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Sunday, 28 February 2021
Saturday, 27 February 2021
Sunday, 21 February 2021
Saturday, 20 February 2021
Column in E#nglsih | Window Seat | 21.2.21
Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 21. 2. 21
Mother Language
February
21 is observed as International Mother Language Day. It was proclaimed by the General Conference of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in November 1999. The UN General
Assembly welcomed the proclamation of the day in its resolution of 2002.
The theme of the 2021
International Mother Language Day, “Fostering multilingualism for
inclusion in education and society,” recognizes that languages and multilingualism can
advance inclusion, and the Sustainable Development Goals' focus on leaving no
one behind.
Today there is growing awareness that
languages play a vital role in development, in ensuring cultural diversity and
intercultural dialogue, but also in strengthening co-operation and attaining
quality education for all, in building inclusive knowledge societies and
preserving cultural heritage, and in mobilizing political will for applying the
benefits of science and technology to sustainable development.
However, the irony is many languages
world over are dying. Between
1950 and 2010, 230 languages went extinct, according to the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger. Today, a
third of the
world’s languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers left. Every two weeks a language dies with its last speaker, 50 to 90 percent of them are predicted to disappear by the next century.
When humanity loses a language, we also lose the potential for greater
diversity in art, music, literature, and oral traditions. Thus there is a need
for preserving languages.
UNESCO believes education, based on the first language
or mother tongue, must begin from the early years as early childhood care and
education is the foundation of learning. The New Education Policy is in sync
with this line of thinking. In a segment called ‘multi-lingualism, and power of
language’, the new National Education Policy (NEP) says “wherever
possible, the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till
Grade 8 and beyond, will be the home language/mother tongue/local
language/regional language".
Thereafter,
the home/local language shall continue to be taught as a language wherever
possible. This will be followed by both public and private schools.
All
languages will be taught in an enjoyable and interactive style and states may
enter into bilateral agreements to hire teachers from each other, the HRD
Ministry said.
“The
three-language learned by children will be the choices of States, regions, and
of the students, so long as at least two of the three languages are native to
India".
Story
behind the Mother Language Day
There is a tragic story behind the proclamation of Feb 21 as Mother
Language Day. When Pakistan was created in 1947, it had two
geographically separate parts: East and West Pakistan. The two parts located
thousands of miles apart were very different in terms of culture and language.
The only glue that bound them was religion.
In 1948,
the then Government of Pakistan declared Urdu to be the sole national language
of Pakistan even though Bengali or Bangle was spoken by the majority of
people combining East and West Pakistan. The people of East Pakistan protested as
their mother language was Bangla. They demanded Bangla also to be one of the
national languages, in addition to Urdu. The demand was raised first by
Dhirendranath Datta from East Pakistan on 23 February 1948, in the constituent
Assembly of Pakistan.
Pakistan
government did not pay any heed to the demand. Instead they outlawed public
meeting and rallies. The students of the University of Dhaka and Dhaka Medical
College, with the support of the general public, arranged massive rallies and
meetings. On 21 and 22 February 1952, police opened fire on such rallies. At
least nine students died. Hundreds were injured. This was a rare incident in
history, where people sacrificed their lives for their mother tongue.
Since
then people of East Pakistan observe February 21 as Bhasha Divas (Language
Day).
A makeshift monument was erected at Dhaka to commemorate the
‘languge-martyrs’ on 23 February 1952 by the students. It was soon demolished
on 24 February by the Pakistani police force.
The Language Movement gained momentum, and after a long
struggle, Bengali gained official status in Pakistan with Urdu in 1956. To
commemorate the dead, the Shaheed Minar was designed and built by Bangladeshi
sculptors Hamidur Rahman in collaboration with Novera Ahmed. The
construction of the monument was delayed because of the martial law and was
finally completed in 1963, and stood until thd Bangladesh Liberation War in
1971, when it was demolished completely. After Bangladesh gained independence
later that year, it was rebuilt. It was expanded in 1983.
 |
| Language Martyr Monument, Dhaka, Bangladesh |
Bangladeshis
celebrate the International Mother Language Day as one of their tragic days. Two
Bangladeshi persons living in Canada wrote a letter to the then UN Gen
Secretary Kofi Annan to take a step for saving the world's languages from
extinction by declaring an International Mother Language Day. Rafiq proposed
the date as 21 February to commemorate the 1952 killings in Dhaka during the
Language Movement.
What
is Mother Language?
Delhi
based socio-cultural organization Intellect, largely comprising of persons
hailing from Odisha presently settled in different north Indian cities last
year organized a seminar on mother language. I was one of the participants of
the seminar. I raised this question: what is mother language? The language that
the mother in a family speaks? What if the father and mother belong to two
different linguistic communities and live at a place where none speak those
languages? This is a situation- that is increasing especially in the mobile
upper class.
