Talk In Telugu, Telangana Governor Tells Children

Telangana Governor E S L Narasimhan today expressed concern over children and students not talking in Telugu and adopting foreign culture.

They must be taught and encouraged to say "namaskaram" to greet people, and talk in their mother tongue and avoid foreign trends, he said.

Participating as the Chief Guest of the 14th convocation of the Potti Sriramulu Telugu University at Ravindra Bharathi on Monday, the Governor expressed dismay that children were increasingly not talking in their mother tongue and were indulging in "hi" and "bye" talk, and said that the educational institutions and parents were both responsible for that.

The Governor recalled that in the good old days the joint family culture resulted in children talking in Telugu or in their mother tongue, but that the nuclear family and the urban culture was slowly stigmatizing interacting in Telugu. This was in sharp contrast to the biggest countries and powers like China and Russia that had people proudly talking in their mother tongues, the Governor said.

He also expressed surprise that Indians were learning yoga and pranayama after the USA took them up.

"We should encourage our children to talk in Telugu. Though I am not from here and am from Tamil Nadu, I learnt to talk in Telugu here instead of resorting to speaking in English," he said.

The Governor appealed to the students of PSTU to adopt some villages and create awareness among the people on Telugu heritage in areas including literature, culture, dance, music and the arts.

The Governor felicitated Professor Ravva Srihari, and presented degrees to the students on the occasion.

Principal Secretary (Education) Ranjeev Acharya, PSTU Vice Chancellor S V Satyanarayana, PSTU Registrar Alekhya Punjala, officials, staff and others were present.