"To be casual about a language is to be casual about life and the very existence that we all have," Sir David Crystal, world’s foremost linguist
"Disrespect to a language shows the national character. It's a socio-linguistic disaster," Dr Suniti Kumar Chatterji
A college in Pune sent me an invitation on the occasion of Marathi Language Day on February 27, which is celebrated in Maharashtra to honour the eminent Marathi poet Kusumagraj (Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar). Students and the teachers of the Marathi department showcased his works, but I was appalled to see the orthographic errors in the great poet’s works. Kusumagraj didn't make those errors — the students and their teachers misspelt a number of words. That was an insult to Marathi and its eminent exponent. Similarly, a few days ago, when I visited the English department of a reputable college in Poona on the occasion of John Keats’ death anniversary that fell on February 23, I was sad to see that the department of English nonchalantly mentioned on the board: “200th year of Keat’s Death Anniversary”. First of all, it was not the 200th but 202nd death anniversary of Keats as he shuffled off this mortal coil in the year 1821. And look at the apostrophe in Keats courtesy the lecturers and students of the English language (Keat’s in lieu of Keats’)! In Poona, a famous Marathi institute has never corrected the word AVAM (“and”) in Marathi despite many requests. All these incidents, rather gaffes, sadden me no end.
It’s not that such a deplorable state of languages is prevalent in Marathi or only in Maharashtra. Go anywhere in the country, the ill-treatment of all languages in all states will really shock you. Whether it’s Hindi, English or regional tongues, speakers’ nonchalance is indeed exasperating. Visit the North and you’ll get to hear the most irritating “Aap kaise ho” instead of “Aap kaise hain”. Even Hindi writers and speakers have forgotten the nuanced distinctions between “hain”/“hai” and “ho”. It’s always “Aap kaise hain”/ “Tum kaise ho”/ “Tu kaisa hai”. Even those whose mother tongue is Hindi aren't aware that the two words, Banda and Yaar, that they use at the drop of a hat are outright derogatory words and must be avoided. Yaar and banda are actually Arabic words and the former is preferably used in compound words. For example, the Arabic-Urdu phrase yaar-e-ghaar (a boon companion and a very trustworthy friend; a Quranic reference in the context of Muhammad’s trustworthy friend Abu Bakr), humdam/yaar-e-dareena (a friend of many years), yaar-dost (friends and acquaintances) etc. Never does a cultured man introduce his friend as “Ye mere yaar hain” (He's my friend). Yaar has a friendly connotation in Urdu poetry but it depends upon the context. For example, poet-emperor Bahadurshah Zafar pines in his immortal ghazal: Mera rang-roop ujad gaya/Mera yaar mujh se bichhad gaya. Here the use of yaar is absolutely apt but in colloquial language of Delhi and north India, the word yaar has an infra-dig sub-text hidden in it. It connotes a paramour or an illicit lover. Urdu scholar Ralph Russell, Hardeo Bahri, Bholanath Tiwari and the late poet-professor of Urdu at AMU, Dr Shaharyar opined that yaar also degenerated into a pimp (reference: Complete Contextual Urdu-English Dictionary, Islamabad University, Pakistan). Now when “educated” and “modern” girls of Delhi and other parts of India casually use “yaar” for guys or just for a lark, do they mean that the boys are their pimps or illicit lovers? We use words without knowing their significance and contextual degeneration with the passage of time.
The same has happened to banda. Apart from north Indians, defence folks all over India are equally responsible for belittling the importance of this word. Ek banda aaya tha (one individual had come), Mera banda kal aap se milega (My man will meet you tomorrow). Such condescending and obnoxious sentences are frequently heard, used and spoken by even those who claim to know a bit of a language (which language?). According to semantics (the science of meanings), banda has a poetic connotation in connexion with God/Allah: Ae malik tere bande hum....../Ek hi saf mein khade ho gaye Mahmood-o-Ayaaz/Na raha banda, na koi bandaanawaaz (Standing in the queue are the emperor and his slave/ There's no (man-made) discrimination of king and his subjects while offering prayers). Like yaar, the word banda also has assumed a derogatory shade of meaning and now it means “someone of no value”, a persona non grata in Latin. One should use aadmi or shakhs (individual) instead. For example, Ek shakhs aaye thay (One person had come), Mera aadmi aap se milega sounds far better and respectful than the flippant and frivolous Mera banda aap se milega. It’s time we realised that we tend to take many words for granted and use them without ever getting corrected by people.
Now the million-dollar question arises: Why is this happening and why have we become so blase about all languages? A confluence of factors is responsible. Apart from the onslaught of social media, its bizarre lingo and a weird grammar, the ways of language learning in India are also to be blamed. Having studied languages at European universities, I've noticed that Indian schools, colleges and universities teach languages in a very old, unexciting and insipid manner. Our teachers fail to inculcate interest in languages. At the world’s premier universities, language and music are taught together. Yes, you’ve heard it right. Language and music are juxtaposed. The diminutive Bengali genius Oxford-based Nirad C Chaudhuri would often say, “If you want to master English or for that matter any European language, learn the nuances of western classical music.” Apropos, March 1 is commemorated as World Music Therapy Day. The cadences of music help a learner learn the intricacies of any language in a profound fashion. But this methodology is hardly known to teachers, lecturers and students in India.
We take languages for granted and erroneously think that a language is a mere medium of communication. A language is far more — it’s a carrier, creator and conduit of a race, community or society’s thought process and spirit (zeitgeist). Language is a sacrosanct entity. It must, therefore, be respected and venerated. In Japan, teachers and parents are given a dressing down when students speak incorrect Japanese. But here in India, no one cares. You get away with all sorts of grammatical errors in all languages in India. Here, “revert” is erroneously used in the sense of “get back”, “expire” for a person’s passing away or “command over” a language instead of “command of” a language. The famous bilingual poet and linguist A K Ramanujan wrote, “The Indians lack an overall sense of pride when it comes to languages. They fight over a language for socio-political reasons but never care for the purity of any tongue.” Yes, we never care for the purity of a language and that spells doom and disaster; a lingual disaster, to be precise.
Lastly, we’re not focused on language study. Here, the three-language formula doesn't help students learn, let alone master, any language. We must begin with a single language and then augment our linguistic horizons. There's a time-honoured formula in language learning: Master one tongue and you can master subsequent tongues.
The avoidance of social media lingo is also a requirement for the retention of linguistic sanity, sanctity and serenity. For heaven’s sake, please write “We” in place of “V”. One more letter will not make any difference. You’re not stranded at Point Nemo, sending SOS frequently, trying to conserve your battery and data!
Sumit Paul is a regular contributor to the world’s premier publications and portals in several languages
