Strange World – “Goddess English”

A NEW language deity is about to appear in a tiny, impoverished Indian village, where a temple is being built to the "Goddess English".

A black granite shrine in Bankar, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, will soon house a bronze idol of the new goddess. Locals, most of whom speak Hindi, hope she will bring them prosperity and fresh opportunities.

Laying of the foundation stone for the Dalit Goddess English Temple
 (left) and Sir Thomas Babington Macaulay

The temple has been paid for by members of the Dalit, or "Untouchable", community. Dalits are India's most persecuted caste and its members suffer violence and discrimination throughout the country. There are regular reports of Dalit boys being murdered for illicit relationships with higher caste girls.

The idol in the shrine will depict a female figure inspired by the Statue of Liberty, standing astride a computer, clutching a copy of the Indian constitution. A foundation stone was laid in April and a 30 inch brass statue of the 'goddess' was dispatched from New Delhi to Lakimpuri Kheri village in Uttar Pradesh where campaigners are hoping to open the temple formally in honour of Lord Macauley, the 19th Century colonial official who sought to create an English-speaking Indian middle-class elite.

Goddess English :-)

The symbolism is hard to miss: if India's Dalits want to live the new Indian dream and join the burgeoning middle classes, they must first learn the language of Shakespeare and Milton.

"Tell me, how are you going to get to Oxford knowing only Hindi?" asked Chandra Bhan Prasad, a Dalit newspaper columnist and one of the driving forces behind the new goddess. "If Dalits are going to make a foray into the international economy, if they are going to take any of the new professional jobs being created in India . . . they're going to need to speak English. And when you make it a matter of faith, how can you refuse to learn your ABCs?"

Under British rule, English was the language of the elite. After six decades of independence - and despite Hindi being made the official language in 1965 - little has changed.

The Untouchables, millions of whom are still forced to carry out the most disgusting and dangerous jobs, have long regarded English as the key to emancipation.

In Bankar, the village where the temple is being built, locals have long celebrated English Day on October 25, the anniversary of the birth of Thomas Macaulay, the British administrator credited with choosing English as the language of Raj bureaucracy.

"English is neutral, it is more secular than India's own languages, which carry the legacy of caste," Mr Prasad said.

"And everybody knows it is a global language without a rival - even the French recognise that."

J Incredible India

Sources:  http://www.theaustralian.com.au , http://www.telegraph.co.uk