Why is Odia on the decline even after getting the coveted classical language tag? Why is it losing out to English, Hindi and other languages in public communication, especially among the younger generation? Why are colleges and universities having to shut down Odia departments? Why are there no takers for the subject at the graduate and post graduate levels? Why do people, even those of modest means, prefer sending their children to expensive English medium schools rather than their much cheaper Odia medium counterparts? Why do we meekly comply as English medium schools impose a ban on conversation in Odia among students in their premises? Why is it that upwardly mobile Odias don't talk to their children in Odia at home? Why is it that Odias use English or Hindi - or a bastardised version of Odia written in the English script at the most - in their posts on social media rather than use the Odia font available free on their computers or smart phones? Why do resident Odias use Odia less and less in their routine, daily communication even as non resident Odias work overtime to preserve the language far away from the land of their birth? Is it inferiority complex or something else? Is it the fact that our longest serving Chief Minister doesn't speak the language? Is it a result of some fundamental deficiency in the language itself?
These and other such questions have been tormenting me these past few days, ultimately forcing me do some loud thinking on the International Day of the Mother Tongue today. As someone born in what is known as 'bichhinnanchala' (separated/cut off land), Kharsuan to be precise, it is all the more painful to see Odia on the decline in mainland Odisha even as people in my native place and nearby areas walk the extra mile to preserve their language and culture in a hostile environment and often at a great price.
One possible answer was provided by eminent linguist Prof. BN Patnaik of Kharagpur IIT at the annual conclave of The Intellects, an organisation of Delhi based Odias working hard to preserve the language and culture in the national capital, last Sunday. Odia parents prefer sending their children to English medium, Prof Patnaik said, not because they are particularly enamoured of the language or are ashamed of their mother tongue, but because of the pitiable state of government run Odia medium schools. Prof. Patnaik certainly has a point. As someone who has had his schooling in government schools in some of the remotest areas in the state, I can see the massive decline in the quality of education on offer in Odia medium schools, even in the state capital, not to speak of the schools in hinterland. Had it not been for the mushrooming of Saraswati Shishu Mandirs which, for all their ideological affiliations, are doing yeomen's service to Odia, things would have been even worse. And once in an English medium school, the child inevitably develops a healthy disdain for his/her mother tongue because of the ban on the use of Odia in the campus.
The second reason for Odia losing out to English and other languages is that we have never really tried to make it the language of the workplace. We remain so obsessed with the antiquity and purity of our 'classical' language that we have never bothered to prepare quality text books in Odia on the sciences, humanities and management to encourage students to study these things in Odia. Paradoxically, our obsession with the classical language status has turned out to be a big stumbling block in the evolution of Odia as a language in tune with the modern times and the requirements of our youngsters. We have forgotten that language is a flowing river, not a static pond. We have shunned innovation, acquisition and coinage of new terms to encourage the younger generation to study in Odia. English has emerged as the language of international communication not because it has shut itself off from other languages and influences, but because it has proactively acquired and adopted words and terms from languages all over the world and has enriched itself in the process.
The third reason for the sorry state of Odia is the failure of successive governments to make it the language of official communication. What can be more ironical than the fact that the bulk of official business continues to be conducted in English in a state that was the first in India to be formed on linguistic basis (as far back as on April 1, 1936, a full 11 years before Independence!) and passed the Official Language Act way back in 1954. the And the fault lies not just with the present regime, headed by a man who has shown remarkable and unwavering determination not to learn Odia for two decades now. Every government since the Nabakrushna Choudhury government must share the blame. The fact that the government has steadfastly refused to pay any heed to a two-year long movement demanding penal provision for violation of the Act gives an idea of how well entrenched the anti-Odia lobby is. With no hope of a job, why should we expect that our younger generation will strive to acquire proficiency in the language?
Then there is the question of an inferiority complex which just cannot be wished away. Had it not been a fact, our people wouldn't have repeatedly elected - and with overwhelming majority at that - a man who has merrily cocked a snook at Odia for the better part of two decades. Nor would we switch over to English or Hindi at the first available opportunity, sometimes even while conversing with fellow Odias at the workplace or even in the family. We would proudly wish 'Happy Rajo' to each other and then defend it fiercely when someone points out that it's 'Raja'. Our TV channels would rather use Hindi terms like 'khulasaa', 'dhamakaa' and 'ghotalaa' rather than their Odia counterparts because they sound so 'sexy'! Adaptation is fine but not when you already have a word in your own language that adequately explains the same thing. If all this is not a sign of an inferiority complex, I don't know what it is.
A language so rich in antiquity, beauty and adaptability cannot be allowed to wither away just like that. And it's too serious a business to be left entirely to the government. Each of us must share the responsibility of protecting, preserving and enriching the language. On the occasion of International Mother Tongue Day, let us make a humble beginning by resolving to speak only Odia in the family, especially when talking to our children - and insisting that they do the same. As for the government, let it take a leaf out of the book of the Telangana government and make the teaching of Odia mandatory up to Class X, even in English medium schools.
(DISCLAIMER: This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are author’s own and have nothing to do with OTV's charter or views. OTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)