Matribhasha Diwas

'If you talk to a person in a language he understands, that goes to his head; If you talk to him in his language that goes to his heart.'- Nelson Mandela

International Mother Tongue Day or “Matribhasha Diwas” was celebrated, across all the classes at school, from Nursery to class 8, to promote linguistic and cultural diversity around the world. Mother tongue is the first language one learns as a child and is also referred to as the Native language and lays a strong foundation for learning additional languages. The celebrations were different in each class. Dressed in their traditional attire, the students spoke a few lines in their mother tongue, reciting poetry and sang songs. In a few classes the entire assembly was conducted in different tongues of the country!

The celebration is especially significant in the Indian context, as this year’s theme is “Languages without borders”. We have a diverse linguistic heritage, within the same geographic boundaries and we have used this a s a tool facilitate dialogue for conflict resolution. Students felt a sense of pride that India has 22 officially recognised languages, 1635 rationalised mother tongues, 234 identifiable mother tongues!