Translation Is The Key To Celebrate India's Rich Linguistic Diversity But An 'Imposed National Language' May Spoil It

Think of India and the people who identify themselves as Indians. One of the foremost aspects that emerges out of it is the sheer diversity that they share among them.

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Being Indians, we have been surrounded by, and have perhaps learnt to live with, people who may not be of the same colour as we are, they may not share the same eating habits as us, and more significantly, they, more likely than not, may not speak the same language as some of us do.

So, how do we go about our lives in the face of this diversity?

For one, this writer was born in a Hindi-speaking family in Bihar but spent the earliest years of his life in his maternal home where Maithili was the predominant language. Thereafter, one left for Darjeeling in the pursuit of better education and was introduced to what the British called ¡°the Queen's English¡± in an anglo-Indian ICSE school.

But even there, the language spoken most commonly was Nepali. So even if students were required to speak in English at all times in school, we were also naturally involved in conversations with local workers, guards and other residents of Darjeeling from the Gurkha community. The process was slow but it was fun as we were learning a new language voluntarily.

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Because ours was a boarding school, we had students from several parts of South Asia studying together and most of us spoke in different languages while also imbibing the vocabulary of each other into our own diction. In other words, very often, we would find ourselves in situations when words of a language not native to us spilled naturally out of our mouths to suit the conversations we were partaking in.

It was a world of many languages and all of us somehow managed to find a common ground to interact with and understand each other. We never really forced the other to speak our language whereas each of us, because we were living and breathing together, became more comfortable with many languages.

But I am not the only one.

It is almost impossible to find a monolingual person in India as ours is a land of languages and by the time one becomes an adult, one is usually fluent in two, three or more languages, or at least understands more than one language. Even our Ramayanas, Mahabharatas and Bhagavatas are written, translated and read in different languages, including tribal and folk versions and performative improvisations.

But then, this diversity that actually binds us together is being looked down upon, or at least, presumably, appears to have been faced with the ire of those who may want the dominance of one over all others.

Amit Shah kicks a storm

Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that ¡°unity and diversity is the strength of our nation but a national language is needed so that foreign languages do not overpower our own¡±. He emphasised that Hindi was the ¡°heart and soul of our freedom struggle¡±.

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¡°Let us make Hindi the most widely used language in the world¡­ Hindi is the language of coexistence and its growth will never be at the cost of any language,¡± the Home Minister said.

What he forgot to add here was how does he plan to go ahead with his next goal of ¡°One Nation-One Language¡± without impacting the natural flow of all other languages in India, as well as the people who speak them.

Sharp criticism

Mr Shah's remarks drew sharp criticism from several opposition parties as well as literary and cultural personalities.

¡°It's shocking. It will surely affect India's unity. On behalf of DMK, I would urge him (Amit Shah) to take back that view of his,¡± DMK chief M K Stalin said in Chennai. Paattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) Founder S Ramadoss said that Mr Shah's views on Hindi to be India's single language is wrong and that Hindi can't be forced on the people speaking other languages.¡±

Congress said the three-language formula should not be tinkered with and controversies must not be stirred up on ¡°emotive¡± issues settled by Constitution-makers. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, in another tweet, called for respecting all languages and cultures. ¡°We may learn many languages, but we should not forget our mother language,¡± she said.

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Mr Shah further said that from next year, Hindi Divas would be celebrated as a public event. ¡°Hindi movement should reach people and therefore from next year, Hindi Divas would be celebrated in public places outside the capital as well, and not just for one day but for a week,'' he informed.

Unparalleled depth of Indian culture

In his comments that sparked protests in many regions of the country, the Home Minister made it a point to mention that ¡°India has 122 languages and over 19,500 dialects¡±.

¡°These (languages) are our strength. The depth of Indian languages is unparalleled because of the equally unparalleled depth of Indian culture¡±. Shah warned that a country that forgets its language kills its cultural existence. ¡°Language connects us to the roots of the nation,¡± he said. The minister stressed that ¡°we must leave the inferiority complex towards Hindi and our other languages that has set in due to the colonial hangover¡±.

Noting the role of teachers in the growth of languages, he said that ¡°teachers and educators must instil a sense of pride about Hindi in students¡±. He also said that when he took over as home minister, almost all files were in English. But today, he receives over 60 per cent of files in Hindi. He called for a greater use of the national language in all aspects of life.

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It is easier to get carried away by the Minister's comments for the native speakers of Hindi and assume that it is going to give one direction to the nation whereas it may actually end up doing just the opposite. A Tamilian or a Gurkha, Gujarati or a Bengali, Naga or a Marathi among others will not share the views of the proponents of making Hindi the national language.

At the same time, are we lagging behind somewhere right now because of this particular reason? Are people not being able to converse or interact with each other? Is it causing delays or difficulties in matters of law and policy? The Home Minister did not provide any reason for what he seeks to do but merely said what he thinks the hailing of Hindi by all may achieve.

Need to look at the Bigger picture

Our languages and dialects are actually dying and there are some real people who have dedicated their lives to saving and documenting them. Renowned literary critic and activist Ganesh Narayan Devy, who documented 780 Indian languages while conducting the People's Linguistic Survey of India in 2010, shockingly found that 600 of these languages were dying. He said close to 250 languages in India had already died over the past 60 years.

According to Mr Devy, a unique way of looking at the world dies with the death of every language.

An important question to be raised at this juncture is what is the state doing about it? In most of its initiatives with regards to safeguarding of our languages against extinction or guarding them against the threats that hamper their presence, the government is merely paying lip service and achieving very little on ground.

On the other hand, concerned citizens, activists, cultural organisations, writers and translators have been the unsung heroes in celebrating this diversity of our languages and are literally leading smaller movements in many parts of the country in their own ways.

Translation is the key

Whereas the imposition of a national language may be driven by a desire to give one single definition to the country about which there is actually nothing singular, translations foster respect for each other's languages, spreads the stories of one language to the other, reduces the gulf between ¡°us¡± and ¡°them¡±, while also giving everybody the dignity that they are entitled to.

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Let us understand it this way: If the imposition of Hindi as the national language requires a Tamilian to learn and speak Hindi, translations do the exact opposite. They are democratic in their principles and not coercive or dominative. So they encourage a Tamilian to know more about the culture of Hindi speaking people and they encourage a Hindi-speaking person to learn more about Tamilians by reading their stories without making it binding upon them.

And these are already happening. Munshi Premchand has been read by thousands in the south and Perumal Murugan is literally a blockbuster translated author today. These exchanges are taking place at such a pace that people are increasingly becoming aware of each other's customs and cultures, words and worths in today's day and age.

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The desire to know or learn any language, in the opinion of this writer, is a subjective issue and depends entirely from person to person. Training, or rather forcing, our psychology to think and function in one particular language will break a chain that can, in the long run, make a mockery of the diversity we pride today.

The government needs to look at India as India is as a whole and not from the perspective of one particular belt of the country, which may be dominated by people speaking a particular language. It should translate as many significant texts from all languages to all remaining and vice versa. It should develop a mechanism whereby government offices and employees are able to take advantage of technological progress to understand and decipher what people may be speaking in any of the Indian languages.

And above all, it should unite people and not divide them.