CATCH THEM YOUNG...
THAT'S CORRECT !!! THAT'S WHAT IS SAID HERE...
LET ME ESPOUSE A FEW SET OF IDEAS...
PRACTICAL IDEAS WHOSE TIME SHOULD HAVE BEEN SOME 50-60 YEARS BACK. SAY... EARLY FIFTIES...
BASICALLY, AT THE INCEPTION OF AN INDEPENDENT BHARAT.
( I HAVE BEEN MULLING NOT TO PUT ACROSS THIS SAME IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN...
LEST, SOME TRAITOR-TYPES TRY TO RE-PAINT A DIFFERENT PICTURE ALTOGETHER...
OF COURSE, USING A DIFFERENT SET OF COLOR(S), PAINTBRUSH(ES) AND MYRIAD OF
CANVAS(ES)... AS SUITS THEIR MOTIVES / AGENDAS...
WE HAVE THEM NUMBERS IN PLENTY, IN OUR COUNTRY, ON OTHERS' PAYROLLS... SINGING A DIFFERENT TUNE.
NOTWITHSTANDING THAT, WE HAVE GOT LOTS OF OUTSTANDING PATRIOTIC MEN AND
WOMEN, WHO MIGHT SEE OR MIGHT WANT TO SEE SOME SENSE... SOME MERIT.. SOME
REASON... IN WHAT IS ESPOUSED BELOW HERE. )
BASIC OBJECTIVE...
THE WIDE SPECTRUM OF THE INDIAN POPULATION MUST HAVE BETTER KNOWLEDGE &
UNDERSTANDING OF ALL THE STATES IN THE INDIAN UNION. THIS TOO, IN A VERY
SIMPLE YET PROFOUNDLY PRACTICAL MANNER.
THE MOOT IDEA IS - EVERY INDIAN CITIZEN MUST HAVE A "FIRST HAND" KNOWLEDGE
& UNDERSTANDING OF AS MANY STATES IN THE INDIAN UNION, AS IS POSSIBLE.
THIS STATE COULD A BE A DISTANTLY GEOGRAPHICALLY-LOCATED STATE OR AN
ADJACENT STATE.
THE BASIC IDEA IS, THAT THE ACTUAL "PROBABILITY" OF A CITIZEN FEELING OF BEING -
- AT HOME,
- AT EASE & PRETTY MUCH ON HIS / HER OWN,
- COMFORTABLY ADAPTABLE, etc.
IN ANY OTHER "NON-HOME" STATE, MUST BE MADE TO SHOOT UP, FROM THE PRESENT
/ PAST "AS-IT-IS" LEVELS.
( LET'S SAY - "HOME STATE" IS ONE WHERE THE CITIZEN HAS SPENT MOST OF HIS
FORMATIVE DAYS; OR, HIS FOREBEARS BELONG TO THAT STATE AND BEEN RESIDENT
THERE, etc.
NOW...
THIS IS TO BE SUBJECTIVELY DEFINED FOR THOSE SET OF PEOPLE WHO ARE MOBILE i.e.
WHOSE PARENTS ARE MOBILE ACROSS STATES, IN SOME JOBS, BUSINESS, etc. )
HOW MAY THE CENTRAL GOVT. MAY APPROACH THIS CHALLENGE ?
THE GOVT. APPARATUS MUST NEED ENSURE THIS BY TAKING PROACTIVE MEASURES
TO ADDRESS A FEW BASIC ISSUES.
CHALLENGE -
NOTING THAT - THE LANGUAGE, DIALECT, CULTURE AND CUSTOM CHANGES SOME
EVERY FEW HUNDRED OF KILOMETERS, AT MOST.
TO NOTE -
MAJORITY OF THE STATES WERE CREATED ON LINGUISTIC LINES. CHANGES IN
CUSTOMS, DIALECTS WERE SECONDARY CONSIDERATIONS MOSTLY. DID NOT HELD
MUCH WATER, THEN & NOW, AS WELL.
NOW...
