Speak, for your lips are free

Why does language exist For functional communication Or is there some daily worth in its beauty Is it lsquobestrsquo when most correct Or it is language as the linguistic historian Ganesh Devy has said ldquomost beautiful when it is wrong which is why poets work to break languagerdquoWe miss the classicality of Urdu in our film song lyrics today mdash the depth and flexibility of its literary tradition its words for certain nuanced emotions the pleasure of its rhythms and sounds On the other hand we now enjoy the increasingly inventive use of Hinglish or other mixed languages The playfulness the interlingual puns the mischievous verbal matchmaking that pinpoint contemporary experience which poets from Amir Khusro to Gulzar have excelled atIllustrationAmit BandreThe symmetries of ldquocorrectrdquo speech and the fecund inventiveness of slang are both a deep engagement with language from two different perspectives mdash the classical and the experimental letrsquos say Perspectives can become distorted So a stickler for canonical usage is often mocked as pedantic by the hip People with lsquowrongrsquo language are often humiliated by privileged snobsHowever this has been further distorted today to mean that caring about language at all is a sign of snobbery That is like hating all love songs because you hate Celine Dion An example would be the kind of discussion that often gathers around a writer such as Chetan Bhagat indeed one he carefully ensures He deflects any critique of his writing as snobbery thus positing himself as the voice of the tentative but aspirational Englishspeaking massesThose who offer us this limited view of language actually seek to limit our aspirations They tell us aspiration is about material progress which it is We all want a comfortable present and a secure future the possibility of luxury But are these the only aspirations we might have After all it is also an aspiration to speak beautifully express ourselves precisely acquire discernment have conversations and connections We also aspire to transcend our material existence through aesthetic and knowledgeLanguage is the holder of these aspirations for it literally gives a meaning to our lives In exploring the limits of how we can stretch language we also explore the limits of our ability to create and connect Many English expressions commonly used today for example ldquoa laughing stockrdquo ldquoin a picklerdquo ldquosend him packingrdquo were coined by Shakespeare Language leaves us richer not poorerThe functional definition of aspiration pushes for structural disengagement with language With English becoming Indias link language the number of children going to English medium schools has gone up by 274 per cent between 2003 and 2011 Discouraged from proficiency in their mother tongue learning from halfskilled teachers these are students whose roots in all languages are shaky Last month the state government announced that Class IX students can now choose a vocational skill instead of studying a second languageThese decisions may be rooted in a pragmatics of progress which is fair enough but they also seem to happen by undermining the value of language Since language is the holder of ideas to become disengaged with language means to become disengaged with the world of concepts and connections We become functional literate but also literal unable to distinguish complexity of meanings implication satire We become unable to distinguish between propaganda and propositions Our arguments turn into shrill contestsIn his Teacherrsquos Day speech our prime minister told students that they did not need to worry about the big picture No worries With a language of disconnections rather than a facility of connection we can be assured they wonrsquotParomita Vohra is an awardwinning Mumbaibased filmmaker writer and curator working with fiction and nonfiction Reach her at wwwparodevicomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper