Kannada for anyone?

This is one of the most debated topics in my city, Bangalore. Bangalore is a cosmopolitan city. We have Tamilians, Gujrathis, Marwadis, Malyalis, Bengalis, Nepalese, Chinese, Africans etc, in the city, that too in large numbers. Many of these people are my close friends.

For a modern day city-born-and-brought-up person, language is not at all a barrier. Mostly everyone speaks in English these days. And Hindi is our national language. We are exposed to a lot of Hindi serials and movies and have lots of Hindi-speaking friends. So, most of us know Hindi. Some may not be excellent in conversing in Hindi, but almost everyone understands Hindi. Some can even speak in other regional languages.

Definitely good has come out of this. We are generally pleasant people. We are happy to join in all celebrations, Indian or Western, from Ugadi to Halloween. We are amicable and reply to a query in any language in the same language, if possible. If not, of course, we know English/Hindi. So, all happy?

But my concern is - is Kannada slowly becoming obsolete? Kannada definitely is endangered.

Some of my friends from other states or countries have practically lived all their life in Bangalore and have not learnt or even attempted to learn Kannada ever. Admittedly, some have picked it up excellently and speak as well as I do. The general contention ranges from "I need not bother. Almost everyone around me speaks in Hindi or English, which I know. So, why should I?" to "Will you try to learn language X if you stay in my city? Then why ask me!"

This holds true for the younger generation of Kannadigas too. Parents are teaching their kids English first so that they can survive and succeed anywhere in the world. Kids should know "nose," "ears," "eyes," "mummy", "daddy," etc, instead of moogu, kivi, kaNNu, amma, appa, etc, respectively, to get admission in pre-nursery. People avoid Kannada medium schools because the opportunities afterwards are limiting and the standard of a majority of teachers is not so great; they hardly deliver the goods (might need another post for this). The English medium schools insist upon students speaking in English, and Kannada is generally the 2nd or the 3rd language. This is the cause for the dilution of the language (I do not have a single BA/MA Kannada friend.) I wonder how many of us (my generation and further city breds) can read a Kannada newspaper as fluently as in English or write a grammatically error-free page in Kannada!

I remember being totally shocked when I changed school from an urban to a rural government school. My Kannada was considerably poor compared to the kids there. And my English being good made me a butt of lot of jokes! I had to take up Kannada as the 1st language as there were no other options available in the school. This is when I began appreciating Kannada, its literature, with all the subtle nuances. It is a beautiful, deep language. I did not pursue it later on, for I found it hard for scoring in exams.

As per my knowledge, a lot of Kannadigas are from the rural towns of Karnataka and are still learning in government schools and colleges. Science, Social Science, Maths and even English is taught in Kannada here. This is where the actual essence of Karnataka is. The culture, traditions and language are pretty well conserved in these parts. Their eloquence is something else. Many people from here are migrating to Bangalore and other cities in different states seeking higher education, jobs, etc. These people end up in the big crowd too. But, some people do not and are happy with the life that they know of. Bad of this is, living in a box. Of course, there are many families who are presently somewhere in between these 2 ends.

There are many Kannada fanatics, as is the case with any language. I have seen a few Kannadigas get aggressive when, especially, a North Indian, living in Bangalore for a long time, refuses to learn Kannada. I understand it can be a tad bit difficult to learn a new language. And, since bartering with a shop keeper or an auto driver can be done in Hindi/English, it might seem like taking up unnecessary trouble to learn another language.

Though I am well conversant in Kannada, I am guilty of not being to able to read it as fluently as English. As a result, I prefer an English newspaper, novel, study material, etc. There are many who love to watch Kannada movies (including my father and my younger brother), but I pass. I cannot relate to the modern slew of Kannada films (because of exposure to cosmopolitan culture?) I prefer some of the old Kannada movies.

As far as the question, whether I would try and learn a new language if I were in some other state, I love languages. So, I would definitely give it a try. I am regretful that I cannot speak many Indian languages. I can speak only for myself. I am in Malaysia since 4-5 months. I can count to ten in BM and understand a few words. I have a BM to English dictionary, mainly to read signs on the road, the post box, or on a shop and because learning a new language is interesting.

About the outsiders in Bangalore/Karnataka not learning Kannada, I can only say that each person has a freedom to live their life as they seem fit. But, I do admit I feel quite contrite at my maid, who is originally not from Bangalore, but has lived most of her adult life here (she is middle aged), converses with everybody (her family, friends, neighbors, and people for whom she works) in her mother tongue. I can hardly understand anything she says. Conversation with her is a mind-boggling, complex task. "Why should I?" she asks. This is business we are talking about. Isn't this annoying? I now have slowly begun to catch a few words she says! Is it that hard to learn? (Bad of you too Mr. Kannadiga living in Orissa for the last 20 years, if you are like this!)

Well, the least we can do is have our next generation of Kannadigas learn to love this beautiful language and to conserve it. I think this cause is as important as saving the Tigers. It tears my heart to think that our kids probably won't be able to see a live Tiger. So, does it tug at my heart for our kids to live life not knowing or caring to learn Kannada. It will just be another language lost. Kannada and Tigers are cool, you know?

for anyone?