JAY JOSHI
The government of Maharashtra recently caused a bit of a controversy when it tried to simplify the Marathi numbers on the lines of the English ones. Thus, number such as 28, which is read as atthavis in Marathi were to be taught as vees-aath that is twenty-one, decreed a committee of experts. The proposal came from the belief that children find it difficult to comprehend the Marathi numbers whereas the English ones are easier for them to understand.
The proposal has caused considerable anger among various sections of the society. In response, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has clarified that the names of original numbers too are given in the text book. While one might argue that this new step could make things easier for students, it may be noted that several generations before this did not have any problems with the traditional numbers. On that note, the question is, why should the students have any difficulty in understanding their own language. To elaborate, many people find it difficult to read or write in Marathi and Konkani, which are in fact the mother tongues of most people in Maharashtra and Goa. So, why then are people forgetting their own language?
A number of teachers, writers, and activists spoke to TG Life on this issue, underlining the problem and offering some ideas for solutions.
“I believe the problem began back in the days of colonial India, and it has many aspects,” says Gorak Sirsat, assistant professor of Konkani at MES college, Dabolim. “Firstly, when the British implemented English education in India and began destroying Indian culture, most Indian leaders were busy with Indian freedom struggle and could not devote time to develop and enrich Indian languages to combat the onslaught of English. Even after Independence, English remained our administrative language. Secondly, there is a certain attraction of English language and foreign culture in our society, and many consider being ‘desi’ to be sort of inferior. There is excellent content and potential in Indian languages. We only need to get rid of the inferiority complex about our own culture and embrace it,” he says.
Pramod Pawar, a professor of Marathi at Chowgule college, Margao, states that it is the young generation’s utilitarian nature that has given rise to the current situation. “Today we care more about economic opportunities rather than things such as preserving a language. Noting that learning Englsih gets you better economic opportunities, most students focus on that language, and parents too enroll their kids in English medium schools. Some even consider Marathi to be inferior and will avoid speaking it. One must in fact retain one’s language even as one learns others” says Pawar, adding that action is being taken to redress the issue.
“It has been noticed that mostly, people from science or commerce streams lose touch with Indian languages as they barely study them after school. As a part of my job, I work to teach Marathi to science students. Measures such as starting a foundation course in Indian languages should help mend the issue,” says Pawar.
Vithal Thakur, a Marathi writer and activist from Marcel also states that daily practice is needed to help preserve our language. “Today, eight out of ten subjects taught in schools are in English. So, students naturally become adept at the language, but this does not happen in case of Marathi or Konkani. We may speak it, but reading is necessary for building up the quality of our language. Today, most people read books in English. Reading in Marathi has declined. Secondly, for any language to be alive and healthy, it needs to be used in daily life- in public spaces, commercial transactions, administration, etc. Here, English is slowly replacing local languages, and this is a cause of serious concern,” says Thakur.
Sachin Dalvi, a writer from Sawantwadi underlines the same issue in a different manner. “Indian languages failed to develop and popularise a vocabulary of modern technical terms when the world was witnessing massive shifts in technology. Thus, we were forced to go through English to learn the latest of sciences,” says Dalvi, adding that rejuvenating and popularising Indian languages now is a difficult task.
