The Other Side of India’s Language Conundrum

Twitter woke up to a flurry of messages on a certain hospital in Delhi demanding that their Keralite nurses to speak in English and/or Hindi. This has earned the hospital the ire of the South Indians in particular.

The problem with Indian and Indians today is the volatile atmosphere created around every issue. The amplified version of one side, however, creates the kind of chaos this country can currently do without. So this article is for those who are still ready to give a fair hearing to all parties.

Now as a South Indian, I surely would have taken offense had I not witnessed the other side of this story myself in 2019. My late mother was admitted to one of the biggest private hospitals in Pune in early 2019. This was my first encounter with the nurses from Kerala. Young, enthusiastic and monolingual (many willfully monolingual). A lot has been said on whether hospitals in Kerala would expect their non-Malayali nurses to speak in Hindi. The ones asking this question, missed the bus.

When mum was in the ICU, it became a challenge to reach out to these nurses who were regularly huddled amongst themselves speaking in their mother tongue, which was fine, if they didn’t skip giving my mother her breakfast till I called for it at least a few times. I realised later that only a few were conversant in either English or Hindi and they would come in with the meal later. Finally, I complained to the matron at the nursing station who in return lamented that she was a Maharashtrian and each time she tried to talk to them, both sides of the communication were flawed, broken and a struggle in itself. For those who are unaware, one of the male nurses was cheeky enough to tell me, it was NOT their job to go ahead and serve the patients their meals if their relatives were present. Needless to say, I was absolutely stunned, given my mother’s condition.

The matron, on realising that I was a language teacher asked me how she could help them. She even stated that many knew English but continued in their mother tongue.

This issue escalated when the patients like my mother tried to call for certain aid and assistance and the nurses would prefer to communicate within the ICU and CCUs in their own language in the presence of a non- Malayalam speaking patient which left many like my mother rather annoyed.

My late mother went on to comment, “The hospital should encourage the nurses to speak in a common language that is understandable to all of us. They don’t even come when I call them. And they don’t answer when I ask about the medication administered. Instead they mutter something in their native and laugh amongst themselves.”

My mother was not alone. There were many other patient relatives who echoed this sentiment.

While I have no issues with a healthcare professional or any other professional communicating in private in their own mother tongue, I most definitely share the reservation of those who have asked for a common working language at least in public spaces.

I am of the firm conviction that this is less of a language problem and more of a seamless work process and work flow problem and an amicable resolution is all that’s needed, not the brouhaha on social media.

Having said that, I rest my case.