Quotes from Vamsee Juluri's thoughtful article titled 'Language: A Medium of Life Itself'[05/06/2019 -pragayta.com]:
''I write this essay not as an expert on language acquisition or on India's education policies, but simply as a "user" of language and perhaps a little more that, given that I am not just a functional user but a professional user of language (a writer and a teacher). I am also a parent-teacher, and I am, most of all, an observer and commentator on affairs that concern the decolonisation of India. I suppose those are the main terms on which I believe I can take the liberty of sharing some ideas on the vexing question of India's language and education policies. I share a brief reading list at the end of this essay, and will perhaps write some more on this issue in the future in terms of curriculum and pedagogy ideas. But for now, I just share these reflections.''
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''The first thing that policy-framers should perhaps understand is that there is a word that has pretty much acquired the status, in practice, if not in principle, of something very obsolete and oppressive, and that is "compulsory." It may have been an acceptable term to live under fifty years ago when everyone believed in the inviolability of the Prussian-factory-school model of education and the "Dams are Temples" model of "development," but the truth is that "compulsory" is as passe as compulsion itself...''
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''...start a festival called Bhashamala Day or something that celebrates our linguistic diversity (and unity). And most of all, pay attention to Indian theories and philosophies of language, and the priceless pieces of knowledge rapidly vanishing from the world as 'progress' erases forests and life.''
