Personally, I have made it a point to teach my kids Gujarati and Hindi. We communicate with them in Gujarati most of the time.
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Posted on: 29-10-05 20:36:53
Location: Western Hemisphere
Posted on: 29-10-05 20:36:53
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Orginally posted by DesiTiger
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Orginally posted by dimple2001
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Over zealous assimilation or inferiority complex?You Decide.
Sometimes, neither. My wife and I don't speak a common Indian language and English is our language at home and streets. We have friends fom varied demographics and hence for the most part English remains our conversational language. So far, it has worked out just fine.
I am a Punjabi married to a Telugu, figure that. Still, my wife preferes to talk to me in Hindi rather than English at home and outside when we are dicussing private things. Ofcourse if she didn't know hindi, her speaking English with me all the time was justifiable, as is in your case.
The point as Meghal aptly put it is not Desis speakign English, but rather Desis NOT speaking their own language and not teaching it to their kids, just because they are living in a constant state of denial
Meghal's and Desi Tiger's points well taken
. To Desi Tiger's point, I am from Tamil Nadu and married to someone from Jamshedpur. Her family, however, has origins in Visakhapatnam.
For good or bad, I never learnt Hindi, and hence don't speak Hindi...such is life. Anyway, my mother tongue is not Tamil either, although that's what I spoke in the streets while growing up. My mother tongue is a very minority language called Sourashtra that has origins in Gujarat (from the times of the Mughals). The language carries traits of Marathi, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, and every other possible thing that people adopted when they migrated south.
So I guess I could throw in few options for our child that we are expecting soon - Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Sourashtra and English
, not to mention that I'd like my child to learn French and Spanish...talk about one hell of a "confused desi"...but my kid doesn't know what's gonna hit him/her (don't know yet) 
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Dimple2001
Dimple2001,
For my knowledge I want to know this. Since I am from Gujarat, the language that you mention "Sourashtra" I have not heard about it. Saurashtra is a region in Gujarat where cities like Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, etc. are there. As far as I know, the language is called Kathiawadi which is Gujarati only except that it is spoken in a different way.
Thanks & regards.
Rajan.
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Let's make India a better place !
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Posted on: 30-10-05 10:58:09
Location: Western Hemisphere
Posted on: 30-10-05 10:58:09
Quote:
Orginally posted by rajand
Dimple2001,
For my knowledge I want to know this. Since I am from Gujarat, the language that you mention "Sourashtra" I have not heard about it. Saurashtra is a region in Gujarat where cities like Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, etc. are there. As far as I know, the language is called Kathiawadi which is Gujarati only except that it is spoken in a different way.
Thanks & regards.
Rajan.
I do know Saurashtrra is a region in Gujarat. I do not know if the name of my language originates based on that region or not, my best guess is yes.
Since, the migration of the people happened 1000 or so years ago (Mughal time period...is that correct?), I don't think the language is spoken or known in Gujarat anymore. Also, I don't believe even anyone outside of certain cities in Tamil Nadu know about the existence of this language.
The city of Madurai has a dominant Sourashtra speaking population. Other cities with significant Sourashtra speaking people are Trichy, Kumbakonam, Salem, Rasipuram, and Dindugal - all of them in TN.
There is no written script for my language, although, few diehard Sourashtrians have tried with extremely limited success. The only time I speak my mother tongue is with my parents and relatives. Written communication is either in English or Tamil.
Now, here is the interesting part. Even with this extreme minority language, there are several dialects, go figure that !! Madurai's dialect is different from Trichy, etc.
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Dimple2001
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Now, here is the interesting part. Even with this extreme minority language, there are several dialects, go figure that !! Madurai's dialect is different from Trichy, etc.
Nature, diversity is thy name.
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Quote:
Orginally posted by dimple2001
I do know Saurashtrra is a region in Gujarat. I do not know if the name of my language originates based on that region or not, my best guess is yes.
Since, the migration of the people happened 1000 or so years ago (Mughal time period...is that correct?), I don't think the language is spoken or known in Gujarat anymore. Also, I don't believe even anyone outside of certain cities in Tamil Nadu know about the existence of this language.
The city of Madurai has a dominant Sourashtra speaking population. Other cities with significant Sourashtra speaking people are Trichy, Kumbakonam, Salem, Rasipuram, and Dindugal - all of them in TN.
There is no written script for my language, although, few diehard Sourashtrians have tried with extremely limited success. The only time I speak my mother tongue is with my parents and relatives. Written communication is either in English or Tamil.
Now, here is the interesting part. Even with this extreme minority language, there are several dialects, go figure that !! Madurai's dialect is different from Trichy, etc.
Very interesting and true.
http://voyager.in/Saurashtra_language
Though I think you mean Muslim invasions and not mughals.
The mughals didnt enter the scene till 1500s.
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I once made a mistake, but I was wrong about it.
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Location: Western Hemisphere
Posted on: 30-10-05 15:23:57
Location: Western Hemisphere
Posted on: 30-10-05 15:23:57
Great link !!! Thanks Mercury6.
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Dimple2001
