Ive been reading a few blogs lately by Indian bloggers and I noticed how most of them will have a post that criticises Indians that dont speak Tamil. Their reasons are that as an Indian, we should be able to converse in our mother tongue atleast. Well i agree with that, honestly. I think we should all be proud of our culture and heritage. But then again what is so wrong in conversing in English?
There seems to be a general misconception among some people that Indian girls / guys that speak English are usually not intouch with their heritage and culture and are often spoilt brats.
I agree I am one of those who can't really speak Tamil, not because I choose not to but because I was not expose to the Tamil language when I was young. You see I come from a mixed parentage where my mom is not a Tamilian therefore the usual language used at home is English. I picked up hindi through my mom and Bollywood movies. But Tamil was rarely spoken at home and now Im proud to say Im finally learning the language.
But the question here is, is it fair to label all those who can't speak tamil as a disgrace to the community? If you answer yes then Im NOT sorry to say that you are judgmental. Just because i dont speak the language doesnt mean i dont respect the culture. Iv seen how some who speak fluent Tamil,curse in that language. Does that make us proud? Definitely not! The words that they use, OMG!! You speak about preserving the culture well then please instead of judging and blaming those who cant speak Tamil for spoiling the names of Tamilians, maybe you could just walk in to a club on a weekend and see how some of these tamil speaking people are behaving. I know that knowing your mother tongue is important but its not right to overlook one's character and call one a disgrace just because the person doesnt know the language. Instead of judging you should maybe try to help these people learn the language.
Having said that, I have also met those wannabes that pretend, (yes they pretend... -.-") to not know tamil just to look cute. How i know its fake? Well these people will be talking in proper tamil with their family members but when it comes to their friends they go all "ennakku tamil konjum konjum teriyum" ( I know tamil just a little) Come on la guys, if you know the language then why hide it? why pretend? Isnt knowing more languages a good thing? I would love to learn Tamil and I am learning it now though my friends would really like me to stop killing the language. ;)
So guys, what i am trying to say here is that dont be judgmental. Never judge a book by its cover as it's content may suprise you. Be proud of your heritage. Learn the language if you dont know it since learning a new language is always an advantage. And dont criticises those who dont know the language and try to make them see the advantage of learning it instead.
ps/: please disregard any errors on spelling and grammar since this was typed out in a hurry and in a state of sleepiness thank you. ;)
A good write :). As you said there is nothing wrong if you don't know to speak in your mother tongue but shouldn't pretend like don't know. Proud that you are learning tamil now days and your tamil is improving day by day. And I'm aware that I'm one of the friend who always ask you to stop speaking in Tamil because as you said you were "killing" the language:P. But I'll try not to say it again. Note:I'll "try":P
ReplyDeletehahahahaha...well thank you..
Deleteof course my tamil is getting better since i have 'sifu' like you guys... ;)
go and see other indian race and chinese, then u will feel guilty of it........
ReplyDelete