Happy Independence day! But are we free from English yet?

On India's 75th Independence day I feel proud to see our flag-waving at the Red Fort. It took several years of struggle, loss of lives, and a lot more to build the nation it is today. There are many things yet to achieve, like education, equality, and infrastructural quality, but what bothers me the most is our freedom from the terror of communicating in English.

I spent quite some time thinking about the value of emotional and financial liberation, and I firmly believe that " freedom is the ultimate joy of living". I acknowledge that there are various facets of freedom and it may mean different things to many people but somehow all of us lookout for respect and basic understanding when we act without wearing skins. Personally, my freedom to take my decisions is very precious to me. The last few days have been very busy and crazy! Apparently, I happened to be taking exams which tested my skills rigorously, this leads me to think about how difficult these exams could be for those who don't have a sound background in English!

I would have been highly strung if someone had asked me to change the present tense to the present perfect tense more than 2 decades ago. Fortunately, I crossed that stage sooner than I thought but that struggle to enter the competent English user category was a racking experience. Not only did I fail sometimes but also lost a part of my self-esteem.

On this Independence Day, I thought it will be nice if we thought about what freedom really means to us. I asked my friends and family and I was amused to hear diverging responses but I found my favorite reply. This one is what my dad had to say.. " freedom wahi hai ki jab jo soche woh wahi kare aur koi rok tok na ho"

I couldn't agree more!

On our Nation's Independence day it becomes vital for all of us to feel comfortable as Indians and to be proud not only of our heroes but also the vehicle in which we carry their legacy - Our language. The feeling of patriotism shouldn't be limited to goosebumps on a few national holidays where we see our flag being hoisted. It should rather be accompanied by the feeling of comfort and warmth of being at home always.

Out of the world's approximately 7.8 billion inhabitants, 1.35 billion speak English. The majority aren't native English speakers. However, about 360 million people speak English as their first language and the most common first language is Chinese. Yet the pressure to communicate in English is surmounting and often demeaning.

How the English language became a part of the Indian education system!

On the 2nd of February 1835, Lord Macaulay circulated Minute on Education, to westernize education in India; English was not only made the official language for the government and courts but was also adopted as the official medium of instruction. According to Lord Macaulay, English education was supposed to deliver superior morals and science to Indians. He envisaged creating "a class of persons, Indian in blood and color, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and intellect".

India is a country with a history of language changing within small distances, in fact, Indian states were created based on their linguistic diversity. Having said that one can imagine the state of the impermeable communication system being traced over the generations. What has added to the agony of an Indian is the judgment of knowledge and rating his/her acceptability in terms of their English speaking skills.

Irrespective of changes being brought in by the government in our education system, it will take quite some time to transform the societal prejudice around communicating in English. Thus an initiative to abandon the humiliation of non-English speakers is the need of the hour.

We must make our countrymen and women feel comfortable about who they are and where they belong.

English has definitely made things easier in many cases but it shouldn't become a tool to diminish the virtue of economically weaker sections or anyone who isn't fluent with the language. It breaks my heart to see people agonized by the thought of having to respond in an alien language or otherwise they might not be heard. In a crowd, people look up to the person talking in English and outrightly ignore what a native speaker has to say. The brutal domination of this language is unacceptable in a country that gained its freedom from colonial supremacy more than 7 decades ago.

The lack of expertise in any language should not be the reason to undermine an individual's prestige, reputation, or self-worth. The real reason behind the birth of various languages was to enable human beings to interact. It was merely a tool to convey and express one's thoughts and feelings, but slowly some languages started to show supremacy over other less spoken and minority languages.

Why did we let this happen?

Happy Independence day!