Marking the 20th anniversary of the launch of International Mother Language Day this year, an event highlighting the linguistic diversity of India was held at the Portcullis House of the House of Commons, British Parliament on 12th March.
Hosted by Bob Blackman MP and organised by Sanskruti Centre for Cultural Excellence, the event had 17 Indian languages presented, mostly written by the members of Indian diaspora living in Britain. Rarely heard Indian languages in the UK such as Saurashtra, Ladakhi and Bishnupriya Manipuri were highlighted, written by famous poets of those respective languages in India such Ravi Kondda, Rinchen Wacher and Dils Lakshmindra Sinha.
A published compilation of all these works titled “Kaavya Sugandha” was also released on the occasion that included unique scripts such as Takri, Khudavadi, Maithili and Sharda.
Interestingly, the International Mother Language Day has a vital link with Bengali speaking populace. The day was declared by UNESCO as a result of Bhasha Andolan of Bengali people for the recognition of Bengali language. Befitting to the occasion, powerful rendition of Rabindranath Tagore’s poem ‘Nirjharer Shopnobhongo’ by Sanchita Das captivated the audience.
The poems, in general, were written keeping the occasion in mind and included emotions about fading away of some of these languages, especially due to the alarming number of young diaspora members not speaking or writing in their native languages any more. Presenters included doctors, social activists, civil servants, academicians, engineers and entrepreneurs, all taking pride in their mother language. The event was anchored by Research Scholar at SOAS Monika Gupta and Vote of Thanks was rendered by Ragasudha Vinjamuri.
