Saving Languages

OutlookIndia

#OutlookMagazine | Many threatened languages in the country might become critically endangered in the near future. A few from some tribal communities, especially women, are doing their bit to preserve and document their mother tongues.  Listen to the audio excerpts from the latest issue of Outlook - Populism or Welfarism - only by Pragya Vats.   #Languages #SavingLanguages #Tribals #MotherTongues

Transcript

00:00 I am Pragya and I bring to you excerpts from the current issue of Outlook.

00:04 The issue looks at two cover stories, one in which Outlook continues to cover Gaza

00:09 and reaffirms its commitment to bearing witness.

00:12 In this issue, there's a double cover with a dedication to poet and academic

00:17 Rafat Al-Arir, also called the voice of Gaza, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

00:23 The cover is an image composed of many images of ruins and remnants in Gaza,

00:28 arranged as a mountain to show the scale of loss.

00:32 Saving Languages by Priyamvada Mangal, a Mumbai-based journalist.

00:37 Many threatened languages in the country might become critically endangered in the near future.

00:43 A few from some tribal communities, especially women,

00:47 are doing their bit to preserve and document their mother tongues.

00:52 Deepa Pawar, 37, grew up in a tent in a basti in Mumbai.

00:57 She and her friends, all belonging to Ghisadi tribe, studied in a government school,

01:02 but were discouraged from conversing among themselves in their community language,

01:08 Ghisadi Arsi Parsi.

01:10 These memories stayed with her while growing up.

01:13 Pawar, now an activist, fears that her generation may be the last to speak the language

01:20 or even know that it exists.

01:23 This encouraged her to initiate the process of preserving the language

01:27 by coming up with a creative dictionary and documenting phrases and words.

01:32 As part of her advocacy, she also wants to initiate a dialogue about why community

01:38 languages are important and the need to preserve them is equally important.

01:44 Many communities like the Ghisadis, which fall under the larger umbrella of nomadic

01:49 tribes and denotified tribes, are struggling to protect their languages because most of them

01:55 end up concealing their identities.

01:57 The anti-DNT community is carrying a centuries-old stigma.

02:02 In 1871, the British India government brought in the Criminal Tribes Act,

02:07 which described certain communities, mostly nomadic, as criminal by birth.

02:13 After independence, the Indian government replaced this act with the Habitual Offenders Act, 1952.

02:21 However, even today, those belonging to these communities are often subjected to stigmatization

02:28 and many are found to be living on the fringes of the society.

02:32 For this and more, read the current issue of Outlook.

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