Reintroducing my child to the language of her inheritance

Last month, when Home Minister Amit Shah remarked that people from different states should speak in Hindi instead of English, it ignited an age-old debate over linguistic diversity in India. In our attempt to help our children socialise better with their peer group, parents, especially those living in cities and urban areas which have a mixed population, encourage the learning of a common, or popular, language, usually Hindi or English. Hence we spoke to him in Hindi early on.” While that did help Aarav mix around with much more ease, Odia, his mother tongue, became the second language, one which he now uses sparingly. Unlike her cousins back in Assam, or Aarav’s in Odisha, the children are not learning their respective regional languages, even as second language, in school.