English is a wonderful language, for it has a program that has created an Empire, and run it for a long time. And this empire would have gone on for a long time, had the British not awakened to the fact that if they continue to hold on to the Empire, their country would be full of the rich people from the non-English nations.
The most wonderful thing about this Empire was that it was created and run, not just by the higher educated nobility of Britain, but also, mostly by the ordinary persons. They had no formal degree in administration. Yet, the Empire they created did have a dynamic stance of correcting mistakes, and building on from correct positions of jurisprudence. Actually, what run the British Empire was the easy running, hitch-less communication program in the English language.
Persons, who were kept away from each other by long distances, and tedious travel conditions, exhibited a unique similarity in all their efforts everywhere. Everywhere it was the same aims, and procedure. Democracy was brought in, and English education was introduced, law and order machinery was made subject to the ambit of the terms of jurisprudence and many things, like the Codes of Civil and Criminal Procedure, were made. All, in isolation, and far from their mother country. There was a sense of purpose, and a feeling that what one achieved was of great significance for the posterity.
The most striking thing was the enduring sense of unity of purpose, and the continued affection for their native country, both very rare in the history of humankind. It is my contention that all this was a direct component of the English language. I have experienced the great positive aura that English can endow on a person, and on a society.
In this sense, it is very imperative that English is protected and allowed to exist in an unadulterated form, for the good of mankind. Now, what disturbs me, is that with so many persons, with meagre understanding of these ideas, running into English nations, and later becoming the spokesmen of English, there is an uncanny fear that they may fiddle with the uniqueness of English.
As I have mentioned in this book, in the first part, I have seen it happen in my native land, where feudal undertones are being superimposed on English, that it in many ways resembles the very feudal languages, it should have negated.
The same fear comes to me when I hear media-men talking, with a pose of self-importance, the way the latest trends in English are. In one mediocre magazine, I saw an article that said that in Corporate America nobody uses Mr., Mrs., and Miss. Well, I thought, My god, this is Indian English. Here in India, nobody dare use these usages. If one were to tell anybody to use these terms to oneself, then they just address in the first name itself, without any Mr. or Mrs.
It is a very nice thing to be able to use the name in addressing, which most feudal languages won't allow. Yet, it should not be to the exclusion of such as words as Mr. etc. mentioned above. For, the English language has developed in a very intelligent manner in England; and if English language had transformed in any feudal language nation, it would have a very nasty affiliation. Now, persons coming from the feudal nations would find it very easy to find fault in English, and put in their brains to improve it, a thing that they may not dare do on their own language.
Before embarking on such perilous projects, they should have an awareness of what they are manipulating. Let us take the case mentioned above: The words Mr., Mrs., and Miss have very specific uses. Though they don't have any connection with the feudal connotations, they do have a significant role in denoting the difference between formal and informal communications. Without having a wider understanding of the history, traditions, and heritage of English, by just having a working knowledge in English, one should not be Masters in this language. Nobody has such rights to dillydally with something of so enduring significance.
Actually, persons from the feudal nations do not have any such understanding that they should not meddle with things that are not their creations. In Kerala itself, there has been instances of persons who by some quirk of fate get into political or bureaucratic power and use it to erase things of monumental significance. For example, one specific Chief Minister was bent on renaming the Victoria Memorial hall in the Capital of Kerala, with a name of one of his pet nomenclature. Another thing he did was to remove all the English names of places in Kerala. No doubt a very populist thing; but it was not remembered that many of these English names are associated with the histories of many individuals, nations and empires. Just because a man became a Chief Minister for a brief time in history, can he have the right to meddle with things which have been created by the loving hands of many individuals before him, and have a place in history on their own right?
In passing, I must mention one very specific character of this man, who was a communist leader; that is of a party, which declaims classlessness. He always used to use the lowest of indicants to his party subordinates, and to the general public. His party men used to crow in delight at this; as they understood it as his great sense of camaraderie. Nobody understood that he was echoing the ancient feudal communication of his caste to the lower castes. And this attitude, more or less, would sum up the strange thing about Indian feudalism, that the more you insult and subjugate a person, the more he reveres you.
Coming back to my topic, I would conclude by saying that all changes that are being forced on English need not be ratified, unless it is scanned by a group of experts, and seen that it in no way impinges on the natural philosophies of English.
The English under siege
Once, one man who had worked in the Middle East told me that the English cannot do anything more in many places. Why? Because they won't be able to bear the culture of others.
I have seen this phenomenon, in many places in India. One of the groups of people severely affected by this, I have seen are the Brahmins who, once the highest caste in India, could either sit at home or force themselves to move in the circles of the lower castes. There is an element of pathos in this, for though they may be considered as a feudal, exploiter class and some of them were very rude exploiters, many of them did have a refinement of ways and manners, at least among themselves. The newly liberated lower castes in many cases were lacking in various levels of refinement, even among themselves.
In this regard, it may be said that I have seen some lower caste persons who got better jobs during the British times, who did have a refinement that was much above their class. This may lead one to the thinking of the imperative of combining liberation with good English education by internationally acknowledged nationalities.
Now, everyone knows how wonderful it is to study in an English country. But, is the reverse also true? That is, would studying in a feudal country like India, among a lot of Indians be a positive experience, to the students of say Britain, Canada, USA etc? Definitely not!
For, they would only lose their dignity of personality and get used to the feudal ways of addressing and, without knowing learn a lot of a fussy modes of interactions, with not only the opposite sex, but also to their teachers, and other dominating members of the society. In the initial stages of the interaction, it would all be great hospitality and warm welcome. Later, if they make the mistake of learning the Indian languages, then it would be a road straight to negativity. This I am saying of a situation, where an English student gets stuck in a mass of non-English students.
But this doesn't usually happen. Moreover, the presence of a very powerful nationality address would save them, in many cases.
