History

The Fate of Sourashtrum!

History

Like the Kashmiri Hindus for 600 years the life and works of Sourashtrians were very much disturbed by the assaults, attacks, atrocities, looting, burning, plundering and destruction of properties by Mohammed of Ghazini, Sultan of Delhi, Alauddin Kilji and Bahmani Sultan, they migrated from the Sourashtra region of Khatiawar peninsula to Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra and then to Madurai and other towns of Tamil Nadu in search of peaceful life and settled there 400 years ago. 

Culture

If some community people like the Sourashtrians can migrate from the North to somewhere in the South and live for more than three centuries or so it is only because of the similarities of their own culture, the State culture and the national culture.  The Sourashtrian culture is so unique that they easily mingled with the local people and became one with them in such a way that they never had any sort of difficulty or differences of caste, class, creed, race and language to cope with.  This is because they have acquired the habit, on their migrations from place to place, of learning the local language for communication and business purposes and their mother tongue for home use only.  As they are naturally pious they could not find any difficulty to participate in all the local religious festivals that made them reliable to the natives.  More over they have the custom of easily adjusting themselves to the behaviour, dress pattern and manners of the local people in such a way that nobody would believe that they are Sourashtrians.

Language

Nearly 4 centuries they have been living in Madurai and other towns in Tamil Nadu.  Not only weaving works but also all sorts of works they are doing there.  Today schools, colleges, Mills and other institutions are run by them.  In spite of this many people are still working as weavers and remain poor.  Most of them  know little about the Sourashtra Script and also none reads or writes in that language.  Only if this drawback is rectified, perhaps Sourashtra language can be saved in the future. 

Destruction of a Community is its Destiny!
 
Disintegration of joint family into nuclear family is on.  Never should one fall in the net of maya or illusion.  Non-attachment is way to follow to overcome Kali Yuga! 

For a thousand years a language is saved by speech alone due to the culture of marrying among themselves.  Now due to spread of modern education, all have changed!  Girls don't like their community boys and marry outside.  Boys not getting suitable girls of same community remain as bachelors for long searching bride after bride ever!  Due to inter caste marriages, mother tongue dies everywhere.  Girls lose their natural identity after such marriages sure. Boys also have to marry other community girls to live life! 

As this goes on so, like the Yathava community was destroyed after Mahabharata war and the expiry of Lord Krishna then, the just spoken language community too will be no more soon! 

Parents depend on their heirs for survival at the old age. They cannot advise their children about their community, language and culture in the modern changing time everywhere!  Due to such negligence, the language sans one script and community not maintaining unity and children going in different directions, the community and language will disappear from the map of nation! 

 Language Crisis and Possible Consequence!
 
Perhaps more than 6000 languages are spoken all over the world.  In India alone, more than 1650 languages are spoken in all its States. In the North and South there are more movies in Hindi and Tamil! Hindi and other North Indian languages are in Devanagari scripts. Tami and other south Indian languages are in Dravidian scripts. There is great opposition between the two languages in India ever!

Due to Cavery river water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, hardliners in Karnataka oppose Tamils and Tamil language there and in Tamil Nadu, there is a longtime opposition for Hindi language..! In the North, everywhere notice boards and signal and route boards are mainly in Hindi as in Maharashtra and Bengal boards are in the State languages except in Tamil Nadu, where  two language formula is in vogue!  As there is political clash between Central and State governments, on various matters like fishermen problems and agriculturalists crisis, the opposition of Tamil Nadu is intensifying ever sans an end nonstop!

Among the spoken languages, Sourashtri language in Tamil Nadu is in use by lakhs and lakhs of Sourashtrians in the State, all over India and also all over the world, but sans one official script and literature development!  There is clash between Sourashtrians for two types of scripts for ever bringing in use, though there is no public use since more than thousand years, when the situation is getting hotter for Tamil in Tamil Nadu....!

Devanagari script is similar to Hindi and Sanskrit languages, but Ramarai script is different and better for it to have a separate identity, or else, if Devanagari script is adopted, Sourashtrians have to face wrath of Tamils! Sourashtrians have migrated to the South of India thousand years ago and if they happen to earn the anguish of Tamils, they may have to face reverse migration to Sourashtra region of Gujarat, which they have to make a note!

 Real Development of a Language!

 Development of a language depends upon words for all things.basic things should be represented by words of that language and for advanced matters, words of world language can be there.  But a developed language only has maximum words for all things..!  A spoken language with officially accepted script can be adopted for speaking, reading and writing purposes with coining of new words and addition of advanced words as is stipulated earlier by draining out other language words with proper measures by all..! 

If a language is very old and the style of alphabets are difficult to write as modern languages, they all have to be reformed or modified so as to enable the users sans any difficulty whatsoever;  then only a language can have easy access by all for future use! 

Sans understanding these fundamental things, there is no point in promoting a script not having separate identity and acceptable by all as there won't be many takers of such a language for any use, when it has no public use already as population is dissipated..!

20-May-2018

More by :  T. A. Ramesh


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