De emphasising English

Language is God’s most beneficial & creative boon given to the mankind, It defines our individuality, our social life, It shapes our Culture & IT fans & spread forces of civilization . It would not be hyperbole if it is said that ”Brain” & “Language” separates us from rest of Animal kingdom.

In the present socio-political context, when much of the political energies are directed on linguistic politics to get political dividend, the question of language assumes a significant importance given its contribution in founding & building cultures, It is more important in diverse country like India with its multiplicity of languages & dialects.

However closer analysis of political debates surrounding language reveals that such debates miss the wider context & define language & its importance considering just political calculation while ignoring its role in transmitting valuable knowledge resource, of shaping distinctly “ Indian” personality under the attack of west led globalization.

The aim of this article is basically to analyse how stultified & regressing we are left with the extra ordinary emphasis placed on English while relegating great & rich languages like Hindi, Tamil, Marathi to a Inferior position.

The virus of English which infected India under Mccauley bears a perfect symbiotic relationship to HIV virus & this English virus is eating up 95%of our population & is disposing them to slow death through poison of English .

The remaining 5% of our population is well versed with English & it is this population which makes “Shining India” ,it is this population which is seen as modernized, rational, creative & is much talked about in various forums while the remaining 95% are thought to be ignorant, conservative, regressive in outlook etc. & it is this 5% population which represents super power, The other section of our populace constitutes one of the most backward sections in world ,It is such a shame that 46% of our children under 5 are malnourished & we go on boasting about emergence of India as super power. I don’t intend to say that removal of English is panacea for all our problems but systematic development & propagation of Hindi & other regional languages can ensure eradication of various problems facing our country.

The ideological invincibility notion implanted in Indian psyche by colonial rulers have left us passive, numb, unquestioning. Many of us can feel in the pride in the fact that India is home to one of largest English speaking population ,But have we ever tried to observe the fate of our great, ancient languages like Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrat. Sanskrit is language that defines idea of India & its culture, It is the language which encoded & encrypted our collective intellect in great treatises and novels. Similarly Pali language has propagated the very stimulating and enlightening teachings of Buddha . But what’s the current position of these great languages?

If language of such great standing and wisdom can get such cruel death then what we can predict about other Indian languages?

The proponents of English domination often argue that it is our English speaking population which has contributed in our emergence as global super power, but it seems that centuries of foreign domination and rule have engulfed our minds to such an extent that we accept, at face value, any argument made in our favour by Western media, so we tend to find casual relation between ascendancy of India & its highly educated English speaking population, while closing our eyes to vast potential market that India offers, its youthful population which are seemingly much larger reasons for emergence of India on global stage than its English speaking population, However since these points are not stressed so eloquently in English media, it doesn’t connects with us.

In the present context of rapid globalization where cultural boundaries are getting blurred in favour of impeding Americanization, we are fighting through crisis of cultural identity, resolution of such conflicts requires rooting back to our culture, of emphasizing our languages, for languages have always been torch bearer of any culture, it is the tool through which socialization of child in his particular culture takes place. The art, the literature, the customs which are essential components of any cultural paradigm requires Oxygen of languages for its effective sustenance.

It is very ironic that ancient & diversified culture like India is depending upon an alien language to teach us lessons of Nationalism. Have you people ever noticed any good quality regional newspaper or periodicals that can take on English newspaper and magazines. How many great novels or literary work, of late ,have been produced post independence in the same land where epics like Mahabharat & Ramyan have been written?

And as argued by some intellectuals, if English happens to be source code of our success, what account for much spectacular success of China and Japan? China is taking on West in every aspect including cultural battlefield. For eg in recent Obama-jintao meet, the Chinese president delivered his speech in Chinese, but Indian leaders have apprehension of talking in Hindi in international forums as if 95% of our non English speaking population have no stake & right in getting views of our Government.

One of my friends is of view that English can be beneficial by citing examples of call centers mushrooming in Jharkhand, but looking from other perspective, it can be argued that if practical and vocational knowledge is developed using local languages, how revolutionary it can be for deprived sections of out society.

Have we noticed any technical or working specifications printed in local language. For eg what good computer or Internet with its solitary emphasis on English can do to illiterate and destitute farming community?

It needs to be pondered about how much beneficial it can be if we can develop model agricultural practices in regional languages, if we can promote manual knowledge in local language. The Chinese model of success did the same thing by making China a Manufacturing hub by delivering manual knowledge to its marginalized sections in local language.
The mad rush which is seen in form of unending queues for admission in English nurseries where both parents and their 3 years old child is subjected to grueling interviews shows how much culturally bankrupt out minds have become. Years of researches in this area have revealed that mother tongue is the best medium for delivering primary education, but we don’t pay attention ,we want our children to be parrot like Englishman. It is such a contradiction that parents who even don’t know ABCD want to put their children in English medium school without recognizing the fact that such a drastic love for English can result in mediocre achievement of their children?
Or is it more appropriate to say that the system which is heavily loaded towards English leave them with little alternative choices?

