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<DIV>the.bean@get2et.dk</DIV><BR><BR>On Sat, 7 Oct 2006 09:57:19 -0400 (EDT)<BR>"Harold F. Schiffman" <HAROLDFS@CCAT.SAS.UPENN.EDU>wrote:<BR>>>From the HindustanTimes.com Editorial The Big Idea<BR>> <BR>> Mind your language<BR>> <BR>> Barkha Dutt October 6, 2006<BR>> <BR>> Let Us end the hypocrisy and admit it: the future of <BR>>India will be written<BR>> in English. And if you are the sort who will dismiss <BR>>that as elitist, stop<BR>> and think again. On the contrary, English can be the <BR>>architect of a more<BR>> egalitarian India. Unleash it from the possessive <BR>>control of a privileged<BR>> few, send it out into the open and watch it become the <BR>>bridge across<BR>> Indias class divide. Instead, we have looked on mutely <BR>>as preposterous<BR>> politicians stymied its growth.<BR>> <BR>> Is it not ironic that the city that first propelled <BR>>India onto the global<BR>> stage is now in the!
news for its retreat from modernity? <BR>>Hi-tech Bangalore<BR>> was once Indias proud proof that the world is flat. Now <BR>>there is evidence<BR>> that a bulldozer ran over a few brains as well. We all <BR>>know the story:<BR>> more than 200,000 English-speaking children will have to <BR>>switch schools<BR>> and unlearn their education. The government of Karnataka <BR>>has threatened to<BR>> strip 2,000 schools of their legal status for violating <BR>>a 1994 law that<BR>> requires them to use Kannada as the primary language of <BR>>instruction. And,<BR>> a few outraged newspaper editorials later, we have all <BR>>just sat back and<BR>> let this happen. Perhaps this is because we still have <BR>>not resolved our<BR>> dysfunctional relationship with the English language.<BR>> <BR>> Here is how the men who wrote our Constitution saw its <BR>>place in Indias<BR>> future: 1965 was set as its date of demise. Thi!
s was the <BR>>year in which<BR>> English was to cease being an
official language on par <BR>>with Hindi.<BR>> Instead, it would become an associate additional <BR>>official language till<BR>> such time as a special committee could oversee a full <BR>>transition to Hindi.<BR>> Of course, protests from the southern states ensured <BR>>that this never<BR>> happened. And that is how it should be. To foist a <BR>>single language on a<BR>> country that speaks thousands of dialects is both <BR>>undemocratic and<BR>> bigoted. But does that mean that English cannot be on <BR>>par with other<BR>> languages? India has 15 recognised national languages. <BR>>English is not one<BR>> of them. Why?<BR>> <BR>> Is it because we are still grappling with misplaced <BR>>pride? Are we<BR>> reluctant to put the official stamp of Indian-ness on a <BR>>language gifted to<BR>> us by the British? Well, it is time to get over that. <BR>>The English we speak<BR>> and write today is as Indian as!
butter chicken and as <BR>>global as McDonalds<BR>>French fries. We have thrown the stock into our melting <BR>>pot, embellished<BR>> it with the spices we like and made it into a dish that <BR>>is not only our<BR>> very own, but perfect for visitors as well. In other <BR>>words, Indian English<BR>> is both home-grown and foreign. We speak it in our own <BR>>peculiar accents,<BR>> we spell differently from the Americans and we <BR>>specialise in Indianisms.<BR>> <BR>> We are like this only.<BR>> <BR>> But even so, our brand of English is, at the very least, <BR>>perfectly<BR>> functional. Not just that, it is our competitive edge in <BR>>the global<BR>> wrestling ground. We have to stop being embarrassed <BR>>about English.<BR>> Instead, we need to embrace it and hold it tight. It is <BR>>what sets us apart<BR>> from the pack. I got my wake-up call this week in Las <BR>>Vegas. No, sadly, I<BR>> am n!
