Ignoring mother tongue is degrading self; urgent need to protect, promote Telugu

Hyderabad: No language can be marginalised if parents speak in their mother tongue with their children. This is the opinion expressed by many who feel that there is an urgent need to protect and promote Telugu.

Telugu is the "Italian of the East," observed Italian explorer Niccolo Da Conti, who visited the Vijayanagar empire during the 15th Century. But thanks to the 'wrong' influence of the Western world and government policies, it has become a fashion for many parents to claim that their children cannot speak in their mother tongue.

Parents are first gurus; it is their responsibility to ensure that they converse with children in their mother tongue. Outside, they can speak in any language of their choice, former Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu keeps reiterating this point at every meeting he addresses.

In the backdrop of this, the International Mother Language Day, assumes great significance. Talking to The Hans India, Dr KV Ramana Chary, adviser to government, said, "Basically I am from science background, but I have a lot of affinity for my mother tongue Telugu. Telugu is not marginalised; youth are not paying enough attention to this language. None says don't learn English but at the same time don't ignore your mother tongue, he stressed.

He said except Telangana and Andhra Pradesh all other southern States were giving high importance to their mother tongue. "Parents and elders in families should take responsibility of promoting Telugu", he added.

Prof. Kamalakar Sharma of Telugu department, Osmania University, said, "Telugu is one of the most ancient languages. But today majority of children in Telangana take pride in conversing in English even at home. Parents need to be blamed for this. Thinking in mother tongue helps in widening a child's imagination and his level of understanding would be high. It will also help in protecting our great culture and traditions. He said grandma stories in mother tongue have high moral values which are more relevant in modern-day society.

Sharat, a government Telugu teacher, said the Telugu Academy was established in 1960 to promote the language so that it grows rapidly in its richness and functional efficiency and becomes an effective means of communication. But it lacked necessary patronage. Even government correspondence is not done in Telugu, with English translation.