were in English.
Published in The Navhind Times, Panorama 28.07.2013
No comments:
Post a Comment