ot gambling away my savings in the worlds casino <BR>>capital. I am
here<BR>> for Fortune magazines annual Most Powerful Women Summit. <BR>>And India is<BR>> clearly top of the mind. Chennai-born Indra Nooyi, the <BR>>new Pepsi chief,<BR>> tops the charts as the worlds most influential <BR>>businesswoman. Another<BR>> woman of Indian origin, Padmasree Warrior of Motorola, <BR>>is showcased as a<BR>> rising star. Some of the biggest names in business the <BR>>CEOs of Xerox, MTV,<BR>> Disney, Coca-Cola, Ford and Procter and Gamble looked on <BR>>attentively as<BR>> panels debated the threat from India and China.<BR>> <BR>> Later, when my friend Rama Bijapurkar and I spoke at a <BR>>session on India,<BR>> many had the same question for us: how did we explain <BR>>the inequities of<BR>> India's education system? On one hand they saw an India <BR>>that was the<BR>> launchpad for the finest brains in the world; on the <BR>>other, here was a<BR>> State that had not met its target!
s on primary education. <BR>>We spoke about<BR>> how outsourcing had subverted all the old stereotypes <BR>>about India: young<BR>> Indians are now teaching American high-school kids ways <BR>>to improve upon<BR>> their English grammar. Outsourced Indian tutors charge $ <BR>>20 an hour,<BR>> compared to the steep $ 50 charged by local ones. Some <BR>>of my Indian<BR>> friends are teaching the Chinese how to speak the <BR>>international language<BR>> of commerce.<BR>> <BR>> And yet, statistically, only 5 per cent of India is <BR>>considered proficient<BR>> in English. Can you imagine how global power equations <BR>>could collapse and<BR>> change if those numbers were to grow? Talking to the <BR>>women business<BR>> leaders at this summit got me thinking. What is the one <BR>>thing that<BR>> distinguishes public schools from government-run schools <BR>>in India?<BR>> <BR>> It is the quality of English.!
<BR>> <BR>> We have kept English wrapped up in soft tissue paper
, <BR>>accessible only to<BR>> the privileged. Is it because we recognise that English <BR>>is the fastest<BR>> vehicle of upward mobility? And this status quo is more <BR>>comfortable for<BR>> those of us who have it good anyway. Dalit writer Kancha <BR>>Ilaiah has long<BR>> argued that quality is even more crucial than quotas. <BR>>His demand:<BR>> English-medium primary schools for Dalits across <BR>>villages and cities.<BR>> English, he says, is the difference between the haves <BR>>and the have-nots.<BR>> <BR>> And so it is.<BR>> <BR>> PepsiCo chief Indra Nooyi graduated from the Indian <BR>>Institute of<BR>> Management. Padmasree Warrior wears her IIT tag proudly <BR>>and publicly. What<BR>> leverage would these women have had in the gladiatorial <BR>>fight for<BR>> corporate mindspace if they did not speak English? When <BR>>we travel outside<BR>> India, we like to talk of India as a global pow!
erhouse. <BR>>We always gloat<BR>> about the skilled workforce available in our country at <BR>>competitive rates.<BR>> And we are acutely offended by patronising foreigners <BR>>who compliment us<BR>> for speaking English so well. But back home we sneer at <BR>>those who cannot<BR>> speak English as well as we do. And precious little is <BR>>done to change<BR>> that.<BR>> <BR>> I was once trying to explain to a friend the difference <BR>>between my<BR>> competence in Hindi and English. I said I can speak in <BR>>Hindi, but I dream<BR>> in English. Now I wonder: is it a dream we are too <BR>>greedy to share?<BR>> <BR>> Barkha Dutt is Managing Editor, NDTV 24x7 <BR>>barkha@ndtv.com<BR>> <BR>> http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1814743,00120001.htm<BR>> <BR>> ***********************************************************************************<BR>> <BR>> N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merel!
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