THIS HAS GOT BE ENSURED AT THE BASIC LEVEL, TO START WITH...
SO... HOW DO WE GO ABOUT ACHIEVING A SET OF OBJECTIVES...
FEW THOUGHTS... IN ORDER... FOLLOWS...
ENVISIONING... SOMETHING LONG OVERDUE...
SCENARIO I, FOR HINDI SPEAKING STATES -
IN ALL THE HINDI SPEAKING STATES - ALL THE OTHER REGIONAL LANGUAGES MUST
BE COMPULSORILY TAUGHT !
THE PERCENTAGE OF THE "POPULATION" IN A PARTICULAR STATE BEING TAUGHT "A
SPECIFIC REGIONAL LANGUAGE" COULD BE SOMETHING LIKE A COMPUTED SET OF
NUMBER - A PERCENTAGE.
NOW... THIS NUMBER IS IMPORTANT AND HAS TO BE VERY INTELLIGENTLY DEFINED
AS WELL AS DERIVED...
WE SHALL LOOK AT AN EXAMPLE HERE -
CASE ANALYSIS FOLLOWS-
WE GET THIS PRETTY STRAIGHT...
"TOTAL POPULATION" OF STATE A, HAVING THE NATIVE LANGUAGE AS "AA" -> X CRORES
"TOTAL POPULATION" OF STATE B, HAVING THE NATIVE LANGUAGE AS "BB" -> Y CRORES
TOTAL POPULATION OF INDIA -> 125 CRORES.
SO, EFFECTIVELY IN STATES -
THE FRACTION OF THE POPULATION THAT NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT LANGUAGE AA IN
THE STATE B == ( X/125 )* Y CRORES; SIMILARLY...
THE FRACTION OF THE POPULATION THAT NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT LANGUAGE BB IN THE
STATE A == ( Y/125 )* X CRORES.
FOR ANY TWO SET OF STATES... MULTIPLY THEIR POPULATION TOGETHER AND THEN
DIVIDE BY THE TOTAL POPULATION OF INDIA ( 125 CRORES ); TO GET THE NUMBERS.
IMPORTANT NOTE HERE -
"TOTAL POPULATION" OF A 'LANGUAGE-BASED' STATE COULD BE -
- THE TOTAL COUNT OF ALL THE RESIDENT POPULATION IN THE STATE ( CUTTING
ACROSS LINGUISTIC BARRIERS ); OR
- IT COULD BE BASED ON THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THAT STATE HAVING
THAT STATE'S LANGUAGE AS THEIR MOTHER TONGUE; OR
- ALTERNATELY, WE MIGHT CONSIDER THIS NUMBER TO BE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF
PEOPLE SPEAKING THIS LANGUAGE AS THEIR MOTHER TONGUE, THROUGHOUT THE
NATION. ( THIS MIGHT BE MORE APT ).
SOME POPULAR INGENUOUS METHOD REQUIRED HERE.
_______________________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT NOTE -
1) THE BARE BASICS OF THE LANGUAGE... THE NUANCES MUST BE MOST EFFICIENTLY
AND EFFECTIVELY TAUGHT FOR A PERIOD SPANNING EITHER - ONE OR TWO OR THREE
YEARS.
( MINIMUM THREE YEARS OF MULTIPLE LANGUAGES STUDY IS NECESSARY, I SUGGEST )
2) TARGET GROUP MUST LEARN THE BARE BASICS OF EITHER ONE OR TWO OR THREE
LANGUAGES FROM... EITHER FROM - EAST OR WEST OR NORTH OR SOUTH OF INDIA.
3) NUMBER OF LANGUAGES TARGET GROUP ( say, A CHILD ) IS EXPOSED TO WOULD
HAVE TO DEPEND ON HIS / HER LANGUAGE LEARNING APTITUDE, QUICK LEARNING
ABILITIES, DESIRE TO LEARN MORE OF ONE SPECIFIC LANGUAGE PER YEAR OR, MORE
THAN ONE LANGUAGE IN AS MANY AS TWO OR THREE ( SAY ) YEARS, AT A STRETCH.
