FIFTEEN YEARS BY RK NARAYAN
Answers
Before 1947, the English Language was considered by Indians as the language of oppressors. Since it was the language of the ruling British government, the people of India showed a tendency to hate it. They felt that the British promoted only the English language and the growth of Hindi and other Indian languages was not supported. Many people foolishly believed that the English language will have no future in India once the country gets independence. But what really happened was just the opposite. English language continued to dominate the Indian society even after getting freedom from the English people. India is a multi-lingual country. So we need a common language that unites the people for the purpose of administration and commerce. Hindi was not sufficient for this purpose as it was not properly standardized for the purpose of becoming a national language. Now in 2008, sixty years after independence, English continues to be most important language of the country because the people need it for educational, economic and administrative reasons. The use of personification in the essay R.K. Narayanan’s essay ‘Fifteen Years’ is written in the form a conversation between a judge and the English language that is personified as a woman. The judge treats the personified English language like a criminal in the courtroom. He accuses the English language as the language of the British people who oppressed the Indians. He doesn’t want her to remain in India anymore after the independence. But the English Language insists on living in the country even if she is relegated to the rank of a second language or a third language. She even quoted a few lines from Shakespeare to justify her necessity of remaining in India. She tells the judge that , under the Indian constitution, it has a fundamental right to know why she was being thrown out of the country. But the judge insists that the Indian constitution is applicable only to Indians. The English Language even tries to influence the judge by saying that she is a devotee of Goddess Sarswathi. But the judge declares that even if she comes in a sari with kumkum on her forehead, she has to be sent out of the country in another fifteen years. SHORT ANSWERS (Questions on Page.18) The English language irritates the average Indian because it is the language of the British people who cruelly oppressed the people of India. Free India finds pride in speaking an Indian language rather than a foreign one. English was considered a prestigious and elite language at the time of the British rule. Those who spoke good English were treated with great respect and consideration. After independence, English lost its status as the first language of India. But it was continued to be used as the common language of administration and business. Many people argue that English is the language of the imperialist, the red-tapist and the legalist. Some people even consider that the English language doesn’t have a systematic spelling and meaning system. The English language has lived in India for more than two hundred years. So it claims to be more Indian than the judge who had spent less than 70 years in India. The English language argues that the Indian people need it for conducting the business of the government and the law courts. It argues that Hindi and other Indian languages are not standardized enough for becoming an official language. It is very difficult to translate English books into Indian languages. Most of the Indian languages are not standardized enough to give a satisfactory level of meaning to everyone. In this essay the English language is personified as a woman. She describes herself as a handmaid of Goddess Saraswathi. The judge insists that she will not be tolerated in India even if she comes in a sari and kumkum.”
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