It is almost as if an Orwellian nightmare is in the making. In George Orwell’s iconic novel 1984, a huge country is under the dictatorship of the omnipresent, but never-seen dictator, Big Brother. Even language is not spared. The English language as we know it is termed ‘Oldspeak’ and is being gradually pushed out, and the shortened and more business-like ‘Newspeak’ is coming in its stead. The officials in charge of this are exuberant that ‘Newspeak’ has a vocabulary that is actually shrinking. No need for a word like bad. All one needs is something like ‘ungood’. Or if you need a stronger version of good, why have a string of useless words like excellent and splendid? ‘Plusgood’ covers the meaning or ‘doubleplus good’ if you want something stronger still.
It appears that snowballing cybernation is doing something similar in India, without any dictatorship or duress. A leading psychiatrist in Goa, trained at the NIMHANS, was shocked to find out that so many children could not read. She came across Class 5 kids who could not identify alphabets and Class 8 children who could not read a single sentence from their English textbooks, leave alone understand them. Studies done nationwide confirmed this horror. “We now seem to be churning out illiterate graduates,” she laments. And these were all children with average or above average intelligence with no learning difficulty.
In the remote and disadvantaged villages, only half the children can read books at their level in Indian languages, avers an NGO involved in bringing out affordable books in Indian languages.There is little doubt that the revolution in electronics and IT that has come about in the past quarter century has transformed India into a country where children can dream and aspire to have standards of living way above that of their parents. But a lack of reading and writing skills is the deleterious side effect of the process.
It has been pointed out that in the future, the rich–poor divide will depend on computer literacy or the lack of it. In that sense, it is akin to the evolution of the human species, and we can ill afford to put the brakes on it. That would make us retrogress inch by inch, crab fashion. Moreover, children today are all looking for instant gratification, and the internet and TV provide them with this. Why then should they resort to reading?
What percentage of parents would be actively trying to inculcate a love of books and reading? Even when they try to do so, how many among them would be successful in their endeavours?
There is a note of pessimism here. This is more so when one remembers that the very basis of logic and thought is language. The nuances and abstract concepts are the lifeblood of fine sentiment and a rich inner life. One shudders to think of a scenario where Shakespeare, Milton and Chaucer would become memories from a dim past, or worse still mutilated and served up in some form of ‘Newspeak’.
Going back to the past would give us some remedial measures in this matter. Just as other forms of literature, children’s literature grew from stories passed down orally from generation to generation. India once had a head start in this regard. After all, we gave the rest of the world the Panchatantra. This came out by 200 AD, and that too in a written version. These tales have inspired countless generations of young minds in India. As someone put it delightfully, a story was ‘just a grandmother away’.
Reading out religious passages from scriptures, would, I daresay, improve children’s linguistic abilities. Eminent Indian English writer, the late Khushwant Singh, said that reading parts from the Old Testament, with their beautiful prose improved his language. Mind you, this from a self-proclaimed agnostic! There are translations of the Bible in all Indian languages. As for the Ramayana, Kamala Subramaniam has made a laudable contribution by translating it in a format that is children friendly. In my mother tongue Malayalam, Mali Ramayana, written for children, is widely read.
Likewise, there are versions of the Mahabharata that are primarily meant for children. Some of these are illustrated, and that makes it all the more attractive. Mathuram Bhoothalingam, who wrote in Tamil and English under the pen name Krithika, deserves a special mention in this matter.In India, we should not forget the underprivileged. Attempts are on to bring out cheaper children’s books in multiple languages and formats to help children discover the joy of reading—set in locations they can recognise, and telling stories that capture their attention.
A noteworthy initiative is the concept of story cards. Five of these story cards, each with a different story, make up a sachet. A sachet which costs only `20 comes in with laminated form. Efforts are also made to bring them to the very small towns, and remote areas, through ‘kirana’ stores and railway stations.
The Children’s Book Trust with its multifarious initiatives was started as early as the 1950s. Likewise, the Amar Chitra Katha and the Tulika publications have been with us now for decades. There is a treasure trove out there. India is unique in that Birbal and Biggles, and Jataka tales and Jeeves, coexist happily. Both Tenali Raman and Tintin bring on a twinkle in our eyes. I think that there is room for some optimism. The cup is more than half full, I reckon!