Discourses From the East
The ability to understand, speak, read, and write multiple languages adds a new dimension to life. My appreciation for this skill has grown over the past several decades. My native language is Karbi, spoken by the people in our area. Assamese is commonly used in markets and government offices. I attended an Assamese-medium school until the third grade, around age 10. By then, I could speak, read, and write basic Assamese. As I got older, I realized that many other communities near us, besides the Karbis, had their own languages. This gave me the chance to learn some words in different languages.
Most merchants in the area were Bengali, but Assamese was the common language. In many weekly markets, I noticed some merchants communicating with customers in Karbi because most customers were Karbi. There is a Bodo village and several Tiwa villages nearby. Both these communities could speak Karbi fluently, although they talked among themselves in rustic Assamese. Some Tiwas retained their language. The Bodos and Tiwas had very close social ties with the Karbis. The Dimasas in nearby areas also had strong connections with the Karbis. The Tiwas and Dimasas are native to the area and were, in fact, the first settlers of the Kopili valley.
There were also Garo people nearby, but they communicated with others in Assamese. Some Nepali families were also present, mainly herding cattle for nearby villages. Bengali Muslims, known locally as Mymensingia, were there too, cultivating land owned by local Karbi landowners. These three groups—Garo, Nepali, and Mymensingia— communicated in Assamese when dealing with other communities.
I interacted with other communities when I entered fourth grade in 1966 at the Ramakrishna Mission School in Cherrapunji (now called Sohra) in the Khasi Hills. The medium of instruction at the middle school level was Khasi and Bengali.
I was placed in the Bengali section because I couldn’t study in Khasi. I had seen Bengali merchants in our native area, but they did not use Bengali for communication. So, Bengali was almost an unfamiliar language to me. However, I quickly learned the language; I could write and speak it, and to my surprise, I topped the class in the halfyearly exam in my first year, even though I was the only non-Bengali in the class. Learning Assamese in primary school greatly helped me in learning Bengali. Picking up Khasi came almost naturally because most students at the school and hostel were Khasi. Of course, the environment in Sohra was primarily Khasi.
Many friends I made there were Khasis, and I communicated with them in Khasi. There were also a couple of Mizo boys in the hostel. I don’t remember the language I used to talk with them, but I learned a few Mizo words by watching the Mizo boarders talk to their friends from other schools outside the campus during afternoon strolls. Prayer and hymn singing in the evening chapel at the hostel were usually in Bengali. Khasi hymns were also sung, which were translations of Bengali hymns. It didn’t take much effort for me to improve my Khasi reading skills, as Khasi hymn books were available in the hostel chapel. That’s how I learned Khasi.
The three years of my school and hostel life in Sohra, in a Khasi environment, allowed me to interact easily with merchants and locals in Khasi. Later, I even delivered a public speech in Khasi. It helped me immensely during public interactions and election campaigns.
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The other languages I learned include English, Hindi, and Bengali. Sanskrit was a subject during my matriculation, and I passed it. I studied in the Bengali medium for four years—three years in Sohra and one year in Nagaon. Therefore, public communication, including giving speeches in Bengali, was not very difficult for me.
I mainly used this skill outside, in places like West Bengal. I took Hindi as a subject for only one year in high school. However, learning Hindi did not require much effort because Bollywood and the national Hindi media are very popular and influence everyone. Listening to debates and speeches in Hindi at political conferences helped me improve my Hindi. Several times, I had to speak in Hindi during conferences.
I remember giving public speeches in Hindi during election campaigns in Bihar, more than twenty years ago. Now, I only speak in Hindi when I deal with merchants or when I visit Delhi and other places. Reading Hindi is difficult for me, and writing Hindi is nearly impossible. I can read Bengali, though I don’t write it anymore. I used to read Bengali magazines and a few Bengali books, along with school textbooks, but I haven’t done so for the last few decades.
Currently, the languages I use most besides my mother tongue, Karbi, are Assamese and English. Assamese is crucial as a lingua franca and for reading newspapers and books. English has become my main language for communication, reading, and writing. I try to speak Khasi whenever I meet Khasi people.
Once, I met my son’s Khasi classmate at an engineering college and conversed with him in Khasi. He was excited to use his native language in a place where no one from his community was present. The conversation lasted a few minutes until I suddenly ran out of Khasi words and had to stop abruptly. It was embarrassing for me, but I learned a lesson: I shouldn’t be too eager to speak a language I don’t usually use.
On a trip abroad, I experienced another pleasant encounter. In a country with few Indians and little chance of seeing someone from Northeast India there, it was a wonderful surprise to learn from an Indonesian who looked like a Khasi that a lady from Meghalaya was present. I told the lady I wanted to meet her. After a few minutes, a woman came out. She looked like a Garo, so I asked if she was one. She said she was Khasi. I was happy to speak with her in Khasi. She also looked excited. We talked for a while. I ended the conversation when I felt I might soon run out of Khasi words. Later, my wife commented that this time I didn’t embarrass myself by continuing the conversation. I said I remembered the experience from the last time I spoke with our son’s college friend.
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It’s interesting to note that I now mainly use English, even though I never attended an English-medium school; Assamese and Bengali were the languages of instruction during my school days. The first two years of college were mostly taught in Assamese, and the next two years, at best, were delivered in mediocre English.
Although the two-year degree was taught in English, I had already lost interest in formal education and attended only a few classes. Still, I completed my degree and even did reasonably well in my major (honors) subject. My interest in language, especially English, actually developed when I was quite young. During school vacations, when I returned home from the hostel, I read books left by my older cousin, who was pursuing university studies.
The book I loved most was an English book on public speech, which probably helped me a lot in elocution contests and debates, where I often won prizes. My performance as a representative of the people in the legislature also reflected my deep interest in languages and effective public speaking. In fact, my high school English teacher in Nagaon praised my English skills, and my classmates still tell me that this teacher advised them to study like me.
I never considered myself very good at English, but I love the language and continue to try learning new words and phrases. I used to read many magazines about society and politics and read a lot of serious books. But when I began my public life in my late twenties, I had much less time to pursue these interests; I usually could only study party literature and similar texts. Now that I am almost free from public duties, I plan to read more books and try my hand at writing.
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Learning a language, whether informally or formally, is always a wonderful experience. I find the informal approach more exciting. You get to meet the speakers, observe the conversation, and try to understand the meanings.
Then, you attempt to converse with them in their language to keep it going and sharpen your skills. You learn so much about their society, history, and the geography of their land. It enriches your knowledge and becomes a rewarding journey. Formal learning is more structured, and you have to follow specific plans. This method is generally more useful for academic goals. You learn to read and write in a more proper way
