FATE OF DOGRI AND DOGRAS

It was 22^nd December, a nice winter morning and after completing my morning walk, I reached home, picked up newspaper and came to the living room. I look out a news item published in the newspaper with respect to celebrations of Dogri Mannta Diwas.

Then I switched on the radio and tune in to local channel where a special report on promotion of Dogri language was running. As I was listening to the programme, my ten years old son came near me and asked, “Papa Ji, Good Morning. What are you listening on radio so early?”

“I am listening the programme on Dogri Mannta Diwas”, I replied him.

“What is Dogri Mannta Diwas”, he enquired again.

I replied again, “It is the same day in 2003, when Dogri Language, our mother tongue, was included in the 8^th Schedule of Indian Constitution in 2003.”

“Papa, tell me more about Dogri language”, my son asked.

“I will take you to a programme on Dogri Language in the evening today and it will address many of your queries,” I said to my son.

After performing day’s work when I came back home I came to know that my son was eagerly waiting for me to attend the programme as I had promised to him.

After a while, we left the house and reached the venue of the programme on scheduled time and took the seats comfortably.

The speaker (don’t recall his name) welcomed the gathering attending the programme.

While addressing all he said, “We all Dogras should come forward for the development of Dogri our Mother Tongue. More and programmes, seminars, should be conducted regularly on promotion of Dogri language. Dogri should be taught as compulsory subject in schools upto Matriculation. More job opportunities should be explored by the Government for the Dogri scholars and students.”

He further kept on saying, “the nations or people, who preserve their languages develop much faster than others. The basic principle is that the ideas or expressions comes in one’s mind in his or her own language and then he or she has to translate them into other language, if needed; and where your own language is the official language, your mental processing of translating it is not needed.

For example, in Punjab, our neighbouring state itself, Punjabi is its official language. While talking of national language, Chinese is the official language of China and Russian is the official  language of Russia.”

One more speaker addressed the gathering and said that our mother tongue Dogri is nowadays written in Devnagri script but it had its own script known as Takri or Lande. How and why the script was changed is matter of concern and research for our learned scholars. Was it a politically motivated or there was some other reason. Because of Devnagri script it is confined to small Hindu dominated areas of Jammu region excluding other Muslim populated areas of Jammu region and Sialkot in Pakistan.  

He further said, “when our Children are forced to speak Hindi in our homes consciously or sub-consciously and speaking Dogri is often seen as taboo for young ones then how could we expect Dogri to be flourished?”

The other speakers also spoke on the occasion and after that we both came back home at around 6:00 p.m. During the journey to home, my son was mum; he not even uttered a single word.

 When we reached home, my son asked me, “Papa, I’m very confused.”

I replied, “Why”

He said, “If Dogri is the mother tongue. What is Hindi?”

I replied politely, “Hindi is our National Language.”

“But one day my school teacher was saying that Urdu is the official language of our state,” he said in a puzzled manner.

“Yes, Urdu is the official language in J&K,” I replied.

“Then what about English language,” he questioned in a more confused state.

Before answering him, I thought for a while that all the questions raised by my son are a matter of concern for all of us. Anyhow I tried to make him understand that Dogri is our mother tongue of Dogras living in Jammu province while as Urdu is official language of J&K State and used in official records of Govt. Departments. Hindi is the national language of India and English being the international language is preferred over Dogri or Hindi it is used in official records, in addition to Urdu.

After taking some snacks my son left the room but I was still thinking about his point even after answering him that what is our situation as Jammuites. we don’t know official language of the state i.e. Urdu, we don’t know how to write Dogri, our mother tongue, we are not even comfortable 100% with Hindi language, our national language and English, being most preferred and promoted international language always remained an alien language for us and we somehow manage with it. 

I am not certain that our mother tongue Dogri shall be flourished when I being a Dogra, who is writing about Dogri in English language and not in Dogri as I don’t know how to write Dogri.

                                                                                        -  S. D. BOGAL