Come Saarang, the whole institute is up and alive. There is a general aura of excited euphoria and anticipation. The peak of emotions are reached in the professional shows. Professional shows ranging from Tamil performers to Hindi singers.
I have found many a pass times in these moments where people are completely themselves,having shed the garb of pretension of being someone else. These shows bring out the true element in the students and for a neutral observer, there couldn't be a better experiment. And the conclusion that comes out is disturbing. Here's how :
It is a known fact that people react most positively to known or heard songs. This is true even if the new song is way better. Familiarity always takes a upper hand. People want something to sing by, something which they can predict. A known song offers all the experiences of singing and discovering a new change from the original song. And since familiarity is synonymous with language compatibility, people react differently to different languages. All is fine. Nothing is wrong in that. However the crux of the matter is how people react to songs of an unknown language. This scenario brings to the fore the attitudes, the notion that people harbor towards a language. And it is precisely this particular observation that is disturbing.
Having lived outside my native state all my life, I think I am qualified enough for an impartial take on this matter. There is nothing wrong in not enjoying a 'non-compatible-language' song. However in the Saarang pro-shows I have been witness to many a cases where people indulge in abusing and mockery of local languages. This raises the question of superiority of the national language. The question at hand is what is the need for a national language ? Is it something other than a common platform for interaction between various states ? (Some might argue that English does that job well)
Why this disdain for 'non-compatible' languages ? Why this unjustified intolerance in all walks of life ? Sometimes these circumstances force me into thinking that the multilingual culture of India is detrimental for national unity. Sometimes one truly craves for a single unified language. Sometimes I wish India had only one language.
Someday I hope that people will not squabble over petty things like languages like people from different countries. Someday....someday....
“ Let my country awake, Father....let my country awake...!”
_ R. Tagore
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5 comments:
quite true ........
quite true ........
I read ur blog for the first time.
(It made me rewind a bit into Insti days )
A small clarification,
India has no national language : Thats the Constitutional stand. Hindi and English are "official" languages. Hence, no question of it's superiority. Our constitution makers had the genius to define it right.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_with_official_status_in_India
@ Manohar: Hi... Yeah....thanks for that. What I meant to say is that most part of India speaks Hindi and so the majority. This sometimes leads to the collected mockery of other languages.
Kaushal..I will take another stand on this... In my college years or even now at work place..I constantly face people..or a group rather...4 of them talking in a language i dont understand ..this hurts somewhere and then it starts to go beyong just indifference..Guyz actually start hating the linguistic group altogether..I have seen it happen with myself and atleast 100 others! What say?
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