Role of English and Negligible and Marginal Role of Indian Languages

“The social change which India has undergone in the post-war era is much more impressive than that in the economic sphere. A very traditional society is in the process of being ‘modernized’, or what is probably more correct, westernized. The pace of change is not uniform in the different facets of social life. Again, urban life has witnessed far greater change than rural life. The totality of change is truly revolutionary.” (Kar: 2005). The transformation of the Indian society that has been taking place is a very gradual one though a marked one. The new and the old exist side by side, in varying proportions. “There is a marked eagerness to take to new ways of living but at the same time a general reluctance to give up old attitudes, customs and practices. Probably this constitutes both strength and weakness of the Indian society.” (Charnay: 1981). “The relativized and pluralized western culture further evokes a perception of ‘the West’ as being tolerant and ‘the Rest’ as intolerant and fundamentally dogmatic.