Mother Tongue

A “Mother tongue” is the language that a human being learns from infancy. It is normally the native language of that person and he learns it from his parents and other members of the family and it is with this language that he first learns to relate socially with other people. Language is not just a means of communication. To a large extent it pervades our culture and life and is indicative of the refinement of a race in many ways. It is intrinsic to an individual and there is a special bond one shares with the mother tongue.

These days we see the mother tongue losing importance to other languages. English being the international business language, one is forced to learn it to be competitive. While English as a unifying language is truly wonderful, we cannot allow the death of all the other languages and dialects our country is proud of. Each language bears its own flavor which is typical to the place of its origin and the people who speak it. While all languages are a means of communicating, there is a distinctive style that each language has and although one might be able to translate the gist of it, one can never hope to capture the flavor.

The mother tongue is the true vehicle of wit. A man’s native speech is an inseparable part of his personality and must never be lost. The mother tongue should be preserved at any cost to preserve the rich cultural fabric of our existence.