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<h1 class="entry-title">Language Privilege In India Isn’t As Straightforward As You Think</h1>
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<div class="gmail-td-post-author-name"><div class="gmail-td-author-by">By</div> <a href="https://feminisminindia.com/author/parvathys/">Parvathy Suresh</a><div class="gmail-td-author-line"> - </div> </div> <span class="gmail-td-post-date"><time class="entry-date gmail-updated gmail-td-module-date" datetime="2018-08-16T00:15:42+00:00">August 16, 2018</time></span> <div class="gmail-td-post-views"><i class="gmail-td-icon-views"></i><span class="gmail-td-nr-views-39523">431</span></div> <div class="gmail-td-post-comments"><a href="https://feminisminindia.com/2018/08/16/language-privilege-india/#respond"><i class="gmail-td-icon-comments"></i>0</a></div> </div>
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<div class="gmail-td-a-rec gmail-td-a-rec-id-content_top gmail-td_uid_49_5b76e9d5dbef6_rand gmail-td_block_template_1"><a href="https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=918448563600&text=Start%20%3CYour%20Name%3E"> <img src="https://feminisminindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/FII-IS-now-on-Whatsapp-1.png" alt="Subscribe to FII's WhatsApp" class="gmail-td-animation-stack-type0-2"></a></div><p>Being
part of an elite higher education institution where people from almost
every part of the country mingle has made me more aware of my own
identity. The next step in the process of understanding and grappling
with multiple aspects of my identity including religion, sexuality,
region, and gender was also coming to terms with this idea of privilege.
Privilege as I understood was multifaceted and depended on the whole
corpus of your experiences, entitlements, and bereavements.</p>
<p>One facet of such privilege that I never before noticed was that of
language. A person’s ability to speak a certain language can also
determine his or her position in the spectrum of privilege, especially
in a country like India. Many students who came from different parts of
South India, including me, were expected to know Hindi or learn Hindi
once we began college. The medium of instruction was English and almost
everyone was English educated, yet whenever a group of students were
having a conversation there would be moments when they would just burst
into speech in Hindi and expect everyone to be a part of the
conversation.</p>
<p>Now this might come from the fact that Hindi as a language is taught
across the country. In most non-Hindi speaking states, the government
follows a three language policy whereby Hindi is to be compulsorily
taught. However, the quality of Hindi education in most of these areas
is deplorable. Students mug up a few lines here and there the night
before the exam in order to pass (I still remember binge watching SRK’s
movies the night before my Hindi exam to memorise a few dialogues).
Moreover, the quality of teaching also suffers as teachers are
themselves not native speakers and were educated in an equally
deplorable manner.</p>
<p>So the ultimate effect is that most of us gain the ability to read
and write the language and perhaps understand some amount of speech,
just enough to enjoy a movie. This means that when students who are
native speakers of the language suddenly burst into speech in fast
fluent Hindi, we are effectively excluded from the conversation.</p>
<p>But this is never addressed. Most people I have spoken to about such
exclusion would much rather have me learn the language through more
exposure to it than switch to English which in the kind of surroundings I
live in, everyone is equally fluent in. While everyone seems quite
oblivious to such ubiquity enjoyed by Hindi even in a South Indian
metropolis, English speaking has been seen as a kind of privilege. And I
do agree to this for two reasons: first, because of its wide usage
across the world and the consequent opportunities it opens up and
second, because it acts as a common denominator in our country where
hundreds of languages are spoken across regions.</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align:right">A person’s ability to speak a certain language can also determine his or her position in the spectrum of privilege.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Fluency in English is also recognised as a corollary of other forms
of privilege which is also something I cannot deny. However, when
understanding a person’s language privilege in a country like India,
English speaking privilege has to be contextualised.</p>
<p>For many from the North Eastern part of the country, it might just be a mark of their <a href="http://raiot.in/talking-about-race-migration-colonialism-and-the-english-language-in-delhi/" rel="noopener"><strong>colonial past</strong></a>
and not financial or social privilege. And for many others like me from
Kerala, it might be a basic requirement since even State government
jobs require knowledge of the English language and most of the working
population is employed in the service sector where low level jobs as
well require proficiency in English.</p>
<p>However these factors generally tend to get ignored as many of my
Hindi speaking friends who have actually had better schooling than me
tend to measure my privilege or my background merely based on my English
speaking skills. The fact that I come from a state where almost
