By Iasaid Khongjee
Our nation has revolved 79 times round the Sun and is gaining momentum in strength and might; for us its citizens, there’s reason to be proud of. As a nation, we have everything it takes that demands of a nation in the 21st century. Besides our image to the external world, we are a subcontinent by cultural diversity, languages, geography, ethnicity, beliefs, religions, and more than these, we are an emerging leader of the world afflicted by conflicts, and wars. But in the midst of this glory, there is a thorn that keeps pricking. It divides us and inflicts a thousand cuts on us. It comes in the form of a vain arrogance that threatens to divide us: It’s the language. It’s ironic that our national leaders don’t realize that the hegemony of Hindi is an act of belittling the very values that make our country unique, great.
Sovereignty: A sovereign democratic nation like ours derives its strength from the sovereignty of each of its citizens. Without this foundation, it is a dictatorship. We ought to be proud of our mother tongue
What’s language (mother tongue) for anyway? India is a country that seeks for realization of the self,of the Brahman from within. Through what language does a Hindu communicate with the immanent being, say, for a communication to be meaningful and effective? Is it not through the mother tongue? What if I pray in English which is not a mother tongue, which is not in the blood? Surely, there’s no internal vibration, and that is proof enough that it’s a waste of time and energy. This is the power of the language one is born with. What about inter-human communication?. Unless and until we reduce ourselves to robotics, any foreign language will do. But what about spending meaningful time with a fellow human? I for one, believe that the person I’m talking with, is special, whether I talk in any language, which means that they hear my second voice only; the first one is the love and respect for the other human being. In a talk-away time, any language will do as long as it serves the needs of others.
With my pathetic vocabulary of Hindi, I told tourists the directions to some tourist spots in Cherrapunjee. Not only telling them where, they even had healthy laughter since my Hindi is mixed with Nepali, Bangladeshi. With the non-English speakers, I talk in broken English and they all understand. So, where’s the reason for being uptight with the language? Let’s explore more into the world of communication, while at the same time keeping in mind the joy of coming from diverse backgrounds, and that we are brothers and sisters breathing the same air, living under the same Sun.
What about Sanskrit : Why not laugh at our own inability to learn a foreign language? I love language learning; tried to learn Hindi, Bodo, Nepali, Spanish etc, but could not learn beyond five vocabularies. There are many of my kind. If one can speak multiple languages, that’s their luck. Following are the stories of an Indian in me who met with the challenges of learning Hindi, a language which is not my mother tongue. After realizing my congenital weakness, I decided to speak whatever comes from the mind just to get things done, just to serve some needs. In 1994,I stopped in Mumbai before going to Goa to see the relics of Saint Francis of Assisi to buy a keep-sake from a far-off part of my first time out of my little world. It’s a piece of cloth for pants. The shop owner was a middle-aged gentleman. He insulted my being an Indian for not being able to speak in Hindi. I told him how I missed learning Hindi, but to no avail. When all attempts I failed, just to break the deadlock, I finally asked him if he ever quarrelled with his wife; to which he readily said “yes.” So I concluded, saying – “if both of you who speak the same language also quarrel, does it not mean that you don’t understand your own language? He mopped the forehead. As I left, I turned back just to have a last look at him; and he smiled, so did I to the one I considered my elder.
A Delhi experience in 2019: In early 2019, two friends and I went to Delhi to present our papers in Daulat Ram college, Delhi university. The next day along with friends living in Delhi, we were on our way to have a look at the famous Taj Mahal. The driver was a gentleman from Uttar Pradesh. The car went at a breakneck speed, at more than 140 kmph. Friends asked him to stop after some distance where the driver and I were the only ones in the front seat; all those who spoke good Hindi, were seated at the back. On went the journey which was not less than three hours. The driver told his story, I, understand only the word “parathe” (paratha) which I never eat. To all his talks I said “huh, huh” though I didn’t understand a word. And when I spoke in my Hindi, the friends in the backseat laughed heartily. At times it made me feel bad, as if I was the butt of nasty jokes; but now I’m used to being laughed at my Hindi. The only thing that none understood is my soul; I liked the other human in the driver, who never stopped talking to me – his employer at the moment. Why not laugh at our own limitations while at the same time enjoy the fun of laughing at our own shortcomings? Why be uptight when there is much more to life than language. Break it!
In the State Bank of India, Cherrapunjee branch the guard, Mr Thapa who I consider a friend, inasmuch as he too considers me a friend I would speak to him in Hindi whenever I visited the bank. His Hindi was fluent but I couldn’t understand a single word. So I said to Kong Ïoanna Majaw, the cashier, saying “u ong aïu phi Nahnah une” ( aunt what is he saying?”). “Maphi keiñ phi kren hindi, phim sngewthuh seh aiu u ong” ( You are speaking in Hindi, so how come you don’t you understand what he says?”). My reply was – “ym dei ba ngam sngewthuh, hynrei dei tang ba ka Hindi u Thapa kam dei ka Hindi paka” meaning “it’s not that I don’t understand Hindi, it’s only because his Hindi is not a pure Hindi.” The answer made all in the bank laugh heartily.
There are people who are like me. So I urge each and every Indian not to be uptight just because of the fanatical love for one’s language. Life is short. We can’t afford to make it shorter by burdening ourselves with a thing we can manage without. A major problem here: if you speak my language, I start thinking that my language is the only trade mark. This is how we get carried away. This is how we become traders of languages instead of using it as a means to connect with fellow countrymen, and women. Speak someone else’s language ; even a few words can break the barrier. We are humans first, language next. Let’s make India a better place!