Triple Stream – Editorial

TRIPLE STREAM

ENGLISH ON TAP BUT NOT ON TOP

I. V. Chalapati Rao

Mahatma Gandhi is not the monopoly of India. English is not the monopoly of England. Both are common property of the world. One of the blessings in disguise of the British rule in India and the legacy that they left behind is English which served the people of India for decades in many ways as a thoroughly serviceable language, as an All ­India Medium and as an international link. As a medium of instruction at University level it did promote inter-university contacts, mobility of teachers and students and inter­ state friendship. It was not a surprise that a great patriot like Rajaji called it ‘a gift of the Goddess of Learning, Saraswathy’.

A statesman with vision like Jawaharlal Nehru declared in the parliament that English should continue as an ‘Associate official language’ for an indefinite period. He had the courage and imagination to say this even in those lush days of the first flush of freedom, when some well-meaning chauvinists and parochial-minded men wanted to replace it with Hindi in haste. As a rationalist with a pragmatic and workman like approach to problems, Nehru realised that English was an essential tool, or a common property like telephone, wrist watch, cricket, tennis, surgery, industrialisation and parliament. In reply to criticism from some Arab Nationalists The Egyptian Gazette of Nasser’s Cairo said ‘English is not the property of capitalist Americans but of all the world’. One of the best-sellers in the book-shops of Moscow was said to be the English Grammar.

After fifty years of independence it is neither just nor justifiable to say that the British system of education if responsible for all our ills. Even in those pre-independence days introduction of English was supported by a people-oriented movement led by patriots and social reformers like Raja Rammohan Roy, who realised that the reading of the classics in English would strengthen the spirit of nationalism and promote a critical temper and a social conscience; besides providing easy access to modern science and technology. If the needs of science justified its continuance, the claims of commerce and the dynamics of world contact demanded the strengthening of its study in addition to the mother tongue which is a ‘must’.

Law governs people’s lives in the modem world. Speaking on ‘the role of English for the development of the Indian law’ on 3-2-­1982 at the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Justice Krishna Iyer, Retd. Judge of the Supreme Court of India, called for a fuller utilisation of the English language. He said ‘English Law is one of the blessings of the British rule. Indian Law has its well-springs of growth and development in the languages of English - an instrument that served to unify and modernise our legal system’. With its faint glimmerings of the Magna Carta our magnificent constitution is made in English but not in England. Having evolved in the direction of simplicity and acquired precision and polish through centuries of use and constant borrowing from other languages, it came to possess a vigour and clarity that is seldom seen in any other language.

English was found suitable for the pattern of higher education as it not only transmits a body of knowledge but also inculcates a spirit of enquiry and the quest for the unknown or ‘adventure in ideas’ (a phrase coined by Jawaharlal Nehru). Even according to the statistics collected long ago, 400 million people, nearly one in ten, use English as their primary language and 700 million, nearly one in four can understand it to some extent. It was estimated that 12,000 scientific journals, 80,000 new scientific treatises, 20,00,000 research papers were being published in English every year. How can any educational system spurn an inexhaustible treasure? All this wealth and variety of information and new knowledge cannot be translated into our Indian languages in forseeable future. By the time one book is translated by the Telugu Academy or any academy of regional languages, a hundred new books, Encyclopedias and Journals, will emerge in English. The rate of translation can never keep pace with the rate of production of printed books in English. We cannot put forward the clock of history by a mere manipulation of the dial. Science and Technology are girdling the paglobe today at an amazing speed. By the time translation puts on its boots to go after the original in English the latter hurtles round the earth!

A University degree taken with the help of a single text book on a subject in regional language, however eminent may be the author, cannot really provide a standard comparable to international standards. The present policy of switching over to the regional medium of higher education is justified. However, we need to strengthen the study of English because it gives direct access to the ever-expanding horizons of thought and knowledge in the world. It is only the close collaboration between English and the regional language that can maintain and raise the standards of education. It is for this purpose that English continues today as a subject for compulsory study as recommended by all the Education commissions including the Kothari Commission.