everyone who has had access to secondary education speak good English
due to the kind of employment opportunities they have access to is
completely ignored.</p>
<p>The same might not be true for large portions of the Hindi speaking
populace. They have the option of writing several national level tests
in their mother tongue while the non-Hindi speaking minority have no
option but to take them in English. Hence, when it comes to English
language privilege it cannot be understood independently of the region a
person is from in India.</p>
<p>Also read:<strong> <a title="Privilege 101: Your Handy Primer To Oppression And Privilege" href="https://feminisminindia.com/2016/11/10/primer-oppression-privilege-101/" target="_blank" rel="bookmark noopener">Privilege 101: Your Handy Primer To Oppression And Privilege</a></strong></p>
<p>The intention behind this rant is to point out two things I’ve
noticed/faced as part of the non-Hindi speaking minority: first, Hindi
is <em>not</em> the national language. Our country is one with a lot of
diversity and we would all be much better off recognising it for what it
is, rather than trying to homogenise it; second, just like the case
with any sort of minority, Hindi imposition is a very real problem that
minority language speakers face. So if you’re a Hindi speaker amongst a
group of people, all of whom know English but some do not know Hindi,
just be considerate and talk in English.</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align:right">Our country is one with a lot of diversity
and we would all be much better off recognising it for what it is,
rather than trying to homogenise it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>My reasons for listing these down are a few personal experiences, two
of which I shall recount. I study in a premier educational institution
in the country and here, your command over the English language can
decide a lot of things, but something it definitely does not expose is
your background. Based on my ability to speak English, most people
characterise me as an upper class, upper caste individual, someone who
has had ‘an easy, privileged life’.</p>
<p>This saddens me as it takes away my identity as a lower middle class,
backward caste woman and diminishes all of my experiences based on this
identity. My ability to speak English seems to determine my privilege,
but for me, the language was a basic skill I picked up knowing that it
was the only way for me to connect with the different language groups in
this country.</p>
<p>Also read: <strong><a title="I’m #SouthIndianAndProud, Are You?" href="https://feminisminindia.com/2016/07/21/i-am-southindianandproud-are-you/" target="_blank" rel="bookmark noopener">I’m #SouthIndianAndProud, Are You?</a></strong></p>
<p>Recently, a campus group I am a part of, organised an event. One of
the panellists, a native Telugu speaker, decided to deliver her speech
in her mother tongue with an interpreter translating the same to
English. Upon this, a person came up to me and asked, <em>“Why can’t she speak in Hindi if she knows that language as well?”</em> This question is the mark of privilege that Hindi speakers, as the majority, enjoy.</p>
<p>The reason of the behind asking this question was that the majority
of the audience were native Hindi speakers. Now the problem with this is
the fact that Hindi is still a second language for the panellist and
her knowledge of the same comes from her need to communicate with the
people she works with who may only speak Hindi. She might be able to
express her thoughts and experiences with more clarity in her own
language. Moreover, not all people who attended the event were native
Hindi speakers, including me. So even if she were to speak in Hindi, a
translation would still be necessary. And it also runs the risk of her
not being able to express herself fully.</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align:right">every time a South Indian is expected to speak perfect Hindi, it is definitely a sidelining of a minority.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We create a lot of hue and cry over religious and political
minorities being pushed to the side. We raise our voices against the
imposition of Hindutva. But language and culture are equally important
parts of a person’s identity and in the absence of vote banks based on
linguistic lines (except perhaps in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka) this is
largely ignored. <strong><a href="https://www.gktoday.in/academy/article/article-29-30-cultural-educational-rights-in-indian-constitution/" rel="noopener">Articles 29 and 30 of the Indian Constitution</a></strong>
recognise minorities on the basis of language as well. So every time a
South Indian is expected to speak perfect Hindi or a Hindi speech is
found acceptable over that of any other language in a diverse gathering,
it is definitely a sidelining of a minority.</p>
<p>Therefore, there is no stand-alone English speaking privilege in
India. It intersects with every person’s other regional linguistic
identity as well. So this intersection is what needs to be understood
when analysing language privilege in a country like ours. Without that,
it is impossible to see where one stands on the overall privilege
spectrum.</p></div></div></div></div></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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