Veteran
journalist TJS George wrote in mainstream (Oct. 12, 2019): Matrubhasha (mother languge) is not necessarily
the language one’s mother speaks. The language with which we grow up, the
language in which we think is in effect our mother tongue. That is why vast
numbers of new-generation Indians have English as their mother tongue. In a few
years English-speaking new-gen Indians will become the old-gen majority in the
country. This is a natural process because young people learn English to do
well in life. Tamil parents settled in Delhi for life may have children who
consider Hindi their mother tongue. A Kerala man who spent his working life in
Hongkong sent his daughter to a Chinese-medium school. She grew up speaking
Cantonese and English and became completely alien to Malayalam.
Singapore
is an example of how phrases mesh with prevailing conditions rather than their
literal meanings. “Mother tongue” in Singapore means the language a citizen’s
ethnic group speaks whether the citizen and his mother speak it or not. “First
language” is the term for English which is effectively the country’s national
language. In Canada, French and English enjoy equality at the federal level. In tiny Switzerland German, French and Italian
are official languages with equal status. Mature democracies behave in mature
ways, making everyone feel equal.
Tail piece: The Rat Story
It was a practical session
in the psychology class.
The professor showed a
large cage with a male rat in it.
The rat was in the middle
of the cage.
Then, the professor kept a
piece of cake on one side and kept a female rat on the other side.
The male rat ran towards
the cake and ate it.
Then, the professor
changed the cake and replaced it with some bread.
The male rat ran towards
the bread.
This experiment went on
with the professor changing the food every time.
And, every time, the male
rat ran towards the food item and never towards the female rat.
Professor said: This experiment
shows that food is the greatest strength and attraction.
Then, one of the students
from the back rows said:
"Sir, why don't you
change the female rat? This one may be his wife!"
The professor stood
straight up his finger pointing towards the student and said "You are a genius"
***
Anthology of this weekly column published in 2020 has been
published in book form. Should you want a free e-copy of it, please write a
mail to mrinalchatterjeeiimc@gmail.com.
Friday, 19 February 2021
Monday, 15 February 2021
Sunday, 14 February 2021
Weekly Column in English | Window Seat | 14.2.21
Window
Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 14.2.21
Empathy Deficit
The word ‘empathy’ first appeared, misspelled as enpathy, in a 1909 lecture by the
Cornell psychologist Edward B Titchener, and in a translation credited to the
Cambridge philosopher and psychologist James Ward the same year. Inspired by
the German aesthetic term Einfühlung,
meaning "feeling into", Titchener compared empathy to an enlivening
process whereby an art object evoked actual or incipient bodily movements and
accompanying emotions in the viewer. Empathy goes beyond sympathy, which is broadly defined as
understanding how someone else feels.
Empathy
enables us to actually experience those
feelings for ourselves. We feel the emotional pain of others as if it was our
own. There is a Sanskrit word which comes quite close to it: samabedana (sama means same, and bedana
means pain). There is another word in Sanskrit: sahanubhuti, which means- feeling the same togather (saha means togather, anubhuti means feeling). In English it
translates to sympathy.
Modern
scientific discoveries show that empathy is hard-wired and that we are
primed for morality, hence the writer Jeremy Rifkin's claim that these circuits
are the source of humanity's desire for "intimate participation and
companionship". This finds resonance with several Indian and other oriental
seers’ claim of the basic goodness of human being[i]
and also with Scottish Enlightenment philosopher Adam Smith's notion of a
"moral sentiment".
Empathy
is vital for the running of a civilized society. Empathy is important for
developing social relationships and being able to live with others. In fact
empathy has often been termed as social glue- that binds the members of a
society- even if they are not personally related or even know one another.
However,
many feel that there is a downward trend in empathy levels, especially in young
people. People are moving away from other people’s sorrows and sufferings-
without feeling any sense of guilt or remorse. They are not coming forward to
help or to ease the suffering the way it used to be seen, say a generation ago.
Why is
this happening? There aren’t any clear answers to this question. Some pundits ICT (Information Communication
Technology) may be
largely to blame. ICT may make communication easier and more frequent, however,
it promotes only superficial connections rather than the deeper connections you
can only get in person. Another reason could be the constant push to succeed.
To be rich, at any cost. To acquire material possession- at any cost. And to be
happy at any cost- as if happiness is a physical entity and one can buy it with
loads of money. This misguided and fallacious notion of success and happiness
is making us soulless morons.
Empathy is the bond
on which human civilization sustains and thrives. Without empathy the bond
slackens, and so does the growth and advancement of the civilization. Without
empathy, we stop growing and gradually regress. Presently we are in a peculiar
situation- call it an existential crisis. Our body and science are in twenty
first century- poised for even further development. But our mind is regressing
to the middle ages. A me-only existence will give rise to a hollow
civilization.
Therefore, we need
to practice empathy- at individual level, at family level, at community level
and at societal level. Nature has endowed with empathy. We need to let the
feeling flow and translate it into action.
Love 360 degree
Come Valentine Day,
and there is an overdose of love all around. In fact, it is not confined in a
day- it has extended to a week. Every day of the Valentine week- is some day or
the other connected to love and romance. It begins with Rose Day. Propose Day,
Chocolate Day, Teddy Day, Promise Day, Hug Day, Kiss Day follow. The week ends
with Valentine Day. In the last ten-fifteen years or so Valentine Day
celebration has increased across the country. Market has an interest in it- as
it can commodify and monetize the
festivity.
