The Gift of Language

 I had often heard from people about how language is the greatest boon of mankind. It did not make any sense to me. How can Hindi or English or Slovakian be the 'greatest boon'? What about kindness and science and all that stuff? 

Then, I saw something that helped me understand. Here it is :_ 

The History of the World in 18 minutes

This helped me so much. I highly recommend you watch this. Whatever your age or gender. It is NOT boring. 

What I learnt was why humans are the intelligent species. I mean, at the end of the day, we are all just monkeys. Then, why is it that only humans are capable of building infrastructure or scientifically explaining things? Well, All members of the animal kingdom learn about their surroundings. Even mice. But, humans could share this accumulated knowledge with others. So, that way observations of the past helped us advance in the future. It  is like having thousands of books that help you write your own. But how? Language! Language is the reason humans can share their ideas with each other and is the reason we are by very far, the most advanced species in the universe. 

                                                                Picture Credit : Apurva Vaichalkar

But, what really helped me comprehend the importance of language are my cousins. 

For a while, they silently imprinted on me the need to learn Marathi. 

I actually used to feel upset that there wasn't that IT factor with my mother's extended family. Then, when I was 13, I realised. It was me. Not them. They had always been the sweetest. Suddenly, I felt so ashamed. I didn't know anything about my culture or language or ancestry. I felt like a fake. So, immediately I started taking Marathi lessons from Mama. Frankly, it started off rockily. But, I would rather embarrass myself in front of Mama than my whole family. With some cousins, I spoke in Marathi, much to their annoyance as they coached this amateur. Then, somehow, we landed up in Pune for Ajji. Now, I had so many people to talk to in Marathi and especially - Neelima mami and Milind mama. 

From Odhuning and Lotuning the door to speaking Marathi vyavasthith, these 11 days (while Ajji was in ICU) were an integral part to my Marathi journey. After my training montage, I was ready for the championship - the rest of the family. Ajji didn't realise or didn't show her surprise at me suddenly speaking fluent Marathi. The other Ajjis were impressed and gave me certificates (orally). Gauri Maushi, Meera Maushi, Chitra maushi , Suhita Maushi and everyone else were so taken aback that they kept slipping into English and I had to remind them that now I could speak in Marathi. I learnt colours from Milind mama and produce from Gauri maushi. Everyone felt closer to me, as I did to them. I suddenly felt like asking them about their family, our ancestry and random stories. 

But, most of all, I felt connected. Connected to my family , my past, my present , my culture, my heritage and finally a part of myself.