k.raghuraman's column POINTS TO PONDER - 2

k.raghuraman’s column

POINTS TO PONDER – 2

IS MAN A MERE SLAVE TO MACHINE?

Now- a- days, people tend to become more and more mechanical. They don’t want to use their full potentials to the fullest extent. For example, they store the contact numbers their close relatives, even their own personal number and birthdates in some equipment so as to remember correctly.

But, the Memory Space in one’s brain is limitless. In fact, it is an endless treasure house from where one could both draw and deposit immense invaluable.

This useful gift was properly used by our ancestors and that is why our past education system was based on listening where the student was more attentive to Gurus words in order to assimilate and reflect on what he had learnt.

Although this system does not give much emphasis on writing skill, the student was very much in a position to be more proficient in his subject and thereby moulded his character by himself in due course of time. But, in contrary to this valuable practice, today our present education system has become rotten in the hands of so called learned educationists who give more importance to marks rather than to our discriminatory and comprehension faculties. In short, we are keen in quantity than on quality.

This sad state of affairs exists because of our lack of sensitivity towards our younger generation and that is why youngsters rely more on cheap ‘notes’ to reach that magic pass mark somehow or the other.

Even technology has done it’s best to ruin the morall of the students. For example, even in lower classes students are allowed to use calculators for simple Mathematical calculations. As a result, as they grow older, they depend more and more on the use of Computers. In fact, they have forgotten that even the Computers are invented only by a man’s mind.

To conclude, man has become a slave to machines which are actually made by him. This article is only to rekindle our thoughts in order to raise against all these evils which are introduced in the name of progress.

“Not everything that is faced can be changed;

But nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

K. RAGHURAMAN'S COLUMN -_INDIANS AND ENGLISH - POINTS TO PONDER

ENGLISH AND INDIANS – POINTS TO PONDER

Written by
K.Raghuraman(E.C. Member –WELFARE FOUNDATION OF THE BLIND)
P.G.Assistant in English
LADY WELLINGTON SCHOOL
CHENNAI

{* Mr.K.Raghuraman was born in the year 1979. He had his schooling in St.Louis School for the Blind and did his Post-Graduation Course in Englsih Literature in Madras Christian College, Tambaram, Chennai. He has an SLET (State Level Eligibility in Teaching) Degree also to his credit. He is doing his M.Phil now.

He was the Literary Secretary for one year while studying in XII Std.He writes articles and poetry, mainly on topical issues. He has penned poignant articles on various issues that afflict the society and a handful of his articles have now been compiled into a book titled ‘Samudhaayathil Naam’(We in the Society) , released on the occasion of the 18th Annual Day Celebrations of Welfare Foundation of the Blind, along with two collections of short-stories, one authored by the Founder-President of WFB, Dr.Jayaraman and the other by Venkatesan, a Tamil Teacher.

Listening to Music is Raghuraman’s favourite pastime and he also enjoys playing Drums. He teaches Spoken-English and with adequate resources he plans to do it on a large scale and on a regular basis.

WE NEED EMPATHY; NOT SYMPATHY is what he wants to drive home emphatically.}

* In the photograph Mr.Raghuraman is in the middle

*

It is a well-known fact that India is a land of diversity. From Language to Religion everything is different. Still, in spirit we are Indians.

As people in each state speak different languages, It becomes a nessecity to have a common language that connects every Indian for the purpose of communication. In this context English plays a vital role.

During the period of colonisation by the Britishers, English was introduced for the purpose of communication. But, as time went on people were forced to learn English and this led to the spread of English in India.

After the independence of India in 1947, the Indian Government decided to retain English language for the next 15 years so as to find an Indian language as the linking language all over the country. But, no fruitful effort was taken in this regard and hence English continued it’s dominance in our soil. Though Hindi was made the national language after a long struggle, it did not find place in the hearts of the people. As a result of this, English gets rooted in every corner of the society. In fact, from the position of a link language English has become a godly language. People have started to equate English with knowledge, respect, dignity, high status, holiness, so on and so forth. To testify this statement, we could site the example of how people degrade a person wearing dhoti and shirt and revere the same man when wearing a pant and shirt. Though India is rich in philosophy, they have failed to understand that “appearances are always deceptive.”

The reason for this slavish mentality is that we Indians fail to find and accept any of our languages as the link language. We feel proud to clash with ourselves and thereby give room for an alien to dominate us.

We are not here to degrade English language as such but we are here to point out the wrong attitude that we have towards English. As a matter of fact, English has attracted a few scholars who have penned their writings in English which in turn has flourished into a new branch of study called Indian Writing in English. In this context one should understand that English is used only as a tool of our expression of our uniqueness. But, this is not the case today because the appreciation and status that Indian Writing in English enjoys is not being shared by the Literatures in regional languages. In fact, we have gone to the extent of equating English with literacy. In other words we are gradually destroying our inner self by giving room to an alien who really does not match our nature. In reality, a human being can develop well only when he/she thinks and speaks in his/her mother tongue. But, we feel proud to hear a small kid speaking in English at the initial stage itself. This attitude and habit will surely make us lose our real identity.

In fact, even this article is written in English only out of compulsion. And, people accept anything in English as a valuable and a valid one. This shouldn’t be the case. Atleast from now onwards people should try to realize the uniqueness of their respective Mother tongues and live accordingly. At the same time, they should not be fanatic. Instead, we should join hands to explore the possibility of choosing and accepting any of our Indian languages as the link language that help us communicate and interact with each other.







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