Lage Raho Munna Bhai in Kannada - part 1.

In my high school days, a teacher called me a double kannadiga. :-) One for wearing a Kannadi(glass in Kannada) and one for talking Kannada, the language. Kannada, the language is not only my mother tongue but also a language that I like by choice. So to me, thinking about the space that Kannada occupies in cultural dimensions is quite natural and important. And with it came the love for the language. To a large extent, this emotion is being shared by many Kannadigas.

This love for a language is seen quite a lot in India, where states are divided according to the language the people speak and it is seen in many expressions:

• by going on the roads and making sure all the road signs are in a particular language.
• by being hostile to people who talk in a different language.
• by building a fraternity of same-language speaking people.
• by governments in mandating certain things.
• by seeing films in that language only.
• In extreme cases, we have even seen people take up arms for the sake of their language.

My love for the Kannada language was a certainty, but what was not was the way of expressing it. To my mind, supporting some of the hostile activities was neither an outright yes or no. It somehow, did not feel like "the right thing" to do. However, it also felt like there was sometimes no option. About 7-8 years back, I thought I'll try the Gandhian way of expressing my admiration. In that way, I would have to develop a positive attitude towards the language. I would have to:

• try and speak the language correctly
• understand the nuances
• read literature and poetry
• know the history and culture

I would call the above, actions that demonstrate positive love for a language. To a large extent, this was the kind of actions that Lage Raho MunnaBhai said we should be doing in the context of Gandhigiri. Difficult ones, but good ones. Similar to what was shown in the Gandhigiri context, there are easier ways out to demonstrate one's admiration for a language. But these would not necessarily be satisfying. One would have to stay away from such hypocritical actions. For this I would also have to refrain from actions that would demonstrate possessive or negative love(not hate) for a language, like:

• hating another language or people who spoke it
• supporting the violent and incorrect ways of building a language
• building myths around the language
• using the language I love for personal financial/professional gains

This change has been a difficult one, but has been very satisfying. I will not pretend that I do not get impulses to move to the easier one. For eg., if I know that a merchant in Bangalore, cannot speak Kannada, then I get this huge urge to speak in Kannada so that I get a better bargain as a Kannadiga. I'm not saying its wrong to speak Kannada during trading, I'm saying I feel its wrong to do with an intention of getting a better bargain.

But in the midst of all such impulses, I have been able to read a lot of literature. I have been able to develop my vocabulary and expressions. My knowledge on Kannada has increased. And these and many more acts have provided me the confidence that the language Kannada is not endangered. It is strong enough to protect itself and does not need violent protests or mandating to survive. With these thoughts in my mind, I can safely proceed to savor the beauty of a language in a manner I feel is right.

Vinay
PS 1: (For that matter, thinking that expressing my thoughts in a Kannada blog, would help in the survival of a language, would be preposterous)

PS 2: I've tried to keep this blog as descriptive as possible and I do not intend this to be a prescription for anybody.