English and the Aam Admi

Originally posted on 14th July 2014

A few months back when the Kejriwal episode was gaining its pace in Delhi, And when the “Aam Aadmi Party” witnessed its first triumph, by winning the assembly elections of Delhi, THE HINDU had given a very nice and apt heading to the news piece of Aam Admi Party’s win, i.e.

                                        “MANGO MAN TASTES SWEET SUCCESS.”

This seemed quite interesting to me because in this particular phrase, there is a use of a very familiar and purely Indian slang in a very “Indian” way. This reminded me of the famous essay of R.K. Narayanan, “Toasted English”, In which he talks about making English, a language of Indian masses, other than its consideration and usage as a language of court rooms and learning halls. He wanted the language to have more of an Indian flavor to mingle with the Indian environment, and to be “wrapped in the Indian soil”.

In my opinion, this is going to have a dual effect on the indian society, i.e. It would aid in exposing the common man to English, be it even a fairly educated individual or be it a man living in the most remote and least developed spheres of the Indian land, And also, it would put an end to the ugly conflicts of superiority of either of the languages, English or Hindi.

In spite of being a man of letters, who mostly works in Hindi, Its my firm belief that English has more of a contemporary value than that of any language in the world, and which, to my believe, is quite obvious. But the point where the objections are raised, that too has a valid base, i.e. Indians are adopting the language at the cost of very own language, Be it the national language of India, Hindi, Or even their respective mother tongues !!!

Its said that “ Trees with greater heights but shallow roots can never give fruits.”

And so is in the reality. Adapting a new culture at the cost of  the culture inherited, is in no way advantageous to an individual, neither to the humanity as a whole.

Its said that “Its the culture that differentiates, and the same binds together.”, Because no societies and civilizations prevailing and living on the earth, wants to indulge into a “conflict of interest”. Instead, They wish to integrate their energies towards the achievement of greater goals of humanity. And this could be brought to reality only by the way of having a sense of equality for all and by looking upon the others as same or familiar. Because in the words of Chanakya :

“The desire of supremacy will result in a never quenching thirst that will make everyone fall.”

But on the contrary, If that happens, what the author of this post expects, then would certainly be a day in India, When even a child in this country would recite Wordsworth and Tennyson along with the holy Bhajans of Meera and Dohas (couplets) of Kabir….. And that is when the world will become a happier place to live !!!