A Thought For Marathi Divas

Aavadto maj aphaat saagar, athaang Paani Nile, Nilya Jambhalya Jalaat Keshar Mavaltila Mile. (The vast stretch of unfathomably deep ocean mesmerizes me with the dash of saffron that its purple –blue waters have at dusk), wrote late V.V.Shirwadkar, popularly known as ’Kusumagraj’, one of the finest poet-laureates that Maharashtra has ever produced. The lines have stayed with me since I read the poem in my Marathi text book. I was in seventh standard then.  Kusumagraj was deeply concerned about the state of neglect that Marathi lies in which was evident from his speech he made as the President of ‘Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan’. I can vividly recall how he reiterated that far from being hostile to English he felt all Indians were indebted to the language for opening the doors of new thoughts to them and while Marathi was his mother, English was his maternal aunt (maternal aunts have special place in Maharashtrian culture) but it was high time now that the aunt handed over the household keys to the mother amidst thundering applause.  It is thus a fitting tribute to this great laureate that 27^th February, the laureates birth anniversary, is celebrated as ‘Marathi Divas’.

            A few years back Maharashtra Navanirman Sena Chief Raj Thackeray bitterly criticized the Bachan’s for their alleged reluctance to learn Marathi. The media, properly speaking non- Marathi media came down heavily on Raj Thackeray for the criticism but the fact remains that Marathi is the state language of Maharashtra and there are clear constitutional provisions for safeguarding the cultural interests of the natives (that includes linguistic interests) even in preference to the other interests in that particular state. But the question is whether the position of Marathi as a state language can be strengthened by forcing the Bachan’s to learn Marathi or by thrusting it down the throats of the ‘outsiders’? Certainly not.

            Amruta Khanvilkar is a model turned actress who won the final round of marathi reality dance show ‘Ekapeksha Ek’ hosted and judged by none other than Sachin Pilgaonkar. From the very beginning of the show Amruta declared that she could not speak in Marathi and both the spectators and judges did not seem to have any qualms about it! If the Marathi speaking lot has no qualms about a Marathi girl vividly declaring her inability to converse in Marathi then they have no right whatsoever to pull up outsiders for their ignorance!

            Marathi is a highly evolved language yet todays marathi hosts can be seen opting for general English words like ‘friends’ in preference to more specific words which provide them with a wide range of options like ‘rasikaho’ (dear appreciators), rasik-prekshakaho’,( dear appreciating spectators) rasik-shroteho’,(dear appreciating audiences) rasik- mitraho’,( dear appreciative friends)‘ prekshakaho’( dear spectators), ‘shroteho’ (dear audiences)  mitraho’ (dear friends) while hosting Marathi programmes! The reality is Marathi as a language suffers not due to the reluctance of non Maharashtrian’s to speak in Marathi as much as due to the reluctance of Maharashtrian’s to speak in Marathi!

            Language is just a medium of communication and therefore the standard of the speaker is not determined by what language he speaks but by what he speaks in that language. And therefore the content or the messages that the language carries or is used to carry determines the status of the speaker. And it is the culture of the person which determines what messages he or she will relay. Therefore, it is far more important to conserve ones cultural identity than to conserve ones linguistic identity. Infact, people who have safeguarded their cultural identity are found to be far more progressive in comparison to those who have made compromises. The overwhelming successes of Dawoodi Bohra’s, Parsee’s and South Indians can be attributed to their ability to fiercely safeguard their cultural identities. The success of Peoples Republic of China is not due to their acceptance of English or their ability to ape the West but due to their ability safeguard their cultural identity!

            Sant Dnyaneshwar is considered to be the father of Marathi literature. However, the proofs of existence and usage of Marathi date back to the era of Swami Chakradhar, a Saint from Gujarat and founder of Mahanubhav Sect, who hailed Marathi as ‘ Deva- Vaani’ or ‘ The Sacred Language’ and ‘ Maharashtra’ as ‘ Mahant Rashtra’ or ‘ The Nation of the Greats’ ( Mahant means Great). But frankly speaking can we call todays Maharashtra as ‘The Nation of the Greats’ as Swami Chakradhar did? Maharashtra has indeed been the birth place of many a great men and women. However, the exhaustive list of the great personalities that Maharashtra has gifted not only to the country, world but to humanity abruptly ends with the name of Dr Prakash Amte. Why has there not been a single great personality, barring Sachin Tendulkar, born in Maharashtra whose achievements could match those of his predecessors? The answer is ‘unprecedented erosion of cultural values’! The overwhelming popularity of Nationalist Congress Party Chief Sharad Pawar can be attributed to his profound knowledge about the cultural fabric of Maharashtra and the same can be said about the proficiency of late Smita Patil as a successful news reader, a photographer, a writer besides being one of the finest actress to grace the Indian Cinema. Smita Patil’s sister Manya too is an acclaimed painter and the entire credit for their successes in their respective fields goes to the cultural environment of Shivajirao Patil’s household. The successes of Nana Patekar, Sonali Kulkarni, Sandeep Kulkarni, Atul Kulkarni and Milind Gunaji also goes to their cultural backgrounds, properly speaking Marathi literary backgrounds. The overwhelming musical successes of Mangeshkar’s is also attributed to their cultural identities whereas more than successes it is the on and  off field disciplines of Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar that are a direct outcome of their being groomed in a culturally rich environment ! It is the ability of late Prabodhankar Thackeray to safeguard the cultural environment in his family that produced a powerful orator cum cartoonist cum politician like late Bal Thackeray who took it further to produce a worthy Photographer like Uddhav Thackeray.

            Sadly while today’s parents aspire to give their child the very best, more than often they forget to give him the much needed cultural identity. Let’s not forget that language will just decide how you communicate while culture will decide what you communicate! So while we give wings of modernism to our forthcoming generations so that they may scale new unscaled heights, hopefully we remember to give them a lasting reserve of the inexhaustible fuel of our cultural values as well!

Sincere wishes for Marathi Divas!

                                             

                                               -Bhushan Kumarsen Sarmalkar (JAI), Mumbai 27th February 2015.