The question of Medium of Instruction at collegiate level is no longer in the realm of theory or speculation. The Regional Language was introduced as medium of instruction for the 2-year Intermediate course in 1969 in Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh was the trend-setter and the pace-setter in this respect! Other states followed suit in, due course. As its logical corollary it was extended to the 3-year Degree Course in 1971. In about the same time the ‘Official Language Bill’ was passed. As the then Deputy Director of Higher Education I had the opportunity and experience of implementing the policy and watching the experiment at close quarters.

The scheme which constitutes a major reform in the field of higher education enjoys the support and blessings of National Leaders like Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi and expert bodies such as the Radhakrishnan Commission of 1948, the National Integration Council of 1961, the Vice-Chancellors conference of 1962 and the Kothari Commission of 1964. However, the change-over had to be smooth and orderly, carefully planned and efficiently executed in phased programme with adequate preparation. Keeping this in view the Kothari Commission recommended that the change­over should be effected with a period, not exceeding ten years. This cautious approach was recommended to avoid an unplanned drift and an adhoc manner of implementation. But the committee of the Members of Parliament (constituted to examine this matter) and the conference of State Education Ministers suggested a time - limit (dead line) of five years. All this happened earlier.

It is instructive to go through the Comprehensive Report of the U.G.C. on Medium of Instruction published in 1961. It is a well-considered report of 123 pages prepared by the Working Group headed by Prof. Govindarajulu Naidu, Vice-Chancellor of S.V. University, Tirupathi. It has cautioned that a good number of books should be made available on each paper and they should be upto date. There upon Regional Language Academies were established to produce text books and also reading material. These books should have been revised updated and republished periodically ‘to chop off dead wood and put in new grafts’. The suggested policy is to retain the English technical terms which are in International use for sciences and humanities.

Let us recall the directive from the President of India issued in the Ministry of Home Affairs Notification dated 27-4-1960, which reads; ‘In the field of Science and Technology the terms in international use should be adopted with minimum change i.e., the base words should be those at present in use in international terminology; the derivatives may be changed to the extent necessary’. The provocation for this notification must have been the misguided zeal of some linguistic fanatics in coining new words and translating the terms in to the regional language in an obscurantist fashion. It is desirable to transliterate the terms (but not to translate them) and to use simple and near-conversational language, scrupulously avoiding ‘bookish’, hackneyed and obscure language which one doesnot find in active speech and functional writing. Although efforts were made to avoid the pedantic language of the ‘Purists and Pandits’, there is still scope for improvement of the language of the text-books. In fact even English text books suffered from the same vice of pedantry.

Even for those, whose mother tongue is the regional language, special training and orientation courses are necessary because knowing a language is one thing and acquiring ability and facility to use it for a specific professional purpose is another. It requires touch with the substance, the actual words and modes of expression. Those aspects of retraining of teachers who have to teach through the regional language, do not appear to have received the attention that is deserved. As a result of this neglect, a vast majority of students have preferred to join English medium classes! Today there is a rush for admission in English medium institutions. There is meaning in doubling the patriotism of the parents who are more interested in the future of their children than any thing else. A lot has to be done and undone to create confidence in the people.

The following problems are identified as we observe the working of the system of implementation of the present policy of the medium of instruction.

a. In Universities the medium is still English. As we have two streams of under graduate students, (English and the regional language) seeking admission to Post-graduate courses where the medium continues to be English, those who come from the regional medium find themselves to be at a disadvantage. No orientation programme can be adequate to bring them to the level of the other stream of students. (In fact there is no such orientation programme for these students). Suitable books in regional language are available for Intermediate class.

b. Most of the competitive examinations/tests/interviews for recruitment to jobs in public and private sectors place emphasis upon mastery of English. The Regional medium student is by-passed in the job market. This is a sad state of affairs.

c. As English is available only in metropolitan places and District Head Quarters, students in mofussil places and rural areas and poor students who cannot go to distant places are severely handicapped. This amounts to discrimination.

d. At present, institutions of professional education including Medical Colleges and Engineering Colleges offer instruction only in English. All books and journals are only in English.

