BHOJPURI: Loosing Sociolinguistic Identity

THE GLORY:

I was born in a north eastern state of the India, Where Bhojpuri happen to be the Native language.

Bhojpuri is my first language. For me Bhojpuri is my culture, my way of life and some way it is my philosophy.

Bhojpuri is a language which is spoken in Bihar, Jharkhand, and Eastern Utter Pradesh.

Beyond the border line of The India, Bhojpuri is spoken in plain (Called TARAAI) of Nepal also. Bhojpuri also enjoys the status as one of the national languages of Guyana, Fiji, and Suriname.

Because of its appreciable resemblance with AWADHI, BRAJ, MAGAHI and HINDI it does not sound Greek across these languages, when communicated. By virtue of the same, there has been cultural exchange and overlap across these regions.

THE PLIGHT  

But the condition is not the same as it appears to be in theory. It’s not as black and white as it appears to be.

Today when I look back and see, Bhojpuri has become language of poor’s, illiterates’ beggars. People for whom Bhojpuri happens to be  A Native language, A Mother Tongue , The First Language, does not want to associate themself with this language.

This is an isolated and strange case of humiliation of our own mother tongue, Same sense of feeling  does not exist anywhere else for any other regional language.

People across the globe, does not hesitate even slightest, to speak their native language or mother tongue.

The condition has been so slumped that, even people from other demography, started perceiving BHOJPURI as a language of inferiors.

As a hard core BHOJPURIYA (A Bhojpuri speaking) , this condition is neither good nor desirable to me,even with best possible alternative provided. Conversely, this is humiliating to me.

The Reason:

I tried to find out what went wrong with this sweet language, why the people of its own land, started avoiding to use this language, Started disconnecting them from their BHOJPURI identity.

Why a well off class, an elite class started taking shelter of HINDI, ENGLISH or other prevailing LOCAL LANGUAGES in order to save their faces and held their head high.

If we look carefully, the reason lies in the demography and in the governance where BHOJPURI comes from.

Its mainly in BIHAR, Jharkhand and UP. In all three states ZAMINDARI exists even today.  zamindar in these states were  an aristocrat, typically hereditary, who held enormous tracts of land and held control over his peasants,

So typically, there were only two classes, exist in these states. Elite class and second an extremely poor class.

Good governance and employment opportunities have always been a mirage for the people of these states.

Frequent DRAUGHT, FLOOD and Famine have worsened the situation further, for the people of these states.

So there has been a large scale of migration of these poor people to some big cities of other states. It was a large scale BHOJPURI Speaking population, who was downtrodden, hungry and deprived of the basic amenities, people of others states got acquainted with.

And here from, Bhojpuri started becoming identity of these people.

An Appeal:

It’s my heartfelt request to all our BHOJPURIYAS(who speak Bhojpuri) please open up..Tell to the world ,”BHOJPURI is a culture, which I belong to”

Yeah, it’s language of a labor too…but it’s Fine. A society cannot exist with only high profile people. We need labors. They are the one who make our life easy.

China is rinsing Economy based on these labor forces. They have almost all labor intensive industry instituted, because of man power.

Remember, many of us, Sitting in AC CHAMBERS and working late night to fix the tickets of Americans...For them we are also CHEAP labors.

We are also the part of BODY SHOPPING….Outsourced to WEST as cheap labors…

Its just the FRAME OF REFERECE, we are seeing it, from.

I can proudly say, I am a BHOJPURIA….. Part of a Big Bhojpuri Family, member of which , are spread across the globe.

Even Bhagavad Gita says (refer Chapter 3. Karma-yoga)

sreyan sva-dharmo vigunah 
para-dharmat svanusthitat 
sva-dharme nidhanam sreyah 
para-dharmo bhayavaha

Which Means:.....

It is far better to discharge one's prescribed duties, even though they may be faulty, than another's duties. Destruction in the course of performing one's own duty is better than engaging in another's duties, for to follow another's path is dangerous.