Page:Mahatma Gandhi, his life, writings and speeches.djvu/297

Gujarat Educational Conference development to the command the Bengalis have over the English language. In answer Mr. Gandhi instanced the wonderful Bengali of Sir Rabindranath Tagore which is in no way indebted to his knowledge of English. He owes inspiration to the very atmosphere of India. He has imbibed it from the Upanishads. The same can be said of Mahatma Munshi