Fizala Khan
Mother tongue develops a personal and a cultural identity. Personal identity emerges out of our surroundings and our history. An individual hears their native language first when in the womb, and it subconsciously begins determining their views and emotions.
It develops the foundation of connection with family, society, culture, and identity. Its strong foundation makes a strong acceptance of oneself through an understanding of social origin and character in the most natural manner. Additionally, by upholding of the different languages spoken in the society, cultural identity arises that flows unquestionably in other phases of an individual’s life.
Knowing your mother tongue well is a matter of pride. Besides the boast of confidence, it creates awareness in the individual’s mind while also helping them connect with their cultural identity in a better manner. One’s mother tongue creates a huge influence in defining the personality of an individual; however, the medium of education which is usually English also encourages parents to speak to their children in their second language.
Languages are the greatest significant way of keeping our culture alive.
Repeatedly, the direct translation of one language to additional might not carry the same essence as it does in the source language. Thus, the best way to thoroughly recognize a culture is to know the language. Mother tongue helps us to stay associated with our culture and our roots.
On International Mother Tongue Day, The Kashmiriyat spoke to Maharaj Krishen Raina, a prominent Kashmiri writer and a patron of Kashmiri language about the importance of ‘Kaesher’ and the preservation of the language.
Maharaj Krishen Raina quoted Nelson Mandela and said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head, but if you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart”.
He further added, “To understand why language holds greave importance in our life, this quote by Nelson Mandela explains it all. It brings clarity to ‘why language holds grounds to our roots and existence?’. Your mother tongue cannot be replaced by the value and grounds of any other language”.
Markus Zusak, in The Book Thief wrote – “The words. Why did they have to exist? Without them, there wouldn’t be any of this”.
“Like mothers understand the pain of their children, our mother tongue connects us to all universal belongings and longing. If we speak of Kashmiri mothers, they love their children with all that they have, often with tokens of words that are a pivotal part of their love language. It exists in the sermon truth of ‘sacrificing myself over all evil and omen that befall you’ (Lagai Balai), the child must feel privileged and special, knowing that their mother ceases to protect them over everything”.
Raina added that, “Our mother tongue creates a safe hollow for us, to know who we are. It is the safe space for a child, like the arms of his mother. Understanding, learning and preserving or language is extremely important and is a responsibility on our end”.
He concluded that, “It is obnoxious of people to think that spoken Kashmiri or ‘mother tongue’ is only spoken by people who are backward by education and class. We need to wipe the stigma out. We need to preserve our beautiful language. What will be left of a Kashmiri, if not his language? It is us, it is upon us to keep the culture, tradition and our language alive”.
On #InternationalMotherLanguageDay we spoke to Mr. M K Raina a prominent Kashmiri writer and a Patron of the Kashmiri language about the importance of 'keshur' and its preservation. pic.twitter.com/mVgBvZQG2H
— The Kashmiriyat (@TheKashmiriyat) February 21, 2021
Maharaj Krashen Raina, an engineer by profession has been working on Kashmiri language since 1995. He started Project Zaan in Mumbai in collaboration with LaL Ded Educational and Welfare Trust – with Kashmiri Pandit’s Association (1998 – 99) under inspiring leadership of Late Shri J.N.Kachroo, Ex Principal, National High School, Srinagar.
He is also the Convener of Project Zaan, where the main objective is disseminating information about Kashmir – the language and the culture for younger generations and to popularize Kashmiri language.
Raina has been instrumental in getting the Kashmiri Software – Kashmiri Arinimal Engine developed by the Cyberscape Multimedia and has been conducting Kashmiri Learning classes since 1996 and has also started conducting Kashmiri Vocabulary classes on internet from January of 2019.
He has co – authored the basic reader for Kashmiri Language, has produced lessons on ‘How to read and write Kashmiri in Devanagari script and in Nastaliq script’ and also translates work from Kashmiri to English on his website.