Inspite of these problems and practical difficulties, there is no going on the existing policy. But the teaching of English which continues to be a subject of compulsory study should be strengthened. Those who teach non-language subjects are expected to read all the books and journals that are readily available in English and teach through the regional medium. Even the students should read a wide variety of books in English and answer their examination papers in the regional medium. The hidden intent of the policy-framers needs to be made explicit time and again. The U.G.C. and the government of India are expected to provide more responsible leadership and guidance in the matter. As education is concurrent subject the states should not be encouraged to drift for themselves. It is specially necessary and urgent because some Hindi­ speaking states have raised the slogan ‘Angreji Hatao’ very recently. Of course politicians are behind it. This will be suicidal and a set-to national integration. Some of these language chauvinists want to impose Hindi on non-Hindi-speaking people of India overtly and covertly, by removing even the Associate Official language status from English.

All things considered, English has an assured future. Its study in higher education should be strengthened. But English cannot continue for ever as a medium of instruction. Eventually even Post-graduate colleges may switch over to the regional media. Even Sanskrit is now taught to some extent in English. Bilingualism may continue. The study of English will assume greater importance.

However in future English should be taught as a ‘language’ and not as a ‘literature’ (except for those who choose it as an elective subject). English language will be considered as a tool as a vehicle for ideas and as a window and gate-way to what is happening in the wide world outside. Rabindranath Tagore said “The use of literature for teaching the language is like trying to use the sword for shaving the beard. It is bad for the sword and harmful tothe chin”.

This being so, teachers of English must change their habits of thinking and methods of teaching. They should no longer adopt a sentimental or emotional approach toEnglish literature. They should stop thinking that there is no English without Shakespeare and Milton. Instead of romanticising and rhapsodising on their favourite poets, they should turn their attention to functional writing-simple and business - like prose avoiding words of a “learned length and thundering sound”.

It may be paradoxical but true that we should use English to serve and strengthen our regional languages and to put our own great poets and national heroes on the world stage by translating or writing about them in English. We can let the Western world know about our own cultural heritage and achievements in the Fine Arts like Music, Dance, etc. Many such things could be done by using the English language. There are many possibilities. Two-way translation has immense usefulness. Further we should use it to establish contact with the other countries and their languages and literatures.

The Indian National Commission of UNESCO has declared at its Madras conference on 31-8-1968 that the use of English for study of Science and Technology will be indispensable. Dr. Trigun Sen, the former Union Education Minister said ‘Let us continue to study English which opens a window on the world and enriches our own languages, but not English which alienates us from 90% of our countrymen and becomes a status symbol of a privileged and exploiting class”. We need not pronounce the English words in such a manner that we are mistaken for Englishmen or Americans in darkness! We need not mimic the superficial fashions.

In conclusions, let me quote Mahatma Gandhi who said ‘I keep the windows of my mind open forall the winds to blow. But I do not allow myself to be blown off my feet’. English should be tap, though not on top.

MISCELLANY

Awards

Mrs. Manjula Papmanabhan, was awarded the prestigious Greece’s top honour, the Onasis International Cultural award for 1997, for her play “HARVEST” which depicts exploitation of poorer countries by developed nations. The Selection Committee of the Onasis Foundation was unanimous in selecting it as the best out of 40 entries and termed it as ‘One of the masterpieces of theatrical art’. Greece’s President Costis Stephanopoulus will present the award on 16th September, 1997.

The prestigious Raman Magsaysay award, for 1997 was awarded to the noted literator Mahasweta Devi for her outstanding contribution to journalism, literature and creative arts for the advancement of the aborginal tribes in India.

R.I.P.

We are sorry to state that the following members of the TRIVENI family left for the heavenly abode recently.

1 Dr. Bezawada Gopala Reddy, (Nellore) a writer and former Governor of many States and former Chief Minister. He was a Member of the Advisory Board of TRIVENI for many long years.

2. Sri Mamidipudi Pattabhiram, (Madras) a regular columnist of TRIVENI on political affairs. He was Associate Editor of the THE HINDU. Like his illustrious father, late Prof Mamidipudi Venkatararangaiah, he was closely associated with TRIVENI.

3. Dr. B. Dayananda Rao, (New Delhi), eminent Neuro Surgeon and author of a compilation of Karnatak music.