Is Gujarati really that important to our society and us?

Is Gujarati really that important to our society and us? 

Why do we speak in Gujarati? Is it because our grandparents can’t understand English very well? Is it because when at home our parents insist we speak in Gujarati to them? Or do you feel as though it’s part of who we are?

 

I spoke fluent Gujarati having been to Oshwal Gujarati School from when I was four years old, completing my GCSE and A-level exams. After having been at university for a year I found my level of spoken ability had somewhat declined because I wasn’t using it regularly. This somewhat disappointed me because at home and with relatives we speak Gujarati regularly and at times I had to use English words. 

At the first Abhyas Varg we were challenged to have a conversation with somebody about their thoughts on whether the decrease in people speaking Gujarati would affect our culture and whether the next generation would not be able to hold on to our culture. Yesterday my foi, who has come from Kenya, was at my house and we were talking in Gujarati. We then started to talk about whether I used to speak it at university and how different it is now because of that. From here the conversation led on to her grandson who is from Kenya but has been in the UK for a few years. When he first came his Gujarati was “first class” but now his accent has completely changed and struggles to string together a comprehendible sentence. Instead he speaks with a very strong, rich English accent. 

The question is whether it is because of parents that we are now facing a potential extinction of Gujarati or because the society we live in now makes it possible for children to speak English to everybody. I feel as though the only reason I can speak Gujarati fairly fluently still is because of my parents’ influence and the fact they sent me to Gujarati school. What about all those children and parents who don’t bother? I don’t think this means we will lose our culture because there is a lot more to our culture than just a language but with us becoming more westernised who’s to say in future generations our culture will still be around?

Many parents now who can’t speak Gujarati properly don’t encourage their kids because they may feel they are unable to help and therefore will feel embarrassed. What many of them don’t understand is that it’s not too late to actually learn, with adult classes available. It is the future generations that will continue our culture forward and it’s not hard to learn how to speak Gujarati. Don’t give in to laziness and embarrassment.