Quite interesting these lines will appear to those readers, who devotedly give thought to what positive and productive contribution could be possible in times to come as a good number of voices through out the world have started to wish genuinely, all walls to crumble, all compartmentalization to vanish and ALL barriers- racial, linguistic, nationalistic jingoism, cruel economic hegemony, arsenal pride and pseudo-religiosity to  yield place to real universal brotherhood and general weal of whole mankind , at this point of human evolution where dreaming about an ideal global village by right minded visionaries can not be labeled as an unthinkable sin or dismissed as an unachievable utopia, unworthy of a thought.
The ground I stand upon, the consciousness linking me to the indigenous ancestry as well as to that wider universal canvas whose inseparable part I am, makes me to ponder over the topic, in spite of my many limitations, in a comprehensively synthesizing manner that behooves a lover of life & living men primarily; believing present is the reality and future a potentiality to fructify- that emerges out of the centrifuged seed- material of past, winnowed carefully for its germinating value.
 The debate whether Kashmiri language grew out of Sanskrit, or vice versa or out of Dardic, may be of interest to scholars & researchers but the silly race for one-upmanship that tends to compartmentalize by associating superiority of a language and religion for sloganeering seems irrelevant for those who understand that all languages, belief systems, cultures are a result of interaction, hybridization, symbiosis going on from antiquity- akin to any other living being or system. Studying with open mind the phenomenal life would put humans on a more productively humane track even if the subject of study is a minute creature, bacteria, virus or a simple unicellular organism. Better admit the debt of all sources with reverence.
  Language is believed to have emerged in the earliest stage of human evolution as a commonly understood code between the members of the first social group, when encounters with nature, animals they hunted or feared and other such experience; be it the rudimentary mono syllabic sounds uttered or words. Cave inscriptions or pictorial representation & crude shapes found near many places of earliest habitation, probably left as message, were a hard task for deciphering them wasn’t that too easy. Cuneiform library of words and picture unraveled the interesting phase of human evolution.
  As the march in time continued more and more words got added. Even at present newer words are added and the lexicons grow in size too. Of course deletions also happen as words are discarded, if falling in disuse, or substituted. Like wise many languages have practically perished, except preserved in book form; that do have academic & historical value, but otherwise dead. Nearer home we have the example of Pali language of Buddhas time.
  When speakers & listeners both exist, language too lives on, but if one communication tool gets invested with higher utility value, naturally the less- valued one begins to wither away slowly. The situation can not be avoided for long, though we may try hard to keep the fainting one on crutches of sentimentality for some time.
 In the present scenario where globalization and one common communicative language- that subsumes hues of all rich tongues, is fast becoming a reality, native languages are accepting the second position; some grudgingly, some with a graceful smile. Translation activities abuzz on many fronts of course put a face that this way they are projecting their rich cultural heritage to the world outside but the language majority chooses to translate into, shows in itself the superiority others have accepted. So what gains acceptance is currency and others that get relegated see the road ahead of them is leading to some sorts of museums. Is there any other way out? Think calmly & sagaciously, dear reader.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 25 Aug 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 26 Aug 2011 00:00:00 IST