“Aunty do you think in English, Bangla or Hindi ?” a simple question from my daughter’s friend made me think, really think. Maybe I think in all the three languages simultaneously, depending on the thought, the language pops up in the mind naturally. But I also remembered my convent school days. The Irish nuns in our school would often say that in order to speak in English we should always think, speak and also dream in English. I do not remember whether I paid heed to their advice then but the instructions has surely stuck in my memory for good. It was perhaps a form of brain drilling to make the young minds comfortable with the English language.

Like most urbanite Indians I too speak in atleast three languages, English, my mother tongue and Hindi. The complex secular essence which binds my country together is truly amazing. More than religious divide or ethical divide what stands out to me is our linguistic divide. Each state of our country speaks a different language and every regional language has various dialects. Enough to puzzle the best of linguistic geniuses! Yet we Indians stand united in our diversity.

In my school and college I grew up making friends with Bangla, Punjabi , Malayalam , English, Hindi and even Chinese speaking people. But our common language for chatting would mostly be English or Bangla. But once I married the Army man, my journey to the real India began. When you become a soldier’s wife you soon learn that the camouflage uniform is also to cover up all your differences of identity as individuals. And this practice is not restricted to the field alone. It seeps into the social life. I have had the good fortune to travel across the length and breadth of our vast and beautiful country. From Ladakh to Kerala, from Gujarat to Assam- we spoke in only one language. The language of faith, togetherness and camaraderie.

On social networking sites many people like to express themselves in their mother tongue. Learning to write Bangla or Hindi in Roman script took me some time, but once there I could write ” bhalobashi” and ” rashogolla ” with equal ease as “aata mazi satakli “( Marathi) or “ki gall hain ? Koi nah” ( punjabi). The handicap of not knowing the script has been erased, at least in this small space . I see it as another easy way to read and understand other languages. Of course the importance and sanctity of the original script, form and richness of every language should remain intact. Every language has its distinctive character and is unique by itself . But on a lighter note the popularity of Roman is increasing by the day. To change the phrase “when in Rome do as the Romans do”, we can now rephrase as ….when on social media write in Roman as much as you like .

Shakespeare and company may or may not be turning in their graves with the cacophony of languages we make, but communication has surely caught up speed.

Thoughts may be profound yet they need expression. No matter in which language we think, speak, write, read or love there is only one language that binds us together…..”Jana gana mana adhinayaka jaya hey, Bharata bhagya vidata.”