Re: Re: Re: Re: [nukkad] Between the lines [Contd]

["Mahesh chandra gupta" <>]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tip of the day:  If you are going on vacation, remember to (temporarily) 
unsubscribe from "nukkad". This will avoid a stuffed Inbox.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Homi,
You have mentioned a second time about that cow piece being 
hilarious. It is. But, between the line, it is pathetic. Not 
because the IAS officer in Bihar does not know good English, but 
because he is expected to have an excellent command over English, 
no matter if he has a good grasp of the socio-political ethos and 
administrative rules and regulations etc. It is this slavery to 
English which, I feel, is a major cause of alienation of the 
masses from the government. The government is IAS and IAS thrives 
on English. The English- Hindi [read English- Indian language] 
barrier provides an effective barrier between the ruler and the 
ruled. As long as that barrier exists, there can be no real 
democracy. The interests of the ruler are best served by keeping 
the masses illiterate; if education has at all to be given, in 
diluting the efficacy of that education. That dilution is what is 
reflected in the IAS officer's cow essay. I am not going to 
believe the fellow is a complete dud. He must have passed the 
prelims and the final and he must have scored pretty high in these 
to compensate for the weakness in English.

The issue of English is one on which i have pretty strong views, 
based on not emotions but deliberate contemplation and study. I am 
lucky i had an environment where I could develop pretty good 
skills in both hindi and English. My brother was heading the 
deptt. of Hindi in Delhi University, while my father, born 1906, 
was a fairly brilliant student of English and taught English in a 
senior secondary school at a time when the standards of English 
had not deteriorated in India. This background encouraged me to 
study both languages in some depth and also to write and publish 
extensively in both, though largely on technical subjects.

I have been avoiding so far to give vent to my views about English 
on the nukkad list, but as i write this response to you, I have 
resolved to post this mail on the list too, for wider discussion. 
This might as well help in deviating attention from the 
Hindu-Muslim theme, a bit stale by now.

Regards

MC Gupta
=========================================================
On Thu, 04 Apr 2002 aryaone wrote :
  In my own humble way, I have tried a rendering of the original 
keeping
intact the gazal rythm for the benefit of non-Hindi-Urdu speaking 
members of
the list. >

In my not so humble way I have caused you to write it. smiling).

By the way, that Cow piece was madly hilarious.

I am going to frame it.

And I am humbled at my English.

A.



------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Subscribe [Unsubscribe] send a blank message to 
        nukkad-list-request@mumbai-central.com 
with the word 'subscribe' ['unsubscribe'] (without quotes) in the Subject 
of your message.
The list is archived at  http://www.mumbai-central.com/nukkad/archive.html