In the name of Language…

Language and the diversity of it is what we Indians cherish and are proud of. In my childhood sometime I heard that dialects in India change in every 30KM and this variety is certainly rare. It’s good that we have held on to our languages with the moving times. I mean with English gaining importance it’s necessary to remember our roots and hold on to them. But certainly a level of sanity is expected while you claim to maintain sanctity for the language.

My experiences about Bangalore have rather have been not good. Traffic and City congestion are definitely big time problems. But Language politics has been something which has bugged my head the most. Infact now I get the feel that definitely would get the award for the most bugged city in the world sometime soon (if someone does give that award, add Bangalore to the list). The city is sure to change is nature from a happily laid back city to a High Tempered one soon. That’s inevitable. Similar to a change from the Laid back movies of the 60’s and early 70’s to Angry Young man movies of the late 70’s and Amitabh era.

Three issues have hogged up and bogged down my spirits. Let me mention them not chronologically but in an order of increasing priority.

First one was the Tipu Sultan controversy. A pathetic attempt at creating a divide based on religious lines which led to some tension in the city as I read it in the papers. It’s not good to dig out a person from his grave and tell him that he was against Kannada culture. As I know it he was the only King with a Head which could think in India in those days. Quite an uncommon phenomenon for Indian Royalty especially under British Raj. Why did they blame him?

Second one is Bangalore changing to Bengaluru. Firstly Bengaluru is not recognized by the spell-checker as I came to know it now. A funny incident happened that the news papers in Kannada reported “Bengaluru changing to Bengaluru”. Again the cost involved will be heavy but you can spare the politicians atleast for this one. Their brothers have done this in other parts of country so why not they do it. Some things can be spared but I personally don’t believe in these things of changing the name attaches a sense of pride and stuff. But the last issue looks to me like a crime.

Some how Mr. Basvaraj Horetti, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, Karnataka seems to have done something which is completely out of the box. May be nowadays these de bono terms are catching up with the politicians too, but in a completely different sense. Closing of Karnataka schools is a move which brings us all to shame. Maybe Mr. Horetti and his colleagues are habituated to moving around schools in their childhood but for 250,000 students here it’s damn difficult, that too in the middle of the session. Reason, quite simply they were being taught in English.

Now the schools didn’t follow the rules, I mean they were running a Kannada medium school but imparting education in Kannada. Not as per the rules. But if you twist the rules in so many cases then why this case do you act in such an efficient manner which is close to insanity. Ok you talk about moving the children and staff to some government schools but they are already crowded. Most of the kids going to the closed schools come from sections of society not so sound economically. If you fight for caste based reservations on the higher education front why neglect good education given to students at primary level. I don’t know what will happen if Politicians start doing what they want so regularly like this. They should have atleast waited for the year.

All this fills me up with just shame and disappointment. Two weeks back when I was roaming around at Garuda Mall a reporter from a news channel came to me (that news Group driving a effort to Restore the lost so many things in Bangalore, quite a commendable effort) and asked-“What should be done to resurrect Bangalore?”. I said nothing can be done. But then I went back and greed of a T-Shirt (which she never gave me) burbled a lot about what can be done and what not. I wish Bangalore could transform into a city like Mumbai or Delhi which can just absorb everything. If we look at it from the viewpoint of Thermodynamics, the entropy of these cities keep on increasing forever never touching a limit whereas that of Bangalore has touched a maximum already. I am sure everyone in Bangalore can feel the Heat which has completely made us forget the wonderful breeze once flowing here.