Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Indians to feel pride over the other languages spoken in the country. His message calling for pride and respect for other Indian languages came, perhaps fittingly, at the inauguration of an exhibition on the role of India’s first Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel in the integration of the country.“We feel proud if our children can speak another language. We proudly tell others, ‘My son knows Spanish,’ or, ‘My daughter can speak French.’ Why do we not say, ‘My son can speak Malayalam,’ with the same pride?” PM Modi asked at the event.“When we speak in our own native languages, we easily slip into English for a word or two that we either don’t know in our own language or for words that we think are more effective in English. My question is, why don’t we slip into one of the Indian languages to use such words? A lot of effort has gone into building up words for all these things in languages like Marathi, Tamil and Malayalam. Why should we not use a word from one of these languages in the middle of a line spoken in Hindi?” Modi said.He suggested that such a practice would help increase the understanding and respect for all the languages and cultures of India, eventually adding up to a more cohesive national identity that included them all.Modi also used the platform to suggest other move that could help people in one part of the country improve their understanding and appreciation for the people and cultures of another part. For instance, he suggested the building up of a bank of quiz questions on the history and culture of each state. Once these banks are available, he said, it would make it easier for students of all states to compete with each other on the history of any of the states. This, Modi said, would help teach everyone about the history, culture and context of each state.The overreaching theme of all the points PM Modi made at the event however built into his government’s slogan of ‘’.