Every language is associated with a culture

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"Mohan Gupta" <mgupta (AT) rogers (DOT) com><info (AT) a4india (DOT) com>Every

language is associated with a cultureSat, 13 Aug 2005 00:28:59 -0400

Every language is associated with a culture

 

"Ram Narayanan" <ramn_one (AT) adelphia (DOT) net>The objective of a language is not

the language itself, but as a means of communication and hence acquiring

knowledge. I think it's too late in the day to discard or even downgrade the

English language. It's clear that the people of India do not want that to

happen.

I don't know Hindi except for a few words. I am proud of Tamil, my mother

tongue, which has a timeless literature. And I am proud of English which is

statutorily recognized as India's "associate official language" and thank God

for that!

And, yes, English has influenced other Indian languages. But Tamil is able to

stand on its own; so also Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada as well as Bengali,

Marathi and Gujarati. Look at the way the circulation of these language

newspapers and magazines is exploding! The English language is one of the most

useful tools India has and it's a precious asset.

As Shri Rajaram said:

Shall we say that English is an asset, no matter how it came to us? Let us just

make the best of what we have and not mourn the past. In several countries of

Southeast Asia, people envy Indians because of their knowledge of English. This

is not to say we should neglect Indian languages in education.

Comments Nachiketa Tiwari <nachiketa_t (AT) hotmail (DOT) com>

Dear Ram ji,

The idea that language is **just a tool** and merely a medium of communication

is not accurate. Every language is associated with a culture. Languages are

products of cultures. And then, language has a big role in defining cultures.

Consider English. In "theory", it is just a tool. But in reality, you learn

English by reading, writing and speaking. When I read English, who is

generating the content. Bulk of the content has been generated by Westerners.

Perhaps more than 99% of it. So, when I **read** English, I am imbibing

cultural products of West, either knowingly, or unknowingly. There is no way

around it. If I read a lot of English books, then I learn about Mississippi,

Thames, London, NY, divorce, gays, environment, democracy, liberals,

fundamentalists, dating, baby-sitting, McDonalds, pop and rock, Brittney Spear,

sex, Pope, Mulllahs, nuclear strategy, Shakespeare, zoning laws, big-dig,

Monica Lewinsky, Bible belt, snow-storms, hurricane Bob, child molestation by

priests, nano-technology, charter schools, social security, ... I read about

all of this, because these are the themes in English literature which English

authors have given importance to. But very little of these themes have to do

anything with India, and her issues.

So, when I make that choice to read English, I am also choosing to not use that

time to read books/articles/... in Desi languages. And, thru the execution of

such a choice, I am learning more about West and very little about myself, my

country, and .... Now consider that a bunch of people, who have been fed

English and only English find themselves ruling Bharat. Their conception of

Bharat is very limited. Can such a class of people, [even if they had the best

intentions in the world] can really appreciate the needs and realities of the

people they will be governing.

Now let us consider **writing**. Each civilization has its unique

characteristics. For instance, the idea of Dharma is unique to Bharat. Despite

200+ yrs of its existence in India, English does not yet have a decent set of

vocabulary for concepts such as Dharma, atma,.... These concepts are not just

for the "spiritually" inclined. Rather, if I think a bit carefully, these

concepts may help us configure novel and very appealing solutions to very

common problems that human face on a day-to-day basis. But English as a tool

cannot effectively help me communicate about these ideas. For instance, if I

use Dharma in an English sentence, I have to preface that usage by elaborately

explaining Dharma for the untrained ear of the English. That is pretty

inefficient way of using language. For instance, if I say

that I stand for a society based on Dharma, and have only 20 seconds on TV to

make my pitch, then I have very little chance to convey my ideas effectively.

So, in this age of effectively communication, I am at a disadvantage if I use

other's turf to advance my ideas. Further, I cannot be a master in English if I

have not read a decent amount of English literature. And I cannot master Hindu

ideas, if I have not read a good deal of Hindu sources in Indic languages. So,

at the best, I can aspire to be a jack-of-all, and master of none.

There is a more subtle component to the issue of language. It is to do with

thinking. If I write, and read, and speak a particular language, pretty soon, I

also start thinking in it. Once that starts happening, I ask my child to call me

a Dad, and his mother as Mom. Trivial as it may sound, that is when the entire

cultural edifice starts falling apart. From Dad to Mom, I graduate to writing

my parents and friends in English. Replace Namaste by Hi. And slowly but surely

enough, start rejecting all the "native" and accepting all the "modern". The

best example of this is seen in our malls, and markets. The number of English

bill-boards I see in a mall, is a measure of the definition of the culture of

the visitors to these markets. Every "up-scale" market in Indian city has

majority of marketing signs written in English. That tells me that the folks

who visit these places do

not miss out on the marketing statements made in their purported languages. In

fact, the bill-boards tell me that for the visitors to these malls, English

**is** their de-facto language.

For validation purposes, I did a very basic search for real-estate housing

schemes in Bangalore. The 1st three real-estate developers as they appear on

Google are offering residential places in localities/streets named as:

Splendor, Brigage Millenium, Whitefield Avenue, Jacaranda Block, Laburnum

Block, Rainbow Drive, Cascading Meadows, Ferns Meadow /Nest/Residency /Habitat

/City, Lake Shore Homes, Hamlet, Club Class and Whispering Woods. Such a naming

scheme suggests that the "market forces" realize that English sells, and perhaps

desi-ness does not sell that much. This is not a Bangalore specific phenomenon.

Rather, I would guess that I would find similar attitudes in parts of Delhi,

Mumbai, Kolcutta, Hence, I do not accept arguments such as "oh let us continue

with the current policy" for it is a "win-win" for all.

Finally, as I have explained earlier, furthering English (and thru it a

non-Indian culture) is not only insane for those who care about Swaabhimaan,

but also a very undemocratic thing to do. Thru English, I create a situation

where the Raja and the Prajaa do not understand each others at all. The

disconnect between the two is not only economic, but also cultural,

ideological, attitudinal, experiential, and existential. [in developed nations,

the difference does exist, but is only among economic lines.] Can a nation with

such a disconnected polity ever become developed?

NachiketaTired

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