Language an ocean!!
Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 4:06PM I was 12 when I first realized I had to master English. Well, I was in a girl guide camp and there were girls from different schools from South Bombay and they were mostly from English medium schools. I was not. I went to a wonderful school where the primary medium of instruction was Gujarati.
Gujarati is a language predominantly spoken in Bombay and of-course Gujarat. I am positive if surveys were done it would also be a predominantly spoken language amongst Indians residing in other countries especially UK and USA.
Back to my story, so I was 12 and was chosen to be the group leader for the group of 6 girls. There were about 25 groups and we had a leader's meeting after which we had to brief our groups with the details of the meeting. It was difficult, the months of reading Archies was failing me. I could not tell them the exact details and fumbled a thousand times. I was embarrassed and felt humiliated.
That was when I decided I needed to know the language of survival the language being English...
I was ashamed to be in a vernacular school. Vernacular is the term used for a school that teach in native languages and is mostly used in a derogatory way. Although if you look the word vernacular in a dictionary it only means native or local language. I was upset at my parents for having me go to a school where they only taught Math and Science in English and everything else in a native language.
Over the years I became really good with English. I was the first and only radio jockey on All India Radio FM to deliver programs in Hindi and English ( I started with Gujarati shows on the AM section of All India Radio!)
I was proud that no one knew I had gone to a Gujarati school and I never told any one, I was still ashamed to be from a VERNACULAR school.
Fast forward, I am in US for my PhD and am fluent in English and am mixing with the regular crowd having completely forgotten the issues I had with English. One day my very good friend commented on how I pronounced V's and W's in a funny way, and I started laughing with her. She laughed as she thought it was cute, I laughed as I was reminded of the small-ness I had carried with myself. I requested her support in correcting my pronunciation.
In that moment something shifted for me. It was like a bolt of lightening that freed me. I realized English was a language. As any other language it never demanded anything more then communication.
I am now reading Mahatma Gandhi's auto-biography. IN GUJARATI. The language he wrote it in. How fortunate am I that I can read his thoughts in the language he wrote. I thank my parents now. He thought those words in Gujarati and I read them untouched, untranslated and I feel connected to Gandhi and Gujarati in a way I have never before!
I only wish I had listened to my father earlier and started training myself in Sanskrit I would have probably been a master of Sanskrit and be devouring literature so precious to my Indian soul.
But it is not too late. I start now. Slow and steady. As it is only a language and all it demands is it be used for growth, for expansion, for communication and connection. Nothing more nothing less.
Reader Comments (3)
I wonder why we hesitate in taking so obvious pride in our roots, no matter how small they may seem to another person, for they have never walked in our shoes and will never know what has shaped us. My cuddle words and sweet nothings to my kids are always in Gujarati as no other language seems as emotive to me.
Reached you site by a long chain starting from Priyanka Chopra's tweet. Read the blog. Good to know that you were in Gujarati Medium school. I can understand why you were ashamed (though no good reason). I also studied in Gujarati medium. Though I am outside Gujarat now and in IT company, I wish to go back to Gujarat so that my future child can study in Gujarati Medium.
For me, it is the most expressive language.
Dips,
I just read all your blogs, saw all your pics, and pretty much just checked out our ENTIRE site and I'm SPEECHLESS!!! You've always been a go-getter and I'm really happy for all your successes. Love you!