Speak proud

At work, my team comprises of people from all over the world. So as part of our Friday evening fun, we sometimes have these sessions where people teach languages from wherever they come. So far, we've been taught how to ask a girl out for a date in Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish, Portuguese and Hindi. Yeah, thats on the last slide. ;) So it usually begins with the first greeting of either hi or hello in the language, good morning, good bye, etc.

So at least we try to learn a few phrases and repeat them in front of the people who taught us those. In front of the elevators, perchance near the cafeteria, or just plain dropping by at someone's cube -- it is kind of fun trying to babble out things you don't understand and get greeted with a smile and another phrase you don't understand either :D Well, the smile is what matters I guess.

Our Hindi lesson came after a few other sessions. And of course, the familiar question came up, "How do you say hello in India?" Well after the jokes subsided, the team was very curious. So how do people greet each other in India, how do you say hello, how do you say good morning? How about thank you, or good bye when you're leaving in the evening. We did tell them about the corresponding Hindi phrases, Namaste (hello), Suprabhat (good morning), Shukriya(thank you), Alvida (good bye). But then we had to chime in and tell them, "Nobody really uses these phrases so much in India -- the English ones would get you around pretty well". But they still insisted and learned the phrases. And then they would greet us at the hallways with "Namaste" with hands folded. Or when I help them with some problem, they would stammer "Shuker... shuker" and I correct them, "Shukriya"; they would say "Oh yeah thats the one -- shukriya!".

Since then, I've been humbled. It is a strange feeling, when people from Portugal insist that they really want to say Namaste and you show them how. The more city-bred you are, the bigger your snigger will be if someone ever tells you Kripaya (please) or Alvida (good bye). In the more mofussil areas, its still a little more common to say Pranam (greetings) or Suprabhat (good morning). It probably not you or me alone, but I think our mad rush to globalize and learn to sing "Jingle Bells" has somehow made us forget the charms of our own language, and how to be proud of it. Its part of our globalization, yes, but we shouldn't abandon ship altogether.

I know what you're saying -- look who's talking in what language. Well, I'm not asking us to suddenly become language fanatics and abandon every other langauge and start your new linguistic crusade. No, thats not what I think we should do. That will defeat the whole purpose: these must co-exist. Instead, let us start doing our bit to bridge the gap. I have a Bengali blog. I can probably help out some open source projects helping them translate a few documents into Bengali. Go over to the Ankur Linux page and see what you can do to help. And yes, if cou can greet some of your friends with a Namaste, even for fun, try it. It feels good.