Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Signs of Marathi's decline are all around

The Thackerays may loudly lament the decline of Marathi, but the ordinary Maharashtrian is not opting to study in her mother tongue, nor does she think it necessary to use Marathi to get her work done. In a cosmopolitan city like Mumbai, English is the language of choice.

“I have studied in English and my upbringing has been such that we were never compelled to speak in Marathi,” says Munira Chendvankar, a final-year student of the Bachelor of Mass Media course of Mumbai University. “I speak in Marathi with my parents and some close people only."

Chendvankar wonders why “such a big deal” is being made of speaking in Marathi. “We should have the right to speak in any language,” she says. “The youth prefer communicating in English, though I can speak in Hindi, Marathi, and Gujarati, too."

Full report here DNA

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