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This post is NOT an attack on any language / linguistic group. This post merely attempts to tell folks to NOT mix linguistic pride and linguistic arrogance. Your language is special for you, mine is special for me and his is special for him. Doesn't matter if its classic / new / old. If you throw your linguistic supremacy back at some one who is demonstrating his, this world will be a terrible place to live and communicate. Not knowing a language is fine, but not knowing one / not wanting to know one is not something that you should be proud of that you advertise it publicly.
I am a Tamil who grew up in Kerala, living in Bengaluru, married to a Telugu girl and studied in north India. I speak fluent Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and English, semi fluent Kannada and broken Telugu. I can also pull off very limited Haryanvi / Marwari / some bit of Bundelkhandi. This is a response to a some monumentally absurd arguments in a profusely shared blog (not linking it, as I don't want to give it more airtime) about how Tamil folks won't learn Hindi because of their love for Tamil.
Alright, now to my point.
Arrogance by any linguistic group - Hindi speaking, Malayalee, Tamil, kannadiga or Punjabi is the same and needs to be opposed. Languages should never be shoved down anyone's throat. Languages are intended to foster communication and not deter it. Communication is key to social living and facilitating communication goes a long way in making people feel comfortable in living in a society. I have, personally commented on folks irrespective of their mother tongue showing linguistic arrogance in the past in my limited public channels.
I spent 80% of my life in Kerala - I love Malayalam. I don't specifically love *any* other language, I din't feel the need. My love for Malayalam is never on the basis of it being a classical language or not. But never once in my life have I felt superior because I love a certain language - It is not needed. Fearing other languages taking over a language that you love has a very simple definition in English - Insecurity. Being insecure of something is totally fine and human - advertising it with pride is a little weird.
IMHO, choosing not to learn any other language because you love your language is as absurd as saying I will eat and allow anyone around me to eat only curd rice because introduction of other cuisines will kill curd rice (and hence my identity) for ever. Linguistic pride is inherent to every individual, and choosing what to learn and what not to is also a matter of choice. However, proudly announcing that one would Never learn a language is regressive. If you are choosing not to learn a language, its fine, it's not something that requires a public broadcast and a series of shares.
Read Part 2 here: I am Tamil so I won't learn Hindi (Part 2)
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