With due respect to the Thackerays and their love for the soil, may I know the deal behind imposing Marathi on all and sundry? I get it - Marathi is a brilliant language, I love it, its my mothertongue, it has a rich literature and culture and should be, must be respected. My point is, how does forcing non-native speakers to pick up the language add to its glory? Isn't that a bit like offering up a woman to every layman in town, hoping that this would earn respect for her beauty?
A knack for language is a gift not everyone is blessed with. To learn a new language, to be able to communicate with it, to appreciate its beauty and give it the respect it deserves takes some innate ability. If you don't have it, don't even try. Don't throw ruptured sentences on my face. You're not being funny.
Just look at what they've done to Hindi. Hindi is the national language, hurray, which means anyone from any part of the country will try twisting in his own way. And a polluted version of the language, think Mumbaiyya Hindi, that bastard child of slum Marathi and emigrant Hindi, goes on to become the lingua franca of the cool new generation. Chee, chee, spare me the horror and don't do that to Marathi. Mr Thackeray, I respect your dedication to the dignity of everything Marathi. But there's a lot more that can be done to empower the Marathi junta. The language need not be the shackles in our feet. It is our strength, our identity, and above all, it is ours. To cherish and nurture, not to throw around.
nice thought... as it is imposing anything makes it loose the essence of it and i am sure the same is going to happen here as well. if nothing, people will make fun of it jus coz now they are forced to speak it and thus the vengeance.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteWow, because your blog post contained many of those ideas I'd never thought of, in particular, of how forcing a language is analogous to offering a woman, and how forceful imposition actually destroys the language. Despite having lived most of my life in Mumbai, and having been exposed to both the purer form of the Hindi language and the bastardized version you talked of, I try my best to speak the purer form, and I truly do feel the pain of seeing a language mutilated.
Hope, sense prevails upon powers that be.
Abhimanyu shares an interesting thought - and its actually something I see happening a lot. Being myself a rather 'liberal' sort with a lot of friends from all over the country, at times I have to politely smile at all the deliberately broken Marathi, 'just for fun!'
ReplyDeleteHey Deepti, ur thought has really evoked a sense of love and respect.
ReplyDeleteI do appreciate your thought and try to speak any language in a better way......:)
Hope all the cultures remain pure & pristine
Hi! Nice to see you here, and thanks :)
ReplyDeleteQuite a strong article! However I don't agree with few of the things you mentioned. Language's primary purpose is communication between individuals. Being a particular society's identity is its secondary role. Therefore there is nothing wrong if everybody in India speak twisted Hindi, as long as they do. Don't I love different forms of Hindi spoken: Lucknowi, Hyderabadi, Bihari etc...Even Marathi has different forms: Puneri, Nagpuri etc.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I don't believe in forcing immigrants to learn a local language, I feel it is beneficial for them:
1. Communicate well with the locals.
2. Integrate with the local community.
There is no one definition of 'being pure and pristine' for cultures as they always keep evolving.
Sachin
I agree with Chanakya, u c the whole purpose of language is to communicate, and i dont really bother it twisting it to extend of irrationality, as long as it is tried to communicate. Letme give u an example of small group of people in UP who tend to speak hindi but in reverse dialect, c d whole purpose is simple, the language is different and they can comunicate. Thats really something what I realize that every language is some or the other way closer to one another, but u cant say that the languages are different because its twisted to one or may be other. And yes forcing to speak, is not commentable in open forums....
ReplyDeleteBUT
I wonder how will u react if u c a child speaking in broken language.
:P
Hey! I've always admired your writing skills and thought process... and this one has just added to the awe I have for your talent. I'm quite a Bhasha-poojak; I don't like it if people 'misuse' a language. I agree with your thoughts here. Keep it up!
ReplyDelete- Saurabh.
I don't mean to be a language snob either. Yes Chanakya, we love all the variations of a language... but a little restraint, maybe. Perhaps I overreact, because language is my bread and butter. Sigh.
ReplyDelete