The value of the Mother tongue
By Karmayogi
The 1950s and 60s were the heydays
of Tamil. In 1956 when a college celebrated its centenary, the Education
Minister was the chief guest. The Principal spoke in English welcoming the
Minister. The Minister stood up and uttered his first word in Tamil and it was
greeted by a thunderous applause, Now-a-days we hear that Tamil is dying a slow
death. Many children are in English medium schools where the mother tongue is
neglected. Those students are not able to write Tamil. Some of them cannot even
read Tamil. It is a sad situation but can only be a passing phenomenon. The age
of great literature and expansive life do not go together. When life expands,
prose, especially commercial prose, expands. For great literature to be born,
the society must be stable for centuries. It happens only when the society
stagnates.
The mother tongue is buried in the subconscious. The subconscious is saturated
with the mother tongue. One hears it all the time. Great literature usually
emerges in poetry. It does so even in prose to a lesser extent. Such literature
represents the fullness of the writer's personality. It does not issue
from the surface mind. What is true of literature is true of music also.
Children can speak many languages. It will be useful. But it all emanates from
the surface mind, which is shallow. There is no evidence of great literature in
prose or poetry written in a language which is not the writer's mother tongue.
Sri Aurobindo has done it, as an exception, but we cannot compare ourselves to
Him, though as a possibility it stands before us.
Teaching the mother tongue is a serious requirement for any school that wants
the child to develop a balanced personality. The mother tongue gives a depth
which no foreign language can give. At times of crisis the first word is in the
mother tongue. A story illustrates it. Some one who was fluent in many
languages took lodgings in a house. The young boys were anxious to know what his
mother tongue was. One boy poured hot water on him while he was sleeping and
the man shouted his abuse in Tamil, disclosing that he is Tamil. The mother
tongue cannot die, except when language dies. Those who are devoted to language
know that the beauty one's own tongue reveals is not perceptible to him
in another language, in spite of his proficiency.