Save thy language !

After expressing my opinions on some universal topics, I now wish to launch into a topic that is not of life-changing proportion but is very close to my heart ! I fell in love with the English language when I was 6 years old. The love affair began with my introduction to Enid Blyton's uncomplicated prose and there has been no looking back since then.

My mother, who loves books herself and has introduced me to various genres of books, and my father, who has never refused me any book I have ever wanted to buy, were just the sort of parents needed to instill a good habit in me, which I believe will stay for life.

My fascination for English led me to read lots of books, experience different genres, compare the styles of different authors and try as I may, I cannot point out any single work as my all-time favourite.

The innocent tales of Enid Blyton, the adrenaline filled war and adventure books of Alistair McLean, the Jeffery Archer books which follow the lives of it's characters through the years, Erich Segal's books which tell tales of Doctors and Scientists and the timeless Love Story, J.K. Rowling's magical world of Harry Potter, Agatha Christie's delicious mysteries with murder thrown in whenever things get boring, Chetan Bhagat's books which offer an insight into not only young India but also the young Indian writer, the ageless and enduring saga The Thorn Birds, the eerie and sinister Rebecca, the witty works of Shakespeare, the poems of Tagore, Keats and Tennyson, the wide and varied world of books has been a very large part of my very small world !

And so, though I myself use the 'sms-lingo' in my smses because it is more practical from the point of view of saving time and cost and also as the name SMS suggests that it is a Short Messaging Service, I cannot tolerate the blatant ignorance people display to the proper, grammatical version of languages, and not just English here. I find it a sacrilege that grammar is thought useful only for scoring well in the languages and not as a practical and integral part of the language that needs to be used in our conversations and correspondences beyond the examination hall.

I judge people on the basis of the respect they show to the languages they use. I am not against infusing humour into the language by deliberate mispronunciation or intentional alteration of grammar. But when the situation needs perfect language, I won’t gonna tolerate no foolin' around! :-D !
I guess nobody cares much about the way we handle our languages, but I certainly do. So if you can, try and make the effort to use languages in their correct form as much as you can! I beseech you, implore you, let the languages live and help them flourish!