Every
human being should know two languages: the language
of society and language of signs. One serves to communicate with other
people, the other serves to understand God’s message.
―Paulo
Coelho
Literally speaking, the world eats, speaks and sleeps English these days. And there is no argument here. With 67 countries using English as their first or second language, English automatically scores over Mandarin as the language of the society. It is the most WIDELY SPOKEN, most WIDELY READ, and most WIDELY WRITTEN language
of the world, a language that's capable of single-handedly linking several nations together. In fact, going forward, Chinese will speak more of English than Mandarin, thereby becoming the number one English speaking country in the world.
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Flags of English speaking countries
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So, when
Coelho spoke about language of society, in all probability, he meant English. It
is no more considered an elitist language, but the language of a common man…language
of AAM AADM in India...the language of the masses… a language that’s powering
the growth of modern India.
The
rise of BPO and KPO culture in India, in turn, the rise of urban middle class can be solely credited to increased use of English language. The city of Bengaluru is best known as the “The silicone Valley Of India” because of its ever growing English speaking IT
populace. Little wonder, even Narendra
Modi, BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate, keeps harping upon the importance of English
education in all his election speeches.
For
us Indians English is our second language. But some of us are so fluent in English that
we can give any native speaker a run for their money. Many from affluent
families have, in fact, ditched their native tongue and have taken to speaking English
almost all the time: and I proudly proclaim that I am one of them. I speak English at every given opportunity. Some people, including
my dearest mom is not in favor for this. As she calls me: ANGREZ KI BETI. But what I
want to tell her is: "Mommy dear why don’t you understand that if i know the language
what’s wrong in flaunting it, more so when English is being treated as the IT language of this
century. Moreover, you made it a point to get me educated in an English medium
school, so you too, in a way, acknowledge the rising importance of English
across the globe. So, then why bother me
now."
Why should you learn Queen’s Lingo?
You become a part of the educated and
sophisticated crowd. Your status gets elevated automatically.
Your confidence level shoots up and it positively contributes to your personality.
You can earn your bread and butter with ease,
what with IT companies coming up in every nook and cranny.
You get to read the best of the books, from
Salman Rushdie to William Faulkner.
You can travel anywhere in the world for work and education as universe becomes a level playing field.
Inspired
by its growing importance and acceptance, all my non-English speaking neighbors have put
their children in English medium schools. Though they are pakka Gujjus and can hardly speak and read the language, but these locals have not let these disadvantages deter their spirit. On the other hand, their steely determination to introduce their kids to the word’s most widely used language has inspired them hire tutors to help their kids cope with it.
So if given an opportunity to go to UK for further studies, i look forward to pursuing English literature and creative writing; that too from none other than Oxford University. Yes, to be the best, you've to be
among the best. Yours truly being an aspiring author, a degree in English literature from UK, I believe, will help me polish my skills as a writer and probably will be my passport to international fame and prosperity. Considering the Queen’s Lingo originated here, I believe this
is the best country to polish my English reading, writing skills.
About
a year ago, I thought my English was par excellence, until one of my
colleagues pointed out that I make silly punctuation errors. Okay, fine, I will work
on it, I told her. This colleague of
mine is quite allergic to Indian authors and being an editor for a decade this
female finds all Indian authors BELOW AVERAGE. In her words “the kind of
punctuation errors these published authors make is really sickening. How could
they? Indian writers are really pathetic in grammar, and that’s the reason why I
don’t read them. I only read foreign authors”.
Point taken. For this colleague
of mine, grammar is the be all and end
all of English. "Damn with the story" she says, " first of all, get your grammar correct." So
of late, influenced by her pep talk I’ve started Grishaming a lot. Mitch Albom and Dan Browns
have taken over Chetan Bhagat and Preeti
Shenoy. But then we do have good Indian English
writers, and plenty of them in fact, who have made us proud on the
international scene. These extraordinary writers of Indian origin include Salman Rushdie, Jhumpa Lahri, Arvind
Adiga, Amitav Ghosh etc, etc. And who’s the writer of 'A Suitable Boy? Ya,
Vikram Seth. All these Indian authors have great body of work to their credit. But one common
thing that binds these authors is their foreign degrees. So, you see, they are not purely home bred authors. If it were not for their foreign degrees, I don't think these authors could have come this far. In other words, it is by virtue of their foreign degrees
they could come up with truly great work of art that got them international attention and accolades.
So, if at all, I am given an opportunity to travel to UK on study visa, I look forward to studying English Literature and creative writing in the company of greats. Who knows if i am able to pursue this course, i may even bag the Man Booker Prize, going forward. Ouch!!!Did i say that.
