Now that sounds a little too harsh to a typical Nagpurian, but a Nagpurian who lives in a metro might agree with the title.English is more or less considered a foreign language in Nagpur. So many Nagpurians decide to eschew the use of the language so that they might not pass off as a foreigner in their own land or other reasons . So many of them end up being less fluent is the usage of the language. Not a big liability if you plan on staying in Nagpur your whole life, but a huge loss if you want to enter the big corporate world in the urban universe. As an English speaker I find the standard of English usage in Nagpur poor. Take for example, I had to meet my friend one afternoon.
Here is an excerpt of the conversation.
Me: Yeah, dude where should I come?
Him: Yeah, come at Nyne.
Me: Come at nine? As in nine o clock?
Him: Come at nyne. Nyne lounge.
Me: Okay. Nyne lounge. Okay . Where is that now?
Him: Its at Dharampeth, I will text you the address. See you there.
Me: Okay dude. See you there. (Clicks)
Well did you notice a common communication error which is present or shall I say is the crux of the conversation?
Come at is a time based statement. E.g: Come at Seven.
Come to is a place based statement. E.g: Come to Thousand Oaks.
Remember English classes in IV th grade?
Maybe that’s the reason why English movies are always released Hindi dubbed in Nagpur or maybe otherwise. Well that as I would say is demeaning to Nagpur itself as an upcoming global city. Imagine a person from a metro has come to Nagpur to seal a business deal. He has a day or two free and decides to checkout what Nagpur has to offer to him. He tries out cinemax and what does he see?. Pirates of the Caribbean released as “SAMUNDAR KE LUTERE”. Some more include MAYAJAAL ( Matrix ) , Me and Mrs Sharma ( Mr and Mrs Smith ) and MAUT KA CHUMMA ( The Kiss of the Dragon ) What is he going to think?
Am I in a small town or do the people over here really don’t understand English at all ?? Now imagine if the aforementioned person is a foreigner. I’ll leave your imagination to do the rest. Today’s globalized world calls for a sound knowledge of the English language. India is seen as an investors paradise abroad for its low costs, cheap labor and good English speaking crowd. The last part actually is a huge advantage which even our closest(literally) rival China doesn’t have. With Mihan and various other developments in the city we are set to be high lighted on the map of India, but to be a truly International city we must embrace the corporate culture like our sister city Pune. That can happen when we start to take English seriously as a Indian language rather than a foreign language.
When our Nagpur youth go to other cities in search of jobs, it is there they realize how wrong they were in not embracing the language and end up struggling, most of the times. They fall behind even though they are more talented than their peers. Living in Pune and seeing this happen to my home folks pains me. During my interviews, interviewers have remarked that inspite of being from Nagpur my English is good which filled my heart with rage and despair at the same time. Is this the reputation of Nagpur we want people from other cities to have?
So what are we going to do about it? We are taught English in our schools but even in our class rooms we do not speak the language. Unless we communicate in English at schools and colleges we cannot expect the youth who are the cornerstones of our generation to be at par with metro kids. We need total English speaking campuses so that our students get more and more fluent with the usage of English. Teachers ought to be more strict on campuses who refuse comply with the language. The use of English language right from nursery or kg2 level should be given top priority. Emphasis is given today in schools only on written part of the language, but schools should focus more on the phonetical and oral part of it too. Also, we need to have more plays in English. We could invite various
theater groups from Mumbai & other metros to perform and have tours of our city colleges. This will give the younger generation a slice of life from the urbanizers themselves. Not only will those confident young lads entertain them but also enlighten them ….. in English.
We need to have English movies in English itself and not in hindi. We can have them subtitled so that everyone can understand it but we should not dub them and release them in Nagpur. If we are to become a truly global city, we need to embrace global culture with open arms and have something to offer to everyone. With the world shrinking in boundaries people don’t need to travel all the way for certain exotic luxuries, they can have them in the comfort of their own cities. We sure want Nagpur to be one of those cities don’t we?
Lastly, walk and talk, talk and walk, walk and talk. Now I am not promoting Idea mobile here. I am just saying if you want to improve your English just keep speaking the language. You will get more fluent with daily usage. Read more English novels, newspapers,magazines. The more you read the more your vocabulary will improve. Use the internet, perhaps the most comprehensive and intensive tool for learning today. There are various free English learning programs available online. Check them out.
Well in the words of Darwin who said ”It's not the strongest or the most intelligent of the species who survive , it’s the ones most adaptive to change”. The world is changing at the blink of an eye. What side you want to stand on is upto you.
