A handful of thoughts

For those who do not remember, yesterday 21^st February is celebrated as International Mother Language Day. But this day received the status of International Mother Language Day only in 1999. Long before, in 1952, 4 students of the Dhaka University in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) were shot dead by the police because they were demonstrating against the government’s decision to make Urdu the country’s national language. These students wanted Bengali, their mother tongue to be one of the national languages too, since the people of East Pakistan never spoke Urdu. The movement of 21^st February is also one of the earliest foundations of the Bangladesh War of Liberation.

Since then, since the deaths of Rafiq, Barkat, Jabbar and Salam, more than half a century has passed. Now as then, Bengali speaking people continue to live on both sides of the divide - in Bangladesh and in West Bengal. While those in Bangladesh has gone ahead with their version of bangla containing a generous sprinkling of Urdu words, those in West Bengal have fared even better. The so called educated Bengalis here have taken up the social responsibility of forgetting the language and be proud of it. Many of these people has the excuse of being brought up outside WB while some others and the worst of the lot, find it fashionable not to know their mother tongue. They make their kids learn Hindi instead of Bengali in schools and boast in public gatherings “you know my son is so poor in Bengali; he can’t read or write it”.

I remember being asked by a so called Bengali woman I know - “can you read and write in Bengali?” I was so spoilt for decent words I thought it fit not to reply to a question as dumb and irritating as that. One of my very own cousins boasts being born and brought up in Mumbai. She is quite a brilliant woman and speaks 6 languages and writes 4 among which of course Bengali does not feature. In fact she was so ashamed of her surname that she married a Marathi and has happily adapted her husband’s surname; happy at last to have successfully discarded all traces of Bengal from her life. Funnily enough, the non-Bengali speaking citizens of Bengal also never bother to learn the language of the state and the Bengalis here happily speak to them in Hindi. It never dawned on the glorious WB Govt. of course to make Bengali a compulsory vernacular to be taught in both govt. and private schools irrespective of their medium of instruction. It is only in this state that the people can do without teaching their kids any Bengali. Try doing that in Maharashtra and you know how sweet Mr Thackrey and company will make it for you.

Since us Bengalis are famous worldwide for forgetting their heritage, their history and their culture, this does not come as too much of a surprise perhaps. Back in the days of the British Raj when eminent Bengalis educated themselves in the language of the Imperialists and got enrolled in administrative services. All these dressing gown clad pipe smoking babus took pride in being close to white men and left the practice of Bengali to lesser mortals. But even then they were far superior to our modern day burger munching mobile phone brandishing hybrid idiots. They are like half-baked cookies. Nor do they know their Bengali well and neither their English. Most of the times they speak in Hinglish or Benglish - sad pidgin versions of those prestigious languages. They of course do not know their Tagore or their Premchand or their Shakespeare or anything else. I pity them from the core of my heart and sadly stand watching while my city crumbles below the feet of these ridiculous nincompoops.