|
Eminent writer, art critic and researcher in the field of performing arts, Dr. Rajeev Naik is an acclaimed scholar in the subject of Linguistics and respected personality in Indian Theatre. His creative works include short story collection, full length plays as well as one-act plays for Experimental and Commercial theatre. Since 1996, Dr. Rajeev Naik is a visiting Professor in Lalit Kala Kendra (Centre for Performing Arts) in Pune University where he teaches Theatre History and Aesthetics.
certainly like to use a computer - they have been riding bikes, driving cars, tractors and trains; why can’t they use a computer? They certainly can. The only problem is the language. If their mother tongue appears on the computer screen, i.e. if the computer becomes user-friendly they too would be computer-friendly. They are actually waiting to be….
The kind of socio-linguistic milieu that we have in Maharashtra (or in India) does give great importance to English, and it is exactly this reason, which keeps the non-English speaking majority away from knowledge and opportunities of all kinds.
Being bilingual or even multilingual is a fact for many people in India. But to keep on switching linguistic codes, in the same discourse can be very irritating. ‘Hinglish’ is okay on the college campus, but not in the classroom. A serious lecture on a serious topic cannot really be given in several languages at the same time. If somebody is working on a Marathi body-text, it can be distracting to switch over to another language while giving commands to the computer.
Commands in Marathi on the computer screen are in a sense inevitable - most of the resident speakers of Marathi now say ‘Sanganak’ when they want to refer to a computer.
Due all these reasons, I immediately accepted to become a part of Translation-Validation group of this initiative of Microsoft.
…so now the computer will speak to you in Marathi.
It is historically proven that those people and societies which have used the mother tongue to communicate, express and instruct, have retained their identity and yet have developed and blossomed. Therefore, the importance of the mother tongue in all walks of life is obvious.
It is true that in a post-colonial situation all over the world, the language of the erstwhile rulers that was thrust upon the people remains to be of considerable importance. (e.g., English in Maharashtra). But the percentage of people actually using it is very low. The majority of the population, continue to use their mother tongue. Now this majority, which is not comfortable with English, is getting educated. They do know English, but are comfortable with their mother tongue. A lawyer may argue a case in English, in the court, but would prefer to read a Marathi newspaper in his house.
And a very big section of people who cannot communicate in English. They would