Exploring the Dimensions of Language Creating Life

Languages are such an important part of our identities, and they resonate with us on a personal and cultural level. As we move to a more globalized society, language is a thread that links us back through space and time to where we come from. Sharanya Deepak's piece "Coming Home, One Word At A Time" reminded us of this when we read it. In it, she explores her personal relationship with Urdu after she starts taking classes to formally learn it, and Urdu's relationship with her hometown Delhi. We spoke to her about how she came to write the piece, her unique family mosaic and how she straddles different identities based on each language that she speaks, and how Urdu interprets the world in its unique way.



After talking to Sharanya, we talk about a number of language-related trends that are happening around us - the rise of both a larger English-speaking class and the vernacular Internet in India, how languages carry much more in them than we generally think, and which Indian languages are dying out and what responsibility we have as a culture to preserve them.  



We also discuss:




Sajith Pai's article on the rise of the Indo-Anglian caste in India. 
The rise of vernacular tech services like ShareChat and Vokal. 
WikiTongues and its mission to save the world's dying languages.
Ganesh Devy and the People's Linguistic Survey of India.
How Singlish is being threatened by the Singaporean government. 



Music Credits:

Music from https://filmmusic.io:

"Dhaka" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
"Vadodora Chill Mix" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

"Me In Your Life"
Music By The Passion HiFi
www.thepassionhifi.com

Sorrow by Sappheiros | https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

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