Social Media needs to empower mother languages

Authored by Srijan Pal Singh, Founder, Kalam Centre

Ask any scientist - about what would be the most significant invention of the human species - and perhaps the most frequent answer would be the - human language. Human language has helped us capture human imaginations, pass our knowledge, communicate with other beings, form communities and record our experiences for generations to follow.

But human experience in a byproduct of the ecosystem - of the place and people around us. Hence, language itself is shaped uniquely by our history and as unique to a society and fingerprint is to an individual. There is no wonder then, that a civilization as old and diverse as India has 22 official languages and over 20,000 dialects to speak them. Tamil and Sanskrit, are both counted as the oldest living languages of the world - both over 5,000 years old, as old as the wheel itself. Their grammar and words have been shaped by festivals, human joys, trade and prosperity and also wars, invasions and calamities.

Mother language is embedded in the deepest portions of the mind - it shapes our emotional response; it is the language of reflex and dreams. The human mind is at ease to think and evolve best in that language. Remove or suppress that mother language and you will leave the person far less confident to express. Hence, to subjugate a society, invaders often used the path of denigration of its mother language. This is what Thomas Macaulay did in the 1800s, when he “reformed” the Indian education system - which was no more than dismantling the pride of all Indian languages and utter disrespect for India’s traditional knowledge. The effect of this Macaulayism left a long-lasting impact on our souls - and “suit, boot, English” were the hallmark of the Indian elite. 

What the British Macaulay did in the 19th century, social media can end up doing in the 21st century. Technology has opened a form of communication with over 500 million or 50 crore social media users in India. And because most of the major social media platforms today, originated in a single nation, the United States, the language on which they were based upon was English. Everything else was a translation - often a poor and mechanical version. It is a reasonable assumption that social media users will only increase with time - and hence, as the largest consumer of western originated social media platforms - India must exert its linguistic needs upon social media engines.

Social media platforms for India must not merely provide literal translation of their services - but actively encourage and facilitate conversations in our mother languages. That is the path to truly capture the thoughts and emotions of the society and celebrate its diversity. Social media should be a space where Tamil verses of Thiruvalluvar, Hindi prose of Premchand, Awadhi dohe of Kabir, Bengali life poetry of Tagore, Kannada songs of Vijay Narasimha and literary works in Marathi by Shivaji Savant can come seamlessly together - and bring the rich history and people of our nation come alive. 

The vocabulary of our languages is as unique as the history they share. For example, the literal translation of the Hindi word “Dhanyavaad” is not “Thank you” in English. Dhanyavaad essentially is a way to hail the person who helps as “Dhanya” (blessed), and not just express gratitude.

As per the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) report released by the Education Ministry, more than 42% children study in Hindi-medium schools. A multilingual social media platform, which is not limited by support for script and translation, should give voice to those who have been denied forums and opportunities to express themselves in their own language. With over 700 million smartphones in India and rural population getting on the internet at a rapid pace, now is the time to cater the need for language diversity of the nation on social media. Imagine the volume of ideation, collaboration and communication, if an average Indian, who spends at least 150 minutes daily on social media, is able to express in their mother language on their home-grown platforms. A Madhubani artist when sharing her paintings on an Indian language social media will not be forced to dilute her expression by looking for literal translation - she can describe her painting exactly how she imagined.

With a diverse canvas like India, it is not only imperative that cultural nuances are preserved on modern means of communication, we must also harness the intelligence of machines to provide a level-playing platform for all users. Be it Socrates or the great poet, Goswami Tulsidas - sharpest minds have expressed themselves in their innate language. To bring out the best in our individuals, be it ideas, stories, poetry, blogging or even hashtags on microblogging sites for that matter - technology should be maneuvered to strengthen communication, and solve problems which need interventions from local communities and not necessarily global experts.