Sat 9 Feb 2008
Bhasha niye bhasha-bhasha bhabna
Posted by Jyoti under Bangladesh , Bengal , Media , Society , cultureTired of speculating about the regime’s next move, or feeling disgusted about the blatant human rights violation, or worrying about the skyrocketing prices? Here is something completely different to discuss over. Is the Bangla we speak ‘mangled’? Should we be worried about the demise of ‘impeccable’ Bangla? Who decides the standard of impeccability anyhow? These questions were raised in a series of articles in Prothom Alo some time ago, and have been revived by a recent Daily Star piece (hat tip: Udayan). I’ll summarise these articles first before ending with some thoughts. Looking forward to the comments.
February 11th, 2008 at 1:21 am
I read all these articles when they first came out.I found Mr. Badrul Ahsan’s article
slightly ‘elitist’.We cannot expect everyone to talk like Sirajul Islam Chowdhury or Shamsul Haq.”Mukher bhasha” is the language of the majority of the people,
I think media can reach all classes of people by using this language.It should not address urban elites only.The elites are trying to play the role of a guardian here.My question is: how can a child learn ‘impeccable’ bangla when his parents and even school teachers are using mukher bhasha all the time?
Farooqi has introduced a new trend where urban middle class is using “mukher bhasha”. For me, charecters look more familiar with this but I feel very uncomfortable when they use dirty and abusive words.
Our bangla channels show some programs on band show or fashion where the presenters speak Bangla in english accent which is neither bangla nor English.If they cannot speak bangla in bangla accent , my suggestion is please speak english.Even the ABCD generation in USA speak better Bangla than these people.Mr. Badrul Ahsan also pointed out this saying they are copying their indian counterparts.Then he does not hesitate to advise us to follow Aparna Sen!
Learn bangla from foreigners! NO and Never.
their( Kolkata) pronounciation is different from ours in many ways,why should we follow them? What if I say Aparna Sen should learn Bangla from Shuborna Mostafa or Ferdousi Rahman?
Finally,”Dabiye rakhte Parbe na” sounds bogus.sometimes ‘impeccable’ bangla is not enough to express yourself.
February 11th, 2008 at 1:35 am
Nafis bin Zafor first Bangladeshi to win Oscar in Special Effects…
February 11th, 2008 at 6:10 am
Well…Bhasha niye bhasha bhasha chinta amra shobai kori.
We, specially the more educated lot, want to speak better appear better and be better heard better. So we do think about it.
Surely everyone knows that language is evolving all the time. Look at old English? Or Hindi? And Bengali itself….hasnt it changed over the years? It has and will keep on changing all the time.
The debate that we seem to find ourselves in over the articles mentioned above ( pls look at the writeup and the comments they evoked etc) brings us back to the same point. That of the use of language in an “informal” setting and in a “formal” setting. Surely if there no need to somehow control the difference between the two, we really don’t need to run departments of language and linguistics in every language? We only need to let it go free to the people ( and language is FREE to everyone to use it anyway they wish to use it ) and let it keep on evolving. Would we need grammar then? (I mean almost every syllabus of the world contains almost 8-10 years of formal study of the grammar to lead to the first preliminary certification of schooling.. should we forgo that if we think the colloquial use of the language is all the better? I see a new debate here….) In that case in the departments of linguistics and Language we would only need someone to serve the clerical need to perhaps note down (or entry data of ) what new “forms” of the words/language people are using.
Right?
What Mr Ahsan says in his article is mainly about the fashionable trend of colloquial use of words and some new americanized accents and others that we have let creep into our language. His observation that such use of beautiful language mangles it, isn’t wrong. His expecting , perhaps, better use of words and accents by a head of state is not a far away cry in itself, In fact if we can have an institute to train our Bangladesh civil servant examinations passed officers about the language.culture and heritage of the country, thats for the betterment of the quality of service they are expected to deliver, in representing that country. There are no double standards about that. On those lines why couldn’t we expect our heads of state to be a little more “beautiful” in their expressions ( of which they make a LOT ). No one says regional accents or words make a persona less Bangladeshi or less valuable.
Ofcourse, Mr Ahsan’s comparison to the use of Bangla Language in West Bengal isn’t very practical in East Bengal, is it?
The question is of standards in some places. Especially formal settings. Surely one wouldn’t want Mr Sarwari’s promoted colloquial words to be used to deliver news on a news bulletin? An accent (regional) there is no shame, but imitation of a foreign accent, surely is a shame? Mr Sarwari in his article himself points out the variation of language in formal and informal settings.
I have noticed a lot of people bring in Momtaz’s songs as examples to tagore’s words. What a shame, truly, to compare them ?
The pop culture evolving in our country, the remixes of old songs, the Bengali accents used in pop songs for decades now, have all enriched our culture, and also language. But in incomparable ways. They each stay in their own places. It would be an insult to compare lyrics of some popular song — like for example one of Mumtaz’s , as she seems to be a popular thread of examples here — to lyrics of say one from the Geetanjali.
Both stand proud in their own grounds.
About mass followings..surely there is where the sense of responsibility lies. To encourage (and expect) our children to pick up the good from amongst double meaning lyrics-containing-VERY POPULAR-songs and better literature is surely a matter of good debate.
Thats where we all are concerned about where our language is heading. Some control is needed somewhere and the lines of demarcation ( of the right grammar and the wrong ) and lines of divide of formal and informal use of words in formal and informal settings comes in. its surely NEEDED. Of course these demarcations and divides are sometimes very fine, and delicate.
But surely we will keep on debating on this. Words used in formal language today weren’t acceptable 20 years ago. Words ( and styles ) being criticized today will perhaps be VERY acceptable 20 years on from now. But that shouldn’t keep us from fighting to keep the good and discarding the shameful imitations and else at the present time.
Who sets the standards? The demands of time. Perhaps also the vote (voice) of the majority.
Let me try an example: If at an early class of rehabilitation of alcoholics, votes were called on keeping the availability of alcohol open to the people wishing to be rehabilitated, the majority would probably vote to keep the availability of alcohol around in the rehabilitation centre.
Think about it. THAT voice of majority, would it be wise/right?
Now someone might ask who sets the standards here .. ..perhaps a school of alcoholics should be allowed to keep alcohol free to them to help them find their own way out/away from the bottle etc etc…..
Perhaps at a point that school of thought WILL become an established way to rehabilitate the alcoholics… etc etc
Again WHO sets those standards..rules..ways?
Like I said, its a very delicate balance….and evolves all the time.
Well I thought I would share my thoughts with you.
PS: I have mixed up my own spellings ..using both american and english ways….( damn this computer )! Pardon.
PS 2: BTW Mumtaz Rocks, So does Tagore and Nazrul, and Trishma….and Sharat Chandra, and Mostofa Sarwar Faruki, and S Badrul Ahsan….and many, many more…..( hopefully my words too! )