Prabuddha Jivan 2017 10 Matrubhasha Gandhiji ane Samprat Samay Visheshank

SR No.: 526111
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Sejal Shah
Publisher: Mumbai Jain Yuvak Sangh
Publication Year: 2017
Total Pages: 60
Language: Gujarati
Classification: Magazine, India_Prabuddha Jivan, & India
File Size: 11 MB

Page 53

who speak Gujarati as the first language. As per Census, the number of Gujarati-speaking people in the US is progressively rising, and the figure now stands at 287,367. Never the less, Gujarati language with due veneration has been introduced in Government offices and Consulates. There are separate forms available in some consulate for individuals who use Gujarati as their first language and translators are certainly made accessible for those who do not comprehend English dialect.
This is when we realize, and can reveal the fact that it is through mother tongue that the bondage is thriving on this foreign land. Although English and Spanish is the most dominant language in the United States, Gujarati society is enthralled to use their mother tongue in their dialect and linguistics when they meet a fellow Gujarati. It is this dialect that makes them feel at home, contours them the comfort, ease, and solace. It is the language that serves the embellishment to burgeon amity and warmth within the Gujarati society of a distant land from its culture and heritage. Be it a grocery store or a government office if a Gujarati traces another personnel speaking Gujarati language, the lustrous smile outflows like a rainbow in the wide sky! I do not surprise myself living in New Jersey and around the USA when I hear whispers "Tame Gujarati cho? Hu pan Gujarati !" What a beautiful way to connect and embrace oneself!
Allow me to enfold one of the episodes of my life when my older son was 5-year-old. As suggested by my father, I never introduced English to my children in their early age. Though for them to get into a school in the USA, they ought to learn the English language. But I always conversed in my mother tongue-Gujarati with them. My affectionate words in their babyhood were Gujarati and my worldly cuddles for them were in Gujarati. Yes, as they stepped out of the home, when they went to preschool and met friends, they pick up English language, but in the present time, when they are young boys, they are still connected with their roots by means of their mother tongue. I am sure they would never forget their mother tongue as this language was encrypted into their senses when they gained their senses. And it so happened one day. My son met another girl in the playground, who spoke in Gujarati to him, and his expressions amazed me. His
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smile ensured me, that he felt more connected to her and he ran up to me with a surprise and amusement. He said, "Mummy that girl speaks Gujarati, so does that mean I can marry her when I grow up, as she speaks the same language as me?" His innocence assured me, that if every Gujarati parent hails their child's early days of life with their mother tongue, the rich and glorious Gujarati culture will enthrall rest assured in this world.
Being fortunate to reside in New Jersey, It is not my illusion but the fact that majority of Gujarati population here makes sure their children learn their mother tongue. Jain Pathshala facilitates Gujarati language class on regular basis and so does Swaminarayan school of religion and culture. I have visualized that many parents here converse in Gujarati with their children at home and most of them incorporate Gujarati as their first language of parlance within the family, with just one hope that the future of Gujarati language would not belittle and would be conveyed to generations. With the hope that they can go back home and connect to their fellow beings and family. Speak their heart out with their grandparents in their own language. But there also exist parents who consider speaking in Gujarati in society would be considered as a lingo and could be seemed substandard. But it dismays me to learn this fact when such individual does not understand the relevance of accepting their mother tongue as their first language. They adapt to different foreign culture but what about their own culture? Is it not just as important to retain and constrain their own culture? And if we do not foster and cherish our culture in our children then the epoch would be around the corner when they will lose their identity and will not have any inkling about their own heritage and culture where they belong and come from. I foresee such individuals coming from Gujarati heritage to come out of their ambiguity about this illusion that speaking a foreign language would be considered as an enhanced entity.
Talking about facts, research has shown that students who chose to select English as their first language and not their mother tongue, often suffer from identity loss and amnesia about their grandparents, great-grandparents, and their ancestors. (Contd. on Page No. 57)
પ્રબુદ્ધ જીવન ઃ માતૃભાષા, ગાંધીજી અને સાંપ્રત સમય વિશેષાંક
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