LANGUAGE...

Copyright © WD, 2021 All rights reserved.

The power this one word holds is beyond explanation. Language is the reason that I can convey what is in my mind. There are millions of thoughts that pass through an individual mind every day. The expression of thoughts might use words or actions. Altogether language and literature are mesmerizingly beautiful.

At times I wish we could use the E.T. language. Finger to finger touch, and every thought gets transmitted. You can sense the environment. We tend to understand the situation as soon as we enter the room. All this is just amazing.

But all this vanquishes when people start using an aid-like language in another direction. Let me explain through a very recent incident that I experienced.

"Language defining your status."

I think this is a common thing in countries where “English” is not the primary language. English is considered something special. I mean English is a language and is astounding like all other 6,500 languages. All these languages have their own origin stories, literature, font, and everything else. How are we supposed to put a specific language above any other language and consider it in defining the status of an individual? HOW? And WHY? 

I live in a country where English is not the primary language but it is included in official documents and is taught in schools because people in my country speak different languages, a variety of languages. This is the reason why we do not consider one language as the primary language. We have three official languages English, the language most people speak, and the regional language. People can choose.

Lately, I have been noticing people here in my country consider efficiency in English as their status. If you are not good at English you must be uneducated (according to them) even if you hold a Nobel prize in Mathematics. People flaunt their English proficiency among their friend groups and try to overpower incompetent people by making them uncomfortable. Languages should not make anyone uncomfortable. It should act as a tool to shower emotions.

The incident that disturbed me happened yesterday. I went shopping in a fancy showroom of an international brand. All the staff there were quick-witted locals with very fluent English also they preferred speaking English over the local language. I was doing fine with it until I saw a lady dressed culturally in a western clothing shop. She was with her daughter, who was strikingly opposite to her mother. Even when I was far away from them I could sense the tension between the mother-daughter duo. The daughter was very harshly treating her mother; as the lady carried her shopping bag and the girl flung in some sexy western outfits into it. They were maintaining some distance. It seemed like the daughter was not very happy with her mother accompanying her. She seemed embarrassed. All this was making her mother very awkward.

I was calm until what I saw next broke my heart into pieces. The essence of language being slaughtered in front of me, and all I could do then was to stand there in disgust. A staff came to the mother and asked her in English, “Ma’am, will you be keeping all these clothes with you? Should I help you arrange them properly, I see you have many in your hands.” The mother froze. She stood there as if a ghost started speaking to her. She had a blank expression on her face, no idea of what the person just asked. After few moments, she came to her senses and panicked. She started searching for her English-speaking daughter, but she was busy trying a bucket of western clothes. She did come after some time and asked her mother to step back, and then told the staff, “I am sorry, let her be. What were you saying again?”, and the conversation continued. She treated the reason for her existence, her mother, as a no-one in front of a no-one, just because she could not speak a specific language. I was downhearted.

The mother seemed proud to see her lovely daughter speak English so fluently also she neglected that she was being humiliated. The daughter managed well not to regard her mother because she was following her ethnic tradition and was unable to speak English. The staff managed to crack few jokes when he left from there, other staff found the long-lost amusement on hearing about the recent incident. And then there was me standing a little far from all of them, observing and absorbing everything that left me shattered and in disgust.

I kept replaying what happened. I realized that it was not the first time I noticed something like that. Back when I was in school we had a student who came from a remote school. He was not good at English because his medium of language in his previous school was different. No one in the class befriended him until they knew he was a Science Olympiad Gold medalist and came to our school on full scholarship. I thought of all those young parents who nag their children in English. For me, I do not get the feeling of being nagged until it is in the language that my mother uses every day.

I fail to understand when did the language became a barrier. English was introduced so that we could communicate, today people are losing jobs are being rejected from interviews just because English is being used to define their competency and personality. The reality is harsh. A language that was supposed to mend gaps and bridge differences among people, is now is being used to create craters even between families. The language that was supposed to relay emotions, is now being used to relay superiority.

A change is required, the change among the mindset of every individual. A change that will respect every individual no matter what language they speak, which region they live in, what tradition they follow, or which era they chose to live lifelike. Like we all have raised various issues, I believe this issue needs attention too. All languages are beautiful. All languages are just a tool to express emotions and not to define anyone’s standard or status. And especially in a multilingual country. It becomes essential to respect the countries own language first rather than simply boasting about any other foreign language. Respect is all we can offer to all the beautiful languages that are present in this world.