मातृभाषा

It was sometime 2015, I was in Cybercity, Gurgaon at a job interview for KPMG (I didn’t get the job in case you were wondering). The first round was a group discussion and our coordinator gave us a topic, “Should English be named our national language” the debate went back and forth with almost everyone batting for English. It was kind of surprising, but not as surprising as the face many of colleagues have made over time when they saw me reading a hindi newspaper.

While speaking basic Hindi may not be an issue for people, many in the metropolitan and those in corporate job have a tough time reading out basic Hindi. The reason being very simple. People have changed the narrative and made English so ‘cool’ whereas our own rich and diverse repository of languages have taken a backseat. Most jobs require that the person has good English skills but everyone knows that it’ll only serve you during the interview or if you’re in a BPO job.

While we’re on the trend of getting inspired by other countries, let’s get inspired by the French, Japanese, Korean and even Chinese who have given more importance to their native tongue rather than the queens language. We must not forget that just these languages, give us our cultural heritage and provide us a sense of belonging.

While English will forever be an integral part of India, we can start by stopping undermining our languages. There is no evidence to prove that just because you know English, that makes you more educated or more cultured. It’s the illusion created by some people. People will still behave in the same moronic way irrespective of their languages. I still see the same so called ‘cultured’ people with no basic civic sense, not to throw garbage out on the street, among many other things.

I’m not saying let’s stop speaking English and go all regional, the best thing about it is that it acts as a common connector for all people. What I am saying is that stop undermining your native language and speak it with pride rather than being ashamed of it. Because no matter what you feel about either language, I know one thing is certain, calling a person an “asshole” will never be as satisfying as calling him ‘चूतिया’

#TVI