4) THIS BASICALLY SERVES AS AN EXPOSURE. LAYS THE FOUNDATION FOR POSSIBLE
FUTURE GROWTH. THE LANGUAGE LEARNING CURRICULUM COULD BE COVERING -
- LANGUAGE SCRIPT,
- BASIC WORDS,
- BASIC GRAMMAR AND SENTENCE FORMATIONS,
- ALL THE COMMON PLACE WORDS ( EXPANDED SCOPE - PERHAPS, 500-1000 WORDS
ARE TO BE TAUGHT IN AN YEARS' TIME ) IS THIS TALL ORDER ? NOT REALLY !
- SOME SOCIAL OR CUSTOM BASED ASPECTS / CONTEXT OF THE LANGUAGE MUST BE
CLEARLY BROUGHT FORTH CLEARLY TO THE TARGET AUDIENCE.
THE EFFORT MUST BE BACKED BY THE SET OF WORDS, LANGUAGE AND GRAMMAR
CHOSEN IN A VERY METICULOUSLY MEASURED / SCIENTIFIC MANNER.
5) WE MUST BE HAVING THE COURSES IN THE FORM OF ANIMATED, etc. TV PROGRAMS.
DIFFERENT LEARNING-ENABLING DEGREES / GRADES / GRADATIONS OF THE DIVERSE
TV PROGRAMS ARE TO BE THERE.
THESE CAN BE GRADED PROGRAMS THAT ENABLE LEARNING. THIS COULD BE IN THE
FORM OF SOME PANCHATANTRA, etc. STORIES / TALES, etc. THAT COVERS QUITE SOME
OF THE LEARNING NEEDS IN THE MOST INTERESTING MANNER.
THIS DRAWS THE INHERENT ATTENTION / INTEREST OF THE TARGET GROUP.
AND, LEARNING THEREBY HAS POTENTIAL TO BECOME MORE INTERESTING... MORE
FUN.. MORE ENGROSSING.
AND... COVERS ALL OF THE WORDS THAT NEED TO BECOME SELF-EXPLANATORY AS
THE TV SERIES UNFOLDS. THIS WAY - WE CAN ENABLE MAMMOTH LEARNING IN A
VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. THE WORDS BECOME APPARENTLY IDENTIFIABLE,
UNDERSTANDABLE AND STICKS FOR WAY TOO LONGER.
6) ADVANTAGE OF # 5) HERE IS - EVEN, NON-TARGET AUDIENCE CAN LEARN A SLEW
OF LANGUAGES SITTING AT HOME, IF THEY HAVE THE INTEREST / INCLINATION.
TARGET AGE GROUP OF SUBJECTS -
11, 12 & 13 YEARS ( ROUGHLY ) MOST PROBABLY IN THE CLASSES - 6, 7 & 8.
UPPER MIDDLE SCHOOL LEVEL.
THE MATURITY LEVEL, INTEREST, BEST LEARNING, LEARNING IMPACT IN A
NON-INVASIVE MANNER MIGHT BE ACHIEVED IN THIS TARGET SUBJECT AGE GROUP.
AN EXAMPLE, TO CONSIDER, WOULD BE -
1) FIRST YEAR -> CLASS 6 / AGED 11 -> LANGUAGE A ONLY.
2) SECOND YEAR -> CLASS 7 / AGED 12 -> REPEATS LANGUAGE A; OR -> NEW LANGUAGE B
3) THIRD YEAR -> CLASS 8 / AGED 13 -> REPEATS LANGUAGE A; OR
REPEATS LANGUAGE B; OR -> NEW LANGUAGE C
THE STUDENT COULD BE BELONGING TO STATE RUN SCHOOLS AS WELL AS PRIVATE
SCHOOLS.
THE STATE RUN SCHOOLS COULD BE CENTRAL OR STATE GOVT. RUN SCHOOLS.
ALL THE SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY HAVE TO BE PART OF THIS PROGRAMME.