The cult like status given to English has indeed stopped our intellectual progression, it is often stated that India doesn’t have research orientation as witnessed in West, but the systematic exclusion of vast young talent especially of rural India give us this result only. One of my friends who is pursuing Phd feels little inferiority complex because he is not fluent in English, all other qualities of him like intelligence, dedication and commitment takes a back seat as he is not well conversant with language of foreign domination.

& his condition should be analysed in wider backdrop of the ironical ways in which term “Smart” is defined in India. Increasingly the term is applied to the youth who is fluent in English. To gain the tag of “Smart” you should listen to English music, go to English movies and should read Jeffery Archer and if you do these things , then it really doesnt matter whether you know whats happening in your society, who is head of our state or who is Premchand or Lata Mangeshkar. In nutshell if you have command over this alien language, your lack of awareness of Indian culture shall be pardoned & you will be provided with undue attention.

This parochial attitude and importance given to English has inculcated feeling of inferiority complex among our dynamic, talented but non English speaking youth. No matter what qualification they have, how much intelligent they are, they can not take world as confidently as convent educated youth can. After all confidence comes to you naturally when you can express your views fluently and elegantly, but our rural youth is handicapped in this regard in English dominated system.

Leave apart research field, how many colleges India can boast of where even mediocre quality higher education is imparted in Hindi or local languages. All over India student have to make switch to English medium school in his 10+2 if he aspires for professional courses. At this time he is hardly 15 or 16 years old, it is the age at which his personality is shaping, his impressionable mind is quick to form judgment about himself and this switching over from non-English to English education is period of considerable anxiety and tension, In our colleges bright student is student who asks many question, can be confident and eloquent in front of their teachers, but the vernacular medium student have air of apprehension about themselves as being mediocre, average and it becomes imprinted on their psyches for rest of their lives and when this kids grow up and becomes parents they put their children to English medium school right from K.G level thus ensuring a vicious cycle through which local languages are getting trampled by English.

A very good example that can be cited is of IIMs and UPSC. Some 2-3 decades ago UPSC brought systematic reform in its recruitment procedure by allowing candidates to write exams in regional language, to give interviews in their mother tongue and analysis of the profile of selected candidates show that increasingly our administrators are coming from rural backgrounds, from Un-elite class. Briefly it can be argued that “Mother of all exams” has become pan India by adoption of regional languages and it has made wonders for non English speaking youth.

In stark contrast is the system adopted by IIMs where excessive emphasis is places on polishes English at every stage, how a non English speaking youth can confidently take on GD and PI of IIMS when he has inferiority complex of conversing in English since his early college days? Doesn’t this is an arbitrary manner adopted by IIMs to systematically discriminate against our 95% non English speaking India and ensures a system in which seats of Elitism are reserved for already elite groups though in disguised manner?

The argument that is put forward is that finance and trade are international and global things as if China & Japan who emphasise their own language are way back to India in terms of Trade & finance thanx to the English speaking geeky MBA’s produced by elitist IIMs.

Concluding I would like to say that a language conservation movement is need of hour if we have to prevent “Hindustan” from becoming “Englishstan”. I don’t know French doesn’t mean that I m fool, similarly if I don’t know English doesn’t mean that English speaking youth is in anyways smarter than me & this attitude needs to be inculcated among our 95% of youth if we have to reap benefits of “Demographic dividend” which is often talked about.

Central govt should take effective measures for promotion of Hindi, it should earmark a fund for developing Hindi in real terms and shouldn’t be spent on organizing meaningless functions like Hindi Diwas (14th sept). The fund should concentrate on developing professional courses in Hindi for eg banking, Engineering etc. Similarly if UPSC can adopt regional languages then why CAT and GATE can not be administered in Hindi and Local languages?
On the state level also similar policy framework should be put in place for developing and promoting their regional languages

It should be always remembered that pride of Indian nationalism lies in Hindi and its rich regional languages. The golden bird attracted foreigners by its rich culture and knowledge which was developed in non English languages & the systematic deprivation of local languages are making India as pale shadow of West, an imitated jewellery rather than original sparking diamond which once astonished world by its spectacular culture and to preserve this cultural uniqueness it is very important that we break this body without soul approach which our intellectual class is adopting by giving undue importance to an alien language.


P.S :- 1) I m feeling very sad that I can talk to only 5% of our population but I am helpless due to inability of system rather I say by the ability of system in enabling that very voices which are raised against it should be raised in the instruments determined by it (My use of English language in venting out my anger against its domination)

2) This article is dedicated to Neeraj, a hard working and talented scholar who happens to be my brother like friend.