Language imperialism and Tamil
We as a page have been constantly criticized for showcasing our mastery of English - many say we show off despite we using perfect Tamil as well in our posts and occasionally Malay. Why do we do this double game, rettai vesham you may ask. It’s because we are trying to stave off English language imperialism while trying to be both proficient and reaching more people. A wise man once said that mother tongue is like your eyes and English is like spectacles - one shouldn’t wear the spectacles when sleeping. But the thing is, spectacles are worn to rectify visual impairment. Knowing English or any other language for that matter is not an impairment, it’s empowerment. It’s like binoculars/telescope – it helps one see and cover more ground. At the same time, you should only use binoculars when the need arises, not wear it always – you’ll appear like a dude that should be sent to Hospital Bahagia. And, if I may add, Google CETI - Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence where attempts to communicate with intelligent extraterrestrial life is embarked on. In 1974, Carl Sagan and Frank Drake composed Arecibo messages that was broadcast into space in an attempt for interplanetary communication. Yes, we are trying to communicate with aliens and invent languages for the purpose. Google Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, SETI too.
Indians have the specialty of being multilingual – most Indians know at least 2 languages. Being multilingual is a strength, in that light, we should all strive to learn as many languages as we can. As a Tamil, I did my part by self teaching Tamil – i can read and write Tamil despite having schooled in SRK, capitalizing on the basics my mom taught me when I was 6.
I have always wondered how non Tamil Malaysian Indians here, the Malayalam, Telugu, Punjabi, Ceylonese people preserve their mother tongue. They don’t have schools that teach them their mother tongues, they don’t have radio and TV stations exclusively dedicated to their languages, there is very limited access to their books and publications. There are many non Tamils who can’t speak their mother tongue but fluent in Tamil. And i don’t see them complaining that their mother tongue is dying out despite not having anything palpable and overt that serves as the catalyst to keep their mother tongue on their tongues and we, Tamils, despite having everything, still complain that Tamil is getting extinct? Where there is a will, there is a way. We can either keep complaining and pointing fingers at those Tamils who are not fluent in Tamil instead of doing something proactive about it – conduct free Tamil classes at temples, turning them into community centers. We can assign grandparents to speak Tamil with our kids if parents prefer to speak in English. We can, instead of saying, sapderethe paruppu, peserethe English, say Aangilam pesunge, nalla pesunge, enthe mozhi eh yum katthukonge athe nerathile Tamil eh marakathinge. How many of you watch Makkal TV? Excellent Tamil that channel broadcasts. And, Tamil iconoclast, Kanniyan Poongodranar said ‘Yaathum oore, yaavarum kelir’ - a concept of being a global citizen. If you want me to quote a more recent one, it would be, ‘adayalam than thurapom, ellam desathilum poi vasippom. (Let’s abandon identity and live all over the globe.” In essence, both quotes encourage worldly learning which includes language and the doing away of nationalistic pride. In the words of George Carlin: Pride should be reserved for what you acquire by effort, not genetic accidents where you didn’t have a hand in to acquire. Same goes to shame. Don’t be ashamed for not knowing Tamil or English - you can always learn it by putting effort.
If you really want something, you will find ways to do it and it is the same in the context of learning languages be it English or Tamil. All we do is ridicule those people who speak English instead of Tamil. So, is speaking Malay/French/Spanish/
We should learn a thing or two from the non Tamil Indians in Malaysia. A good chunk of them can speak Tamil and their mother tongue. How they can do it? Honestly, I don’t know how they do it exactly as well - non Tamils here, feel free to tell us how you do it because where there is a will, there’s a way. And, you know why we translate the Tamil phrases we use in our articles into English? It’s so that non Tamil ethnics that don’t know Tamil and anyone that don’t know Tamil can understand. You know, you accuse English imperialism, English killing other languages – what you’re doing here is Tamil imperialism. Understood, Tamil is the majority and the other non Tamil ethnics have assimilated with the Tamils but that doesn’t mean you should shun English, Malay, Mandarin and the Indian ethnic minorities here and be so ignorant on how the latter preserve their languages – satthame ilame (without tumult), unlike us, always screaming at the top of our lungs. If you can, try to learn their languages as well like they do ours.. “Ippudu chudu” “Raa, raa, sarasakku raa, raa” “Irikki anachee oru umma tharumo” “Manasulil thaagam vandhalo”, etc can be your launching base. Maybe, just maybe, we can cultivate a sense of community rather than being communal then because language can be the adhesive that sticks us, Malaysian Indians together.
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