Rajesh_g, learning English is very important, it is true. (Though in the future, it might well be Spanish or some other language, even Chinese. On this matter, see bottom of this post) But the governor was terribly wrong to promote English <i>at the expense</i> of Samskritam.
Grandfather taught the children in his village their own language (Tamil and Kannada), then Samskritam, then English. Children can learn many languages, especially when one starts at a young age. According to my father, who was among the children taught by my grandfather, all of the children excelled at the languages (as well as other subjects) they had learnt.
Is the governor saying Indians are too stupid to learn more than one language and so exhorts them to forget Samskritam and let it be English instead? (Though Indians are particularly adept at learning many languages.) My opinion is that he was saying more than that: his statements have an anti-Hindu tinge; his behaviour definitely.
By all means, make English compulsory in schools. In fact, in high schools make some other foreign languages compulsory, or optional as the case may be, as well.
But mother tongue (regional) first, father tongue (Samskritam) second, and the international lingua franca (which is English at present) third must make up the ideal list of compulsory languages for Hindu students, with at least the first two starting at a very young age.
I'd read somewhere about how German was the primary language used for some international technical or governing committee until the late 80s or start of 90s. Slowly since then, it was elbowed out by English.
According to my dad, his German-language engineering books have no comparison and are infinitely better than the English language ones (excepting those by Indian, Russian and Italian authors which are on par). Many of his colleagues learnt German specifically to have access to this information.
Who knows what the next international lingua franca may be. It may remain English even if China were to ever grow into the greatest superpower of its time, or it may change to become Chinese or another language.
But with certainty, our own languages will remain of inestimable value for us as long as we give them the place due them.
Grandfather taught the children in his village their own language (Tamil and Kannada), then Samskritam, then English. Children can learn many languages, especially when one starts at a young age. According to my father, who was among the children taught by my grandfather, all of the children excelled at the languages (as well as other subjects) they had learnt.
Is the governor saying Indians are too stupid to learn more than one language and so exhorts them to forget Samskritam and let it be English instead? (Though Indians are particularly adept at learning many languages.) My opinion is that he was saying more than that: his statements have an anti-Hindu tinge; his behaviour definitely.
By all means, make English compulsory in schools. In fact, in high schools make some other foreign languages compulsory, or optional as the case may be, as well.
But mother tongue (regional) first, father tongue (Samskritam) second, and the international lingua franca (which is English at present) third must make up the ideal list of compulsory languages for Hindu students, with at least the first two starting at a very young age.
I'd read somewhere about how German was the primary language used for some international technical or governing committee until the late 80s or start of 90s. Slowly since then, it was elbowed out by English.
According to my dad, his German-language engineering books have no comparison and are infinitely better than the English language ones (excepting those by Indian, Russian and Italian authors which are on par). Many of his colleagues learnt German specifically to have access to this information.
Who knows what the next international lingua franca may be. It may remain English even if China were to ever grow into the greatest superpower of its time, or it may change to become Chinese or another language.
But with certainty, our own languages will remain of inestimable value for us as long as we give them the place due them.