Servility in Language

I regularly watch Fareed Zakaria’s show GPS. Recently, the show was based around the economic and social changes occurring in India, a topic close to my heart. It included an interview of a successful textiles Indian businessman who spoke of the rapid growth in Surat, Gujarat. Unfortunately, he struggled. He struggled not because he was uninformed about the subject matter, but due to a barrier of language. He made his best attempt to speak in English, a language that he had likely not learned as a village schoolboy. If he had conversed in Hindi with the help of the translator, the value of his ideas would have been far greater.

This culture permeates throughout India and several other nations: the respected members of society must, as a rule, speak English. English is seen as a more sophisticated language than, say Hindi or Gujarati. Simply speaking it conveys power and authority. On the other hand, considering nations such as South Korea, international press conferences are still held in the native language by the means of a translator. I am not saying that learning or conversing in English is necessarily a bad thing, but the weight it holds in India reflects a sort of inferiority complex. In essence, it illustrates a belief that those in Western, English-speaking nations are inherently better than those residing in India. It embodies a sense of servility for little reason.

I am not a strong nationalist, but I still believe that forcing ourselves to speak a foreign language is wrong and detrimental to India’s image as well as its citizens’ confidence.