Lingua franca

India, though one country is a study in diversity. And for me, most fascinating is the number of languages spoken here… language in itself is an amazing concept… how some sounds might be gibberish for a few but might make perfect sense to some others…! I have always had great fun in trying to learn nuances of a new language from any friend of a different region… as a result I have working knowledge of most languages in the south plus a few languages commonly heard in Mumbai, my current base.

But languages in India are also now becoming a means to segregate people… at one time India had unity in diversity, now it seems vested interests see language as a means for creating divisions…

The situation in Maharashtra is quite well known, thanks to the excessive media coverage of the propaganda by a very charismatic regional leader. Mumbai has progressed (???) from the 70’s where the agenda was to send back the South Indians (Idlis or Madrasis to most!!!) to today where the agenda is to send back anyone who is not Marathi Speaking.

Linguist that I am, I have a good working knowledge of Marathi. Anyone with common sense would agree that language can only be learnt by speaking to the ones who are fluent. But I have noticed that people here hardly give me a chance. I am greeted with laughter ever if I speak in the local language due to the difference in the pure accent. So guys, if you laugh at me, how will I learn…???

I recently visited a city which I love, Chennai. Tamil is a language I love hearing, and am quite fluent speaking it, along with being able to read and write the script. As a result, I love it when I am surrounded by people speaking Tamil. This time too, I had 3 days in Chennai speaking the language of the land with the people. And my!!! What a response I got…!!! People were overjoyed whenever I spoke to them in Tamil. My request for traditional ‘Sambhar-Rice’ at a restaurant for lunch amazed the waiter so much… he had actually come with a bowl of Dal to serve me…!!! I have forever believed ‘In Rome, do as the Romans do’. And it has held me in good stead always.

But I was witness to a disconcerting incident in Chennai too… I was at the tourism office with my parents waiting for the bus to Tirupati. The bus was delayed. I had conducted all the enquiries at the desk in Tamil eliciting a favorable response from all. They were very helpful with the replies and I was asked to wait for the bus. In came a very tall guy who moved to the desk and began requesting for information in English. Here is the conversation between the Tall Guy (TG) and the desk…

TG- I need info regarding the rates and trips for Tirupati.
Desk – Where are you from?
TG- From here itself (confused at the question).
Desk – Are you Tamilian?
TG-Yes, from (XYZ) village.
Desk (shifting to Tamil from English) – Why are you speaking in English if you are a Tamilian? Don’t you know we have a rule here… no signboards except in Tamil… no speaking except in Tamil. Don’t you know that Kalaingar (Karunanidhi, I think) has asked us to be true to our mother tongue? Then how dare you come here and speak foreign language?

Needless to say, TG was nonplussed and beat a hasty retreat. As a witness to the whole conversation, I understood what language fanatics were all about. They would have accepted if I had spoken in English, coz I am not a Tamilian. But I checkmated them by conducting the conversation the local tongue. But poor TG will never speak English in Tamil Nadu again!!!

I believe that any language is beautiful… be it the hoarse North Indian dialect or the lilting South Indian words. And above all, isn’t it that I find the South Indian words lilting coz I make sense of them more than I make of the North Indian dialect? So enjoy the diversity and find unity in it…!!!