Ingilees or English?

Its been some time since I wrote a thing on English.

Recently the SC ruled out a verdict against the Government of Karnataka that parents had the right to choose the medium of instruction they want their kids to be educated in. Its been a issue for quite a while, while they want to promote local language, certain pro-activists wrongly assume that avoiding English as a medium of instruction can promote their language. Does it ever work that way?

How silly the thought is! Most of the law-abiding citizens who pay their tax regularly, get their money working for some MNCs where English is the language. The government gets its fund from taxes paid by these MNCs, foreign establishments; which uses English and only English. How come that they want the money but not the language that has helped many people find a job. Karnataka's software and service exports would be 44% of the country's total IT and back-end services. The software and back-office services were around $17 billion in 2007-2008.

Why cant the so-called academicians and patrons devise methods that could promote the language without rooting out the other. This is not about embracing a foreign language, but about fighting right. How many of these so called protectionists would be ready to send their kids to a non-English medium schools? Probe and one would know, their kids are safely snugged in a prestigious English-medium schools. Ask them to admit their kids in a school which has no English as its medium and they would back off.

There are so many young people from rural areas who struggle to find a decent job because of their lack of knowledge in English. If they really want to promote the language of their choice, what they have to do is first create equal job opportunities for the people without any bias.

That's one side of the story. But think this way - English has been already mutilated and murdered by us - so what big deal huh?

Ask a South Indian to spell Mango. He would go - Yam Yay Yen Gee Uoh
Or the neighbour who hails from UP is busy with Sadee 'selecsion' for her daughter.
Why cant we 'simbly' ignore this topic and search for some other 'oobtion'?
A Kannada-speaking uncle's son is a 'compooter' engineer in the Bay area with 'Waracallu' (That's Oracle Inc.)
A Tamil-speaking guy will 'bose' for a photo.
And a Bengali will find the 'breej' blowing from the sea very humid.

A receipt (which has to be pronounced as if its RECIT) is a receiPt (the 'p' pronounced magnanimously)
A plumber is a 'plumBer' (Isn't that supposed to be pronounced as in PLUMMER?)

Its an 'Honor' to be invited. (The fact that 'H' is to be silence is ignored)

We are very generous, isn't it? and our generosity amplifies this way too by pronouncing the letters that ought to be silenced.

Its not only with the pronunciation but with the orthography too.
We use the words in literal translation of our vernacular.

So 'chup-chupke' becomes 'simp-simply'. And there's 'Like That Only'.
People always say 'I am visiting my native' and never 'I am visiting my native town'.
'Native' means 'innate', 'elemental', 'domestic'.

Who cares when to use 'the' and when not to use it? How does it matter if I am watching TV or if 'I am watching the TV'? Or if I am on phone or on 'the phone'?

Oh yes, it doesn't matter even a silly with our liberal misuse of conjunctions and prepositions.

Why do we 'travel in the bus'? Instead of 'travel by bus'?
And its always 'waiting for someone' instead of 'waiting on someone'!

And yes, the apostrophe. My favorite - especially while using as a pronoun.
We tend to do something when not required. This is what exactly happens with our cute apostrophe.

Our's is a small flat down the road - or is it

'Ours is a small flat down the road'. ?

So, we have bruised the English enough, without our knowledge. The protectionists are only trying to bury it huh?


Image from itre.cis.upenn.edu/.../archives/2008_02.html

"May its Soul Rest in Piece....Err...Peace"