What connects people today to a major portion of the world? What is the thing that helps to communicate and understand one another globally? What if it was never devised and we would never know it? Could we imagine anything progressive without knowing it? Today, I’ll be discussing with you all these sorts of questions and sharing my ideas on this fascinating subject, which I know would be an apple of discord for many who don’t know it well. I’ll also try to point out its importance and impact in India.
Before I commence, I would like my readers to acquaint themselves with the fact that I do not hold a professional qualification in any language. I’m writing this because I have studied in Hindi medium till my graduation and I chose to study further in English medium and put myself into a trouble consequently. So, I’ve been through the obstacles and I worked really hard for it. Thus, the views are strictly personal and truly based on my own experience. OK, not going into the deep about its origin or where it emerged from, let’s jump straight to the point. English, as we all are aware, is one of the most spoken languages across the world. It won’t be incorrect to say that it is the mother tongue of Britishers and Americans. While, for others, it is just a medium of connecting people who travel to places, work out of their stations, or live in a country where English isn’t their native language.
Any Language doesn’t define competence. But surprisingly, things are quite different in India when it comes to speaking a foreign or second language, especially English. In our country, this language was earlier used in a different context with a different intent. I have been told by my teachers, parents and colleagues that till the mid-20s, one who knew this language in India was considered to be very eloquent and a gentleman person as not a considerable amount of people was veteran in it back then. But today, we have a large mass of people who are very well versed in speaking English.
As it has been rightly said that “Every Coin has two sides” thus, It is not good to judge anything only upon which comes to light. We should behold the hidden darkness too.
One May Suffer A Setback.
India is a country where we find talent in abundance. At the same time, perhaps, you all must agree that most of the talent is left behind owing to the want of proficiency in the English language. This is what we usually confront in our daily lives, and sometimes I see its supremacy taking over so effectively and blindly, even if something could be worthwhile is disregarded. This language is not simply spoken here, but it vastly creates classes of whom to stand with, whom to be-friend, whom to roam around with and whatnot.
People do not only mean to communicate via this language. Here, it is used as a weapon to dominate and to button their lips who do not know it well. It is sometimes imposed in a way that only the well-versed appear to have been believed correct on their figments by the crowd having no ordinary prudence to decide good or bad. It simply happens on account of the effectiveness of a language. I have seen its biased and unfair results at times when I am travelling in the metro or sitting in restaurants where people are shut despite them being right. Mostly, the right doesn’t object to the wrong simply because they feel that they would invite an unwanted disrespect and retort if pointing out the mistakes aggravated the situation.
The fear which leads many to be treated as classified and failure doesn’t only exist in students but also in working zones. At companies or any workplace, whether be it an interview or any promotion, one has to qualify spoken competency before he is actually asked to showcase his skill-set which he has notably acquired by putting hard work day in day out. So, by no stretch, it gets easy to carve them out.
I believe that something is always appreciated when it is needed in sooth. For instance, to practice law in the Supreme Court or High Court of Delhi, English is the only language which is permitted to speak in. No language other than English is allowed at such a workplace to practice law. However, it has been done so as to avoid hindrances and it required English as an appropriate language that helps to facilitate the working of the courts. But here also, it might be a huge barrier, not for the entire law practitioners who have studied law in Hindi but for a few surely.
It is quite laughable that Speaking in English before some of our relatives and peers with no stutter & falters is understood to have been leading a progressing life or must be doing something magical at least, as our relatives are inherently mastered in speculations or draw inferences about our life (LOL). Jokes apart, However, I won’t feel ashamed to say that the English language has just stopped being merely a language, but it has turned more than that here. It has, unfortunately, become the cover for many books which are adjudged incorrect at a glance, taken for granted and are underestimated.
“Having said that, if you still believe that it can’t be considered a big obstacle to be successful, I feel it palpably contributes in prolonging to reach the benchmarks of the respective fields.”
Interesting Facts
This is a language which is said to derive many of its root words from Sanskrit and Latin, as we’ve grown up listening or reading the same all our life. In a sense, the origin of this language, sanskrit particularly, has lost its scope and is almost obsolete now. It is very funny to know that this language is said to be a very quick and easy learning language amongst any other available. However, we still get confused and have not been able to figure out yet whether to follow grammar rules or not while speaking, whether to translate from our native language to English in the back of the mind and then speak or just speak.
Anyway, No matter how difficult or easy it is to speak English, we have to carry on with improvising it each day. We can’t turn a deaf ear to it. We have Programmes & projects that aim to support our national language at different platforms, but it is just as going pound sand unless we act upon it, especially when such a move is counterproductive. Keep facing, Keep endeavouring. Keep learning. I would like to end this article here with a wonderful quote by Nelson Mandela
“Without language, one cannot talk to people and understand them; one cannot share their hopes and aspirations, grasp their history, appreciate their poetry, or savour their songs.”
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Ajay Sharma
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You are right brother I have faced the same problem but still I don’t wanna let it be 🙂
Learning is the endless process and It can be anything 😊
I appreciate what you said. 😊👍🏻
Yes dear still i am facing problems while speaking. As you wrote that laguange set your images in society. Yes you are right, society judge us how to talk and what to wear. Im still learning and keep trying to indulge with pepole.
Thanx satish and all the best. 😊✌🏻
Very well written brother… It has become a fact that people who are not so good in speaking english are hesitating while speaking this other language in front of others who are well versed with it. Any person should be judged by his intelligence but not by his/her communication in english language.
Thanks Jai for the acknowledgment.
I’ll try to keep raising and bringing out such issues. Read ” The Formal Relation” also. You’ll surely like that too😊
Thanks in support of sharing such a nice opinion, piece of writing is good, thats why i have read it fully