Is it necessary? The debate about how we all end up getting glamour in the language that somewhat 30 % of Indians can speak is never-ending and exhausting. But the truth stands that it has become an important language, if not just fascinating.
The first brush of speaking it and everyone being proud of it started in the institution of families and after that in our schools. Do you remember when your mother smiled when you started talking in English to a friend over a call? Even wider, if in a gathering. Have you felt the appreciation by teachers on an extempore on-stage completely in English with no mistakes and no nervous pauses? Aren’t there so many regrets by those who really want to speak it but only try and fail? Is it all about the confidence and personality? Has it become larger than just that?
I often wonder if the young students of my country who think of themselves as diminished because of a language that was less developed around them is fair or not. It compels me to think about why have we rushed into focusing on speaking English rather than developing common sense and fundamentals in a child. The confidence in the personality will weave in this language too, just like other things. But If this is the mark of judgment, we might just be seeing a lot of gold around us and thinking it to be dust.
Although I completely understand the dynamics of the real world and how important this skill is becoming, I don’t think this is the pillar or mark of excellence or smartness. We keep getting duped. When I see someone losing out on a great career opportunity because they were not well versed in English, and somehow it did not matter how excellent they were at their work, it diminishes the value of a person over a language. A confident person was considered eligible for work they weren’t good at only based on their communication skills in English. This is unfair and true, and ironically this bias is self-inflicted by society at large.
Language can unite, language can break and today English has become one new kind as it makes us judge and assess on top of this union and breakage. Knowing everything, we as non-native English speakers have prejudices against people who need to conquer it. As long as we need to have a fair judgment, this eye for English must be given less weightage as far as our country of multilinguals is concerned.
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