Malayalam language — one of the oldest and classical languages of India is least spoken in city of lakes even by Keralites, to whom the language belongs. The young generation especially seems away from the language whether written or spoken.
“The young generation seems to be influenced with the modern education system and more inclined towards English,” says educationist Gopa Kumar S. We had a word with the parents, educationists and students about why Malayalam loses its charm in city, despite the Keralites living in the city for ages.
Notably, among Dravidian languages, Malayalam is the oldest one. It is the official language of Kerela. According to UNESCO’s language schedule, Malayalam has 26th position in terms of independent script and language. But, living in North India, the oldest language has its own consequences even among Keralites.
Deepti Bahuleyan, a teacher at St Mary’s Convent School told The Pioneer that the current generation is facing a lot of trouble in learning proper Malayalam. Sharing her experience with the language, Deepti said, “My parents were from Kerela and so my mother started from the basics. Besides, at home, we used to talk in Malayalam only. My parents were Keralites and I did not face any problems in learning both spoken and written Malayalam. But, my daughter faces the real issues.”
Elaborating further, she said, “My daughter studies in English medium school and so she is more inclined towards English and even spoken Hindi is easy for her as she has a social circle which interacts mostly in English or Hindi. Though her basics are clear in the language, yet she is not fluent with the grammar, spoken and written Malayalam.”
Another educationist Jennifer says, “The biggest issue here is that unlike German or French, the schools in North does not have an option as third language. This is a huge drawback because of which even I could not learn the language properly.”
A few classes of Malayalam are being conducted in the city so that the young generation could get familiar with the language. But, most Bhopalites believe that parents play a great role in this area. Radhika who works in a private firm says, “If parents are not Keralite, then it is impossible for the child to learn Malayalam. As I was born and brought up in North India and so were my parents, it was difficult for me to learn the language. So, I think that children are totally dependent on their parents.”
Highlighting other issues, Gopal Kumar S said, “The loophole is the ‘weekly classes’. We run the classes only on Sundays and this is not enough, as we do not see full strength on that day even.” Empahsising on the challenges faced by him as a teacher or coach of Malayalam language, Gopa Kumar said, “All the students are at different levels. Because they are learning Hindi daily, they could not grasp the grammar of Malayalam properly. Besides, they are not regular, so we have to start from the scratch each time they re-join.”
He said that 70% of students are unable to learn the language fast and 10% grasp it too quickly. So, as teachers, it is impossible for them to continue in the same level.