SCENARIO II, FOR NON-HINDI SPEAKING STATES -
HINDI AND / OR SANSKRIT TO BE MADE COMPULSORILY TAUGHT THROUGHOUT THE
COUNTRY.
STATES HAVING LANGUAGE APART FROM HINDI AS THE STATE'S LANGUAGE, MUST
ENSURE THAT THEY PRIMARILY PROMOTE HINDI &/OR SANSKRIT IN ALL THE
STATE-RUN AS WELL AS ALL THE PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN THE STATE.
HERE, IS IT BETTER FOR THE POLICY TO HAVE THE PLANNED LENGTH OF STUDY TO BE
MORE,
( > THREE YEARS..., SAY ) ?
FOR, IT BENEFITS THE TARGET AUDIENCE'S ( ANY FUTURE ) MOBILITY ACROSS A MUCH
WIDER AREA OF THE NATIONAL MAINSTREAM.
ALSO, TO NOTE THAT THE PROBABILITY OF COMING ACROSS A HINDI-SPEAKING
PERSON IS MORE.
_______________________________________________________________________________
FOR ALL THIS LINGUISTIC STUDIES THERE MUST BE QUANTIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE
GAINED ON SEMESTER ( SAY ) BASIS. THERE HAS GOT BE BE INTERNAL ASSESSMENT
OF THE COMPETENCIES GAINED, IF ANY.
THAT HAS TO BE NOTED FOR POSTERITY. THOUGH, IT MAY OR MAY NOT CARRY
WEIGHT.
WHAT WEIGHT... ? THAT HAS TO BE THOUGHT OVER.
AND... GOING FORWARD... LEST WHATEVER IS LEARNED IS NOT FORGOTTEN... THE
STUDENT MIGHT HAVE TO APPEAR IN A VERY STANDARDIZED LANGUAGE TEST...
(S)HE CAN BE ABLE TO GIVE THE SELF SAME TEST ANY TIME. THIS STANDARD TEST
WILL HAVE THE SAME FORMAT NATIONWIDE ( ANY LANGUAGE. ALL THE LANGUAGES ).
THE GRADES OBTAINED MUST BE MADE PART OF -
- CLASS 10TH MARKS / RESULT.
( IN CASE THE CERTIFICATION IS OBTAINED BEFORE/DURING 10TH EXAM ); OR
- 12 TH CLASS MARKS / RESULT
IN CASE THE CERTIFICATION IS OBTAINED BEFORE / DURING 12TH EXAM
- UNDER-GRADUATION OR GRADUATION MARKS / RESULT IN CASE THE CERTIFICATION
IS OBTAINED BEFORE / DURING THE UG/ G EXAMS.
POINT TO STATE IS - THERE'S NO SET TIME BOUNDATION TO GET THE LANGUAGE
CERTIFICATION FOR THE TARGET AUDIENCE. CERTIFICATION IS AT THE NATIONAL
LEVEL ( ANY LANGUAGE. ALL THE LANGUAGES ). BUT MUST NEED BE ACHIEVED.
THE SOONER THE BETTER.
ASAP, IN CASE OF THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE, HINDI, I MIGHT SUGGEST HERE.
INTERNAL ASSESSMENT + EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT QUANTIFIED DATA MUST BE
CAPTURED AND RECORDED.
_______________________________________________________________________________
IN EFFECT, ENVISIONING...
THAT IN SOME 20 YEARS TIME... WE WILL BE HAVING A FAMILY OF FOUR ( PARENTS + 2
TEENAGED KIDS ) THAT COULD BE KNOWING SOME ONE DOZEN LANGUAGES
AMONGST THEM.
THERE MIGHT BE CRORES OF SUCH PEOPLE.... GOING FORWARD.
THERE IS GREAT PROBABILITY THAT THESE PEOPLE WILL BE AT HOME IN ANY PART OF
INDIA...
TOTALLY LOCALIZED... AND, TOTALLY NATIONALIZED... CITIZENS. SO TO SAY.
