Are We Coconut's !?!?

I wanted to take up a topic that many people would rather not think much. By “People” I mean persons related to common stream of life. A Nation is made up of “People”.

“Nationalism” is a term that every citizen has to know by meaning but not just for “fashion”. Today corporate are selling this, they hold events on August 15Th, January 26Th.
Definitely they have film stars and models dancing for few filmy desh-bhakti songs that too half naked.

Today, here I am not pointing out mistakes of few “money making” people. Rather here I wanted to point out what the other 98% “People” are doing. A blog or a passage would not be sufficient to line up every mistake, so the recent thing that I have read and I have noticed are today’s topics.

The latest "craze" in India is English, anybody would agree with me on this. Today there are more institutes teaching English than anything else in India. Ok, so what’s the big deal if they are teaching the “universally” accepted language? It helps the domestic BPO’s, IT industry and also the abroad going students.

But, just by learning English would India grow up to be a “Super Power”?

In any science a theory should be proven until then it is not accepted. Here the politicians, the educationists and the common people have this theory of Learn English become an English man to succeed. The main reason for this is India was ruled by a country which had an n Empire that never had a sunset. So, for us they are our leaders, icons, role models. We have the constitution, rules, penal codes and most important Education that they have taught us.

Today, the world scenario has changed. The most advanced countries in the world of Science and Technology, Strategy and War fare are the countries which have the minimal education in English. If we observe the French, the Israelis', the Russians', the Chinese, the Japanese, the Koreans’ and Dubai have very less command over English.

These all countries were occupied or had influence of the British. I need not be a political analyst or a language analyst to just observe these things. All I need is a little bit of interest. I have never heard a scientist, a politician or a football fan or a traveler to India speaking fluent and understandable English from these and many more developed countries.

Contrary to this come to India, even a rickshaw puller can understand English today. He almost un-consciously speaks English in his sentences. Coming to the educated clan what should I say almost all, including me cannot speak a whole sentence without using a single English word. I did try to follow a rule that either I speak the whole sentence in my mother tongue or in English. But, these experiments last only for few hours. After that again the same pattern continues. The “pattern” that many urban Indians would agree with me, half English, and half mother tongue.

You can observe any T.V. programme, any speech, any lecture, any gathering of your cousins, every where you will find this “Pattern”. We “Indians*” are always half baked. One of my acquaintances who worked in U.K was ridiculed by a co-worker who happens to be an English that they nick name Indian’s as “Coconuts”. The reason, “we are ‘brown’ by appearance but ‘white’ inside”.

I have not deviated from the earlier point. “Nationalism” need not always be expressed by going to 10k runs, to charity shows with naked girls, wearing flags on shirts on Independence Day. Nor is it necessary to do harder things which we always could do after watching a desh-bhakti movie. We cannot go out bashing the corrupt like our hero does.

All we have to do is try hold on to our centuries old culture which gave this world wisdom, science and philosophy.



Note:* Proud to be born in Bharath, but alot to be done to make India - Bharath.