Is what cooed one of my wife's "lovely" friends (her "friends" are typically the mums of other kids studying with him) while they were waiting to pick up their respective royal ones outside the Sapling Nursery in Pune a couple of years ago. Little Vedant (my royal one) was in Nursery then and the great race to join a "proper" school at Junior KG was about to begin. The topic under discussion was which school should our "special" kids go to. One of the schools under consideration was XYZ where apparently the teachers spoke to their kids in Marathi (The Horror!!). That is when the "lovely" friend said "That would be the last thing i want for my child".
So what is it about Indian languages that gets us "Arrived" crowds in India so riled about. To put it another way, what is it that everyone suddenly has this compulsive need to speak to everyone else who is from this class (wives of IT folks mainly) and to their little ones in English at home and everywhere else. I have seen this enough to rant about it. I am assuming this is going to get us Kothiwales less invitations in the "lovely" wives' homes but i have to say it.
I think the whole premise is that one should speak to their children in English because apparently it would give them a better platform in life and "improve" their spoken English and thus make them successful in life. Poppycock!! The entire Indian Junta successful abroad speaks excellent English and I can only hypothicate with empirical evidence that they speak native at home. I read only Marathi books till 12th though i studied in English medium where the language of conversation was Marathi, Hindi and sometimes Malayalam (when i was in Cochin). If i had spoken English at home, my granny would have given me one tight slap.
Folks, jokes aside, please consider this - your home is the only place where your kid will learn your mother tongue - do you hate your mother tongue so much that you want to deprive your kid of that learning experience too? Secondly, 95% of the Indian population speaks native, so are you raising your kid to only converse with the 5% that are like him/her? Of course, you assume that the child will get out of India after a while (as his destiny would be according to you), but what if the future belongs to India and the world comes here in 2030?
Our languages are rich in literature (every one of them), history and science (of the language) as well. English is like Java, a good language to conduct business in. Your kid will learn it and be fluent as well. Please dont deprive them of the richness of your culture which is translated to you via your language. I'd say more power to your kids, why stop at English and your mother tongue, let them learn as many languages as they can Tamil, Telugu, Haryanvi, French, German (Aah, i got your attention on the last two ones didnt I?).
Now, not mentioning the unmentionable, is this some sort of colonial hangover still within us that we think languages that whites speak are "superior" and the ones that us natives speak are "downmarket".
Hell, i believe my invitations have already dried up since i have spoken the taboo subject in our "Class". Ouch the kick on me behind hurts. Cheerio then, i am going to watch my English programs while reading my English book probably afterwards will watch my English movie (Oops..).
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4 comments:
well written !!!
I am in complete agreement with you. I have seen children who have stopped speaking in Marathi (possibly because of this)/ their native tongue.
If we do not encourage our kids to learn their own mother tongue, then who will???
I agree completely but also feel that all Indians should learn Hindi. We have our mother tongues and we have an increasingly mixed population where state lines criss cross routinely. Shouldn't Hindi be a priority then along with or maybe even over and above our regional languages?
At a young age, kids can pick up many languages, I have seen that happen many times. And also attest to it just like you that I feel no disadvantage in not having English as a first language and even continuing to speak in my native accent. The world is full of professionals who did not grow up speaking English. There is also increasing tolerance and patience to accept (even appreciate) differences in people positively, be it their cultures, religious beliefs, backgrounds or languages. And so, by bringing in more "diversity", your special child may stand advantaged instead of the other way round.
I have friends whose children at the age of 4 speak 4 different languages. English is now as much a native of India as Hindi or Marathi is; essentially because that the language we learn in and later work in. But, considering English as a language of 'Elite' or 'Advantaged' is really stupid !
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