_______________________________________________________________________________
QUESTIONS -
HOW ANY SCHOOL GETS TO CHOOSE WHAT LANGUAGE THEY TEACH AND FOR HOW
MANY YEARS IS A VERY CRITICAL POLICY DECISION THAT HAS TO BE TAKEN,
ESPECIALLY IN MAJORLY HINDI-SPEAKING STATES. THIS ALSO MATTERS IN NON-HINDI
SPEAKING STATES, AS WELL.
DO THE SCHOOLS IN CLOSE VICINITY NEED TO CHANGE / ROTATE THE LANGUAGES
TAUGHT AMONG THEMSELVES EVERY FEW YEARS ?
HOW DOES ONE SCHOOL CHOOSES THE LANGUAGE(S) TO BE TAUGHT. DO STUDENTS
GET TO CHOOSE WHAT LANGUAGE THEY WANT TO STUDY ? HOW'S THAT FEASIBLE.
NOTING THAT SOME SPECIFIC PROPORTION ( % ) HAS GOT TO BE MAINTAINED, FOR
EACH AND EVERY LANGUAGE IN EACH AND EVERY STATE.
_______________________________________________________________________________
NATIVE CUISINE - FOOD / CULTURE AS BINDING FORCE.
FOOD CAMPS & CULTURAL FESTS...
EVERY DISTRICT IN THE COUNTRY MUST HAVE A CENTRALIZED CULTURAL CENTER.
SOMETHING WHICH IS MORE REFINED THAN WHAT WE HAVE IN NEW DELHI - "DELHI
HAAT".
HAVING AUDITORIUMS, OPEN-AIR THEATERS, etc. AS WELL ( PERHAPS ).
HERE REGULAR/FREQUENT CULTURAL PROGRAMS AND FOOD FESTS FROM ACROSS
THE NATIONAL SPECTRUM ( CO-SPONSORED BY THE CENTRAL/STATE GOVTS. ) MUST
BE A REGULAR FEATURE.
THIS BECOMES A MELTING POT FOR SWATHES OF POPULATION. THEY GET TO
EXPERIENCE THE CULTURE, CUSTOMS, CUISINE, etc. OF THE DIVERSE PARTS OF THE
COUNTRY - FIRST-HAND. MONTHS AFTER MONTHS... YEARS AFTER YEARS...
IN EFFECT... OVER A PERIOD OF TIME... GENERAL PEOPLE KNOW ... WHAT IS WHAT IN
BHARAT !
_______________________________________________________________________________
WHAT'S ESPOUSED ABOVE IS SOMETHING - THE INVOLVED KIDS AND THEIR
PARENT IN EVERY FAMILY ACROSS THE NATION, MAY COME TO LOVE.
I SEE IT THAT WAY.
A SMALL STEP - BUT GOING A LONG WAY IN ESTABLISHING FRATERNAL BONDS
ACROSS THE LENGTH AND BREADTH OF THE COUNTRY.
OF COURSE, THE SET OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE RULED THE LANDS FOR THE MAJORITY OF
60+ YEARS...
AS THE IDEATOR, I STATE STRAIGHT, THIS IS NOT MEANT FOR THEM...
I ESPOUSE THIS... SO THAT A NEW SET OF PEOPLE PUT THIS IN EFFECT IN THE BEST
POSSIBLE MANNER.
PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE COURAGE & ABILITY TO MAKE A NEW BEGINNING... ON A NEW SLATE...
_______________________________________________________________________________
RESERVATION OF OUTSIDE STATE PEOPLE IN THE STATE MACHINERY, IN EVERY STATE.
IN A LIMITED MANNER.
ENSURES GREATER MOBILITY. IF THERE IS ANY NUMBER, THAT NUMBER NEEDS TO BE
BOOTED UP, GOING FORWARD.
MORE EXTERNAL STATE PEOPLE IN A STATE'S INTERNAL MACHINERY MIGHT BE A
GOOD IDEA IN MANY SENSE.
THIS HAS GOT BE EXPLORED...
_______________________________________________________________________________
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