Every action has
its equal and opposite reaction. So did Valentine day celebration. Some
thin-skinned and uber-sensitive people, who thought themselves to be the
guardian of ‘Indian culture and morality’- whatever that means – opposed the
Valentine day celebration with equal zest and some element of arm-twisting and lathi wielding. A section of such
zealots wanted everybody to celebrate February 14 as Matri-Pitri Pujan (Parents
Worship) day.
If Valentine Day
celebrates romantic and passionate love, Matri-Pitri Pujan day celebrates
filial love and the bond that exists between sons and daughters with their
patents.
Thus- February 14
has emerged as a day celebrating different hues of love. Call it Love 360
degree.
Positive
Doctor : Your liver is enlarged
Patient : Does that mean it has space
for more whisky ?
(This is called "Positive
Thinking”)
Lady to her dietician: - What l am
worried about is my height and not my weight.
Doc: - How come???
Lady: - According to my weight, my
height should be 7.8 feet...
(Now this is called "Positive
Attitude”)
A Man wrote to the bank. "My cheque
was returned with remark 'Insufficient funds'. I want to know whether it refers
to mine or the Bank".
(This is self confidence in its peak)
This one is classic!!
A cockroach's last words to a man who
wanted to kill it : "Go ahead and kill me, you coward. You're just jealous
because I can scare your wife and you cannot..!!!!"
Always be positive even in difficult
situations
Maidspeak
I called my friend on his landline to
wish him on his wedding anniversary today...
Their housemaid picked up. Asked her
where the couple is ???
She said, “Woh bahar gayen hain. Unka
Marriage Unnecessary hai !"
(Courtesy: Social Media)
***
Anthology of this weekly column
published in 2020 has been published in book form. Should you want a free
e-copy of it, please write a mail to mrinalchatterjeeiimc@gmail.com.
Sunday, 7 February 2021
Saturday, 6 February 2021
Friday, 5 February 2021
New Book | Review
Review
Looking at a
different dimension of Gandhi
Book Title: MAHATMA GANDHI: Sambadika O Sampadaka
Edited By: Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee & Snehasis Sur
Language: Odia
Publisher: Sephali Communications, Sanchar Marg, Dhenkanal
Pages 312, Price: 350/-
First Published January 2021
Review By: Aniruddha Jena
Edited by Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee and
Snehasis Sur, the book under review gives a different understanding and a lens
to see Mahatma Gandhi as a journalist and editor. Mahatma Gandhi, the person,
has been a subject to a number of books. We study him as a philosopher,
political thinker, leader, social reformer and so on. But this particular book
offers a different kind of outlook about the Mahatma.
There are twenty eight essays and
articles contributed by eminent writers, academics, scholars and
journalists.
Mahatma Gandhi realised the need to
become a journalist in 1903. By that time, he had foreseen the immense
potential of journalism in breaking the shackles of the authoritarian and
dominant force. He mobilised and influenced commoners through his impeccable
English writings and flawless ideas. He embraced the true values of journalism
and communicated the raw facts without messing up with the sanctity and essence
of it.
The essays and articles featured
here, present a range of ideas and values that were practiced by Mahatma Gandhi
as a journalist and editor. His philosophy of journalism was only and only
about rendering services for the holistic development of the society. He truly
used journalism as a catalytic tool to bring the spirit of positivity to
society.
This book, indeed is an essential and
enriching reading for all those who loves reading Mahatma Gandhi and his ideas.
In nutshell, the book aims at offering the journalistic acumen and this part of
his life and contribution.
***
Anirudha Jena is Doctoral Student at University of Hyderabad.
New Book |
Book Review
How politics is Bengal is changing in recent times
The Bengal Conundrum: The Rise of the BJP and the Future of the TMC
Author: Sambit pal
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Price: 799/-
Review by: Dr. Jyoti Prakash Mahapatra
As
West Bengal prepares to go for polls in the next few months, The Bengal Conundrum: The Rise of the BJP and
the Future of the TMC is a curtain-raiser for those who want
to understand the dynamics of the regional politics. Documenting the
contemporary political history, senior journalist Sambit Pal explains what led
to the sudden rise of the saffron camp in this Eastern Indian state. The book
critically evaluates Mamata Banerjee's tenure as West Bengal CM, her politics
and organizational structure, the reasons behind the Left's decline — how all
of them created a space for BJP to grow. The author also highlights how RSS-BJP
combined rejuvenated the Right-wing Hindutva politics and its organization to
pose a threat to the TMC. However, the book concludes the Mamata Banerjee of
January 2021 is not the same devasted leader of June 2019, immediately after the
Lok Sabha elections in which BJP won 18 out of 42 seats. There is a detailed
discussion on her bid to remake herself. This is a definitive book on how the
rise of the BJP has changed Bengal politics, considered to be the citadel of
the Left, in the last decade.
Tuesday, 2 February 2021
Monday, 1 February 2021
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