MALAYALEES SETTLED OUTSIDE KERALA AND MOTHER TONGUE

A  large  number of Malayalees had gone out of Kerala including foreign countries to eke out a living by taking up jobs or doing business and a good number  are settled there.  It is a fact that a major chunk of the children of these Malayalees are growing up without knowing either to speak, write or read their mother tongue Malayalam.  The discrimination towards mother tongue by these Malayalees settled outside Kerala is attributed   to their fear borne out of the thinking that it will adversely affect the English standard of their wards which will in turn prove detrimental to their coming out with flying  colours in competitive examinations, interviews etc in future.  Being a person who had opportunities of living in many places outside Kerala viz., Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore, I can say that majority  of Malayalees living in Delhi are not at all inclined to teach their children Malayalam.  Here even at home they prefer to talk each other either in Hindi or English. While I was at Delhi during the 1970s many Malayalee  parents used to proudly say to me that their children do not know Malayalam. On the contrary, Malayalees living at Kolkata and Mumbai are  a little different inasmuch as they and children  atleast talk each other  at home in Malayalam.  To my knowledge, Bangalore is an exception where majority of Malayalees talk to their children in Malayalam at home and hence their children know Malayalam.

The discrimination against  Malayalam on the part of  Malayalees settled at Delhi and elsewhere  result in their children who may be  studying in some English medium schools or colleges developing an aversion to mother tongue Malayalam and gradually losing interest in visiting Kerala while becoming fluent in English and Hindi/other local languages... Similarly, they may lose interest even to pay a visit to Kerala.  The responsibility for creating  such a situation solely lies with their parents only.

It is ironical that while those who hail from States like Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh or any other states for that matter, always make it a point to teach their wards their respective mother tongue . it is only Malayalees who not only discriminate against their mother tongue Malayalam but also proudly claim that their wards do not know Malayalam.  I remember during the 1970s while speaking  at a function organized under the aegis of  Delhi Malayalee Association, our great poet Sri ONV Kurup had deplored this tendency prevailing amongst Malayalees settled outside the state in  ignoring the mother tongue which is in sharp contrast to people belonging to other states who always take  care to teach their wards their respective mother tongue...

I learn of late certain eminent personalities  like writer Omcherry etc., have taken initiative at making arrangement for   Malayalam classes at Delhi with a view to enabling children of Delhi Malayalees to learn Malayalam.  But how many Malayalees will be interested to avail  of such a facility by sending  their wards to learn Malayalam is anybody’s guess.

***