VIJAYAWADA: How can you protect and promote Telugu language, mother tongue of more than eight crore people? Simple, love and respect your mother tongue like you respect your mother and feel proud in speaking it, experts say. Dr P Srinivasulu Reddy, better known as Petasri, and other experts of Telugu language say only when one owns up the language and takes pride in using it, its conservation is possible.
Petasri, Telugu professor with Sri Venkateswara University in Tirupati, says unlike Tamilians and Kandigas, who prefer to use their own language even though they are aware of other languages even when communicating in other states, people of AP tend to speak foreign languages in their own houses.
“We should continue to use our own language more in our home as well as outside most of the time. It does not mean that we should not learn or use other languages, but it should be done where it is necessary,” he opined.
Another language expert, who wishes not to be named, said language is like any other tool: the more you use, the more proficient you will be in its usage. “True respect to the language is only when you use it properly by not mixing it with others. One should know that language symbolises one’s culture, heritage and respecting it means, respecting ourselves,” he stressed.
Speaking to TNIE, Mandali Buddha Prasad, former chairman of Andhra Pradesh Official Language Commission, said not just Telugu, but any language for that matter could only survive when it is colloquial and used in every aspect of communication, be it conversational, technical and business. “Unfortunately, unlike Tamilans, Kannadigas, Marathis and Odias, Telugus are less proud of their language, which is evident from incorporation of foreign words in communication,” he says.
Prasad said a sure way of protecting and promoting Telugu is to make it the medium of communication (instruction) at educational institutions and mandatory use of Telugu in administrative transactions. “When I was heading the Language Commission, we strived in that direction and succeeded to an extent. However, today, the situation has reverted to square one,” he said.
Pointing out that modern technology has made typing and use of Telugu in messaging over electronic communication devices easy, he said there is a need for using Telugu in a more engaging manner.
“Efforts should be made to use Telugu in technical aspects as well as commercial transactions. Unlike other states, even the names and routes on the buses are in English in most of the cases. Telugu should be made more visible in commercial transactions like names of consumables and advertisements,” he emphasised.