My two-month long summer vacations of school were usually spent at my relatives’ place. They looked forward to seeing us, to know everything about what was happening in Delhi and also to know if I enjoyed my school life.
It was during one of these visits that my uncle once said, “Beta tum English-Medium school mei padhti ho, achchi kismat hai tumhari. Mujhe dekho. Mujhe kabhi English achche se seekhne ka mauka nahi mila. Meri zindagi waste hai.” (You are fortunate to study in an English medium school. Look at me, I never got an opportunity to learn English properly. My life is a waste). After a pause he slowly added, in English, “I am a big loser.”
I was completely shocked to hear this from him. It was true that my uncle did not have an amazing command over English vocabulary or grammar. It was also true that he couldn’t speak English fluently. But he did understand the language. The idea of calling oneself a loser because of the lack of command over a language itself sounded preposterous to me.
English had been a part of my life right from my childhood. The Catholic school which I studied in, gave a lot of importance to the language. In fact there was a rule made by our class teacher that everybody was supposed to speak in English and a fine of ₹5 on uttering a Hindi word was also imposed because of which we spoke in English. (This rule was short lived though because the teacher also uttered Hindi words out of habit sometimes.) Thus, it was natural that I never held English in very high esteem and nobody around me felt privileged to know the language because it was a part of our lives.
However, two years back I did encounter such a situation. It was the first year of my college and I met a girl (she eventually became my friend) who held English in high regard and her opinion about herself was similar to that of my uncle. The girl had wonderful command over Hindi and wrote beautiful stories and articles in this language. She had a good grasp on English, (but never accepted it) but the inability to speak it fluently made her feel left out in college.
She was completely awed by the way everyone else interacted with each other in English and aspired to talk just like them. She shied away from speaking in front of the class because of course the medium of communication used was English, mostly. Our professors gave us the option of expressing our thoughts in any language. But then my friend would argue that if she was the only Hindi speaker, she would become the subject of mockery.
Seeing her develop an inferiority complex over three years, I have realised that people gave a lot more importance to English than was actually needed. It was not only my uncle or my friend who felt this way, most of the people in almost every corner of this country feel the same way about this particular language.
In fact, I realise that this attitude exists all around me but it was I who never really paid attention to this. Now when I think of it, I remember overhearing conversations where young people mock others who wrote captions in English which were full of grammatical errors.
It is interesting to see that while some students don’t openly say that they are not comfortable with English, there are others who confidently avow that they can’t speak Hindi fluently. They prefer to use English even when they are asked to write in Hindi. Who is to blame here? The students? Or the loopholes in the education system which gave rise to such a scenario? Hindi medium schools do exist in our country, but the fact that best universities in India English medium is certainly one of the many reasons which gave birth to such a scenario.
Harshita Upadhyay, a third-year graduation student at IP College for Women says, “Some of the students might be more comfortable using Hindi as a medium of communication, but I don’t think that they will ever say it openly because of the fear of getting judged. By listening to other students around them speak fluently in English, they develop a kind of inferiority complex.” This is true in the case of my friend.
Bollywood movies, such as Hindi Medium which revolves around parents who want to send their child to the best English medium school and English Vinglish which captures the journey of a housewife who tries to learn English to earn respect from her family also clearly depicts people’s obsession with this language.
Preetika Verma, a third-year student at Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women (IGDTUW) views this issue with a different perspective. She says, “It is up to the student to consider this as an asset or a liability. After all knowledge of English is not everything. The ability of being able to express yourself and communicate your thoughts clearly in any language is what matters the most.”
If we think about this, we see that Preetika does have a point here. We have several examples where people who did not use English as their medium of communication earned a lot of respect. The best example which comes to my mind is that of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the first Indian Prime Minister to speak in Hindi at the United Nations.
I would like to tell my unconvinced friends and others that English is just a language. It is not a means of earning respect or of portraying yourself as an intellectual being. The most important thing is not the knowledge of the language but the confidence you have in yourself.
Understanding that confidence is the key. The key to all your problems and worries. The key to empowering yourselves.
Featured image provided by author.
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