When 3 drops of purple are added to water, which already has 2 drops of white in it, the result of the solution is lighter shade of purple. Whenever something of a larger quantity is added to a solvent, the lesser quantity of solute ceases to show its colour. The obvious reason is that it had a larger amount. The same principles apply to us human beings. We are the solvent, and all the things in the universe have an impact on us; whether social beliefs, morals, religious ideologies or truths are the solutes, they dissolve into our system the more or less exposure we gain. Sit in the company of a thief, and you will start to view stealing as right, while spending some time with a scholar, and you will view the world as an oyster and a temporary place for us.
When we think of it, it’s all about the exposure. How much or how little of something you see and interact with. Just like beliefs and morals and everything we believe in dissolve into us over time, language also plays out similarly. A hundred years ago, when Muslims and Hindus lived in the subcontinent as a whole, Muslims had excelled in Urdu. Muslims spoke Urdu, wrote in Urdu, and considered it a source of pride and a key part of their identity. But now, we have a mixture of Urdu and English. Our education system, our official dealings and even our technology is all in English. With time, the quantity of Urdu solute has reduced because of consistent amounts of English added to us. We are now in a time in which half of our country’s population does not and cannot write or speak proper Urdu, and half that only knows Urdu or their cultural language. There hasn’t been an equal amount of both solutes; we are now automatically inclined towards English more. Setting up our devices and accounts, like Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, we stick with the default language. We don’t even explore if it has an option to switch. And even if we do, it’s very hard to make sense of anything.
Slowly, the language that was once considered our pride is fading away. We are gradually shifting towards the international language and don’t even feel as if a part of our identity is being torn away. But as mentioned before, not all of us are like this. There are some people who still care about this, and even if they don’t, with the new advancements of technology and in order to accommodate everyone, more and more facilities are being incorporated. Such as the addition of different languages in different software, applications and even AI. A few years back, Google didn’t even have an option for Urdu, but now, with the passing of time, you can switch your default setting to Urdu with just a click.
While these facilities are being arranged, it is important to consider who will utilise them. The majority of the software and applications are used by people who went to school and had exposure to the English language, and so they don’t have a problem using the app in English. Even with the advancements of AI, you never see someone using ChatGPT in Urdu. Startups are using different technologies to make Urdu voice assistants, and surely, they would be helpful in automated voice prompts for a telecom company that has users from all around Pakistan. But when those companies give the option to select a language, we’re inclined to select English.
The problem with English domination is that it’s not about the limited facilities we once had. It’s about the whole educational and official system in which we live in. These systems give importance to English, and therefore, in order to climb the social ladder, we are forced to learn another language. English is now such an integral part of us that we view someone who doesn’t speak proper English as illiterate. But the truth is, no country has ever succeeded by giving importance to a language not owned by them. In fact, such countries might have forced the startup and international companies to give options to choose a language in order to facilitate their people. So, even with the help of AI and technology, we might not be able to revive a slowly dying language, because the root cause is much deeper than the limited availability of language options. To give our national language the importance it deserves, we must prioritise improving its educational system, ideally with the assistance of advancing technology, so that over time, people will actively seek out Urdu as their default language option instead of encountering it by chance while exploring app settings.