...lost in translation!

so who gets to decide what the global language should be, think about it, how easy it is for people who speak english as their native language to talk through a point in a formal set-up without compromising on the subtleties and the nuances which only when one has grown up with can express in and get away with it in a congregation where people from all backgrounds participate, so unfair!

i so embarrassingly realised how we as indians are so obsessed with  speaking in english when there is absolutely no need to, say (firsthand experience) with a waiter in a restaurant, cousins sitting amongst elders where not everyone can understand the language, salesgirl in a store, parents with their kids, cinema hall..almost everywhere! you will agree that we all come from such beautiful region (religion) each with it's very own rich language, why do we then not converse in the same or even in hindi (almost 33% of our population speaks hindi as per 2001 census), what is this vain fascination with english :(

i read that mulayam singh yadav proposed that mps in parliament speak in indian languages which i believe is a very prolific suggestion but the idea was met with lot of ridicule and mockery from all quarters...no one is disagreeing the fact that you need to use english as a principal medium of communication when having an international conversation, but what about at intra-national? so the point mulayam singh yadav puts forth makes absolute sense to me, unfortunately not to many! internaltionalism in noway means an end of individual nations!

english has surpassed just being a utilitarian tool for communication and enjoys a status of immense power today in india, what most of our anglophone fail to realise is that there is a sizeable proportion of our country who do have objection with the undue importance the language enjoys and it is this emotion that mulayam seeks to manifest, with you on this one sirji!

i live in a city where almost every borough has more than 100 languages spoken, such diversity, and trust me when i say that when two french meet not a single word of english flows, so do germans, the chinese and so on, and that makes me wonder why we don’t follow suit, most of the times i am in a situation where i insist on talking in urdu whereas the opposite person (who i am sure understands the language) speaks in english, i refuse to speak in english unless held under duress :) i am anyway not good with english, the country and the professional role i am in, i have to step out of my comfort zone and use the lingua franca, however at every opportunity i love to hear the sound of my language :)

so chances are high if you ask me 'how you doing' i would say 'sab badhiya, mata ki kripa hai, aap  batayen' (alhumdullilah, is more like it ;)) 

i can read and write urdu (shukriya ammi, she taught me urdu thinking how will i write letters to her when i move out to a faraway land also known as sasural, phew!!! well, for the records, i talk to her everyday and i also write her letters in urdu which i scan and email, isn’t that super cool!!!) cos i am proud about the fact it is my language, our language is a reflection of ourselves and if you tell me you can’t express yourself in that language, well then i am sorry for you for what you missing out on…i am sure i will never be able to write a book in urdu but yeah maybe i can pick one up and read, time to give the credit due :)

there is a reason why they call me old school ;)