English Vinglish and more.....not a review.

English Vinglish was the most awaited movie in recent times, the comeback movie of the yesteryear actor Sridevi. The storyline of the movie which reflects reality is ably  directed by Gauri shinde and fantabulously enacted by the whole cast. 

The storyline is simple but handled beautifully. It is laced with a potpourri of  human emotions most of which are identifiable in most middle class homes. Infact, the protagonist character is said to be inspired by the director Gauri's own mom. 

Sashi Godbole ,  a middleclass  Maharashtrian house wife is also an entrepreneur who sells “laddu” to make her own money. She does not  know to speak English and so she is ridiculed by her family. She is the object of  humour by her husband ( fantastic acting by Adil hussain)  and her children who make fun of her English and have scant regard for her talent and her duti consciousness towards her family.

 Meanwhile Sashi is invited by her sis in Manhattan to help her in the wedding plans of her niece. She travels to US alone and how she enrolls herself in a crash course in English with her peers from Spain and France and learns to speak English  forms the story line. The finale where she delivers  the  wedding speech in her niece’s wedding is one of the high moments of the movie. There are many such soft moments  with subtle lessons on  loyalty, dedication, familial love,  perseverance and values of institution like marriage – all these without being preachy.

Like I said in my title, this is not about the movie but the message from the movie. What is about the language of English that enamors many families?  Isn’t it a language like any other language. A means of communication,  a medium to capture feelings and emotions like love, respect and transact business.

I remember long back when I was moving up the elevator in my block, my neighbour’s kid  a 3 year old who was with her dad was crying. When I questioned him about it?  He said, she did’nt  attend her school interview in English and so he was worried that she might not be admitted in the school. He said  “much as I try to speak to her in English, she refuses to respond to me back”.  He had been scolding her all along and hence the teary eyed girl.

 I am not being judgemental about him here, it is his child and his choice. But why force a 3 year old to speak in English? Won’t she take to the language like a fish to the water when in school. After all she has the whole lot of her life  to learn. What is wrong in speaking her mother tongue?

Similarly, I approached a kid who spoke my mother tongue with a line in tamil. The mom proudly said “No Asha, he does’nt speak tamil. He speaks fluent English though”. The child is hardly 2.5 years old.

Today , it is considered trendy in most families to speak in English. Even if the child tries to express in their mother tongue, the parents or grandparents cut short the child and respond to him/her in English.

Isn’t it important for a child to think and learn her mother tongue also? 

 I agree many of today’s children are born in intercultural families. But then the child has the opportunity to learn dual languages. Isn’t it?  Contrary to belief this is not confusing to the child.  Statistics claim that learning more languages only makes the brain more engaging, active and the child utilizes a greater percentage of the brain. Multilinguals have a higher performance rate than monolinguals  on tests of intelligence, inventiveness and problem solving ability and creativity.  Then why restrict them only to English. Let them learn as many languages as possible along with French , Spanish, add your own mother tongue.

I honestly feel English language has its own limitations. The emotions nestled in the deeper crevices of the human mind and heart can seldom be expressed with English.  These can be best expressed in your mother tongue/native language. English for me is not an emotional language but a language of business. The rate at which English is given importance today, I doubt if any other language will flourish 50 years hence.

 I am not against English language. My own thought process and soliloquies are in English. This is the most spoken language today especially in the field of work. No second thoughts about it. It is just that it feels bad  when parents refuse to teach their children or reprimand when they express in their mother tongue and put them on track in English.

Anyways, these are my thoughts. What are yours?