Vasudaiva Kutumbakam .............. ????

Language Preservation is a challenge that confronts almost every Indian today. English, being declared as a global language, catalysed the process of language degradation and extinction in a multilingual country like India. Education now has become synonymous to being able to read, write and speak English. People are choosing to study in a school or institution with English as the medium of instruction. As a consequence, the educated population tends to read and communicate in English even in their day to day life. Newspapers, media, and formal corporate written and vocal communication is in English. In this scenario are we losing our regional languages? Are we neglecting their importance and pushing them towards extinction? If yes, should we boycott the global language and resort to our national language Hindi?
               It is not a new fact that many countries still use their native language as the medium of instruction and communication; France, Germany, China- to quote a few. It is clear that you cannot do business with such countries unless you know their language. Not only business but survival in the country also becomes difficult if you do not understand the spoken language. Does this hamper the country's economy? Absolutely not. In fact, people in other countries like India are encouraged to learn these foreign languages to improve relations with the respective country. They are revered for their strong culture and value of language. Their literature is cherished and known for its richness. Then why not us? Why are other countries not running Hindi tutorial classes in every other lane and street? Why are they not speaking Hindi to be able to communicate and work with us? Why is our literature not celebrated outside as much as English or French literature is?
               Well, some decades back it used to be. Rabindranath Tagore was honoured for his work in Bengali and ever since Bengali literature has been regarded as one of the best. How did the global population understand his work in Bengali? It was translated into various languages for that purpose by various authors from other countries. Is that not proof enough that quality and excellence can overcome the barrier of language? Nevertheless, it was not until recently that we finally came up with the Centre for studies in Publishing in the Calcutta University. Had it been much before, Calcutta University would have been the most sought after in this field all over the world. A country is known for the value that it provides to other countries by leveraging its human and natural resources. Our language should thus be a necessity for others and not the other way around. Thats just what they mean when they say-'Actions speak louder than words'. More so, literally in this case.
               There is another perspective to this which says that in the time of globalisation it is necessary that we expand our limits and let some foreign influences improve the trade relations with other countries. No doubt we should. In fact, we are taught since childhood that we should keep an open eye for good qualities that people around you nurture and try and imbibe them into ourselves. We should also be eager to learn all the time lest we should become stagnant. At the same time one should not give up any quality that one already possesses. Although we learn English for the purpose of economic upliftment we should not ignore our native languages. Simple reason for this being, our ancestors have been using this language for years together for the purpose of documentation of events and information. These documents in our native languages, for example Sanskrit, are a treasure of knowledge that they intended to pass on to us. If we lose out on the language decifering the essence of the written material will soon become impossible and we will lose onto the valuable information that belongs to us and only us. Now you would ask, why preserve literature of a language? One can preserve the documents and know the language just enough to understand those and may be translate them into another language, say English, before they become undeciferable. Thats where the catch is- The documents are meant ONLY for us. They could be called our country's trade secrets. Translating them will make them public and hence preserving the language is important. Literature of any language helps maintain and improve its grammatical and lexical strength and thus simplifies the process of fostering it. No wonder theatre, literature and all forms of expression using language were highly encouraged in the olden times.
                   So folks, develop new strengths but don't give up your existing treasure. It will only make you wealthier!