SUNDAY, JULY 25, 2004
A rant against English
TALKING TERMS/DILEEP PADGAONKAR
We have it on the authority of RSS chief K.S. Sudershan that to educate our children in English is to expose them to lesbianism and free sex. No less. This ominous warning comes as part of his rant against the 'alien tongue.'
Along the way he asserts that English simply cannot rival the rich vocabulary and emotional texture of our regional languages. These must therefore be used right up to the research level.
Sudershan does not say why the entire world runs the risk of corrupting the morals of youth when it encourages the teaching of English.
Nor does he explain where he is going to find Indian words to impart instruction in the physical and social sciences, not to speak of management studies and information technology.
Presumably he would search for equivalents in Sanskrit. The ensuing chaos is best not imagined.
The targets of the RSS chief are in reality Christian missionaries (who allegedly spread their faith in the guise of promoting English), liberals under the spell of Jawaharlal Nehru and Communists.
All three supposedly espouse ideals that are at variance with the 'spirit', 'ethos', 'mood' or 'feeling' of the nation. (Sudershan is slightly off the mark here. The Communists and Lohiates have wantonly indulged in anti-English parochialism as well. The result in the states they have governed is there for all to see.)
Sudershan's rage brings to mind an incident which took place in Mumbai a few years ago. At a public meeting a famous Marathi poet held forth on the scant interest that Maharashtrian youth took in their language.
He cited the example of his grand-daughter. She lived and studied in America. Over the years she had forgotten her Marathi. Cut off from her roots, the poet said, she was an Indian only in name.
Echoing Martin Luther King the poet then turned lyrical:
"I have a dream. I'm walking through the forest adjoining my native village. Suddenly I hear a haunting melody. I approach a clearing where I find a young girl tending half a dozen goats. It was her voice that I had heard. And she was singing one of my very own poems. At that instant I knew that if Marathi survives at all it will be thanks to people like that shepherdess."
The audience was moved to tears. Just then a man seated at the far end of the hall asked for the floor.
This is what he had to say to the poet: "I belong to the shepherd community. I would want my daughter to live in a comfortable house in America and study to become a doctor. I would not mind if she forgets her Marathi. Let your grand-daughter live in a hut in my village, tend goats all day and sing your poems to her hearts content. Is that a deal?" The audience sat dumbfounded while the poet wore a sheepish look.
More and more OBCs, Dalits, tribals and minorities now realise that it is felicity in English alone that will equip their children to face a highly competitive world.
Knowledge of the mother-tongue is doubtless useful to grasp the essentials of their culture. But that is about it. Why should they be compelled to remain mired in poverty to fulfil the 'cultural' ambitions of the RSS?
The saffron outfit's drive against English would indeed lead to the closing of the Indian mind. Many leaders of the Sangh Parivar are aware of this. Why else would they send their children to English-medium schools? It is time to end the double-speak.
Rajasthan's education minister, Ghanshyam Tiwari, has shown the way. He has ensured that children in the state will begin to learn English from the first standard.
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