THE BURDEN OF LANGUAGE

The relation between language and civilization is quite significant. The language of civilization, which explores knowledge, becomes the language of modernity and development. This pushes the ‘speakers’ of other civilization in “asylum”. The only way out is to imitate “The Civilization” and speak the language of “modernity”

English as a language triumphed as language of civilization. It speaks for rationality, modernity and development. The only way out for civilizational growth is to “Be English”. Language not only contains set of grammar and rules, it contains complete package of culture and value system. So if a language is ‘publicized’ its cultures ‘publicizes’ too. If languages get imported, culture gets imported too.

In the post colonial world the administration was handed to ‘natives’ but culture always remained colonial. In fact in colonial age the culture was native but in post-colonial era it became “foreign”. From education system to administration, from art to culture we are moving towards “foreign”.

In a schizophrenic assumption of ‘national self’ we are living in the world of dream and abnegation. Our value system, education, system, judiciary, economics all want to attain the eternal position of “development” which lies in being “civilizationlly foreign”.

The latest remark of Supreme Court is just an expression of common psyche. That knowledge and development, modernity and values rest in learning “The knowledge” in English. The bench of three judges exclaim there notion as :

"People who study in mother tongues are not able to compete in medical and engineering exams. It is very easy to say that children should be taught in mother tongues, but the question is how to survive in this world. The best way out of this controversy would be to make all choices available but let the parents decide. Today private schools are charging Rs 30000-40000 but still parents are crazy to get their children admitted to English schools." — Chief Justice of India, K G Balakrishnan

So survival of the Gen-next and nation is dependent on learning English and technology. The “only” branch of knowledge. Sometime suffocated by voices of technology, I feel that if technology is the only knowledge or “The knowledge”. What if one fails to learn English, what if one fails to pass engineering, what if he fails to imitate “The Culture”?? Is he aberrant, is he irrational or is he Anti-national?? Quaffed by voices of development and growth, we remain slave, our consciousness dying, and our culture in crisis of identity and “we” gawk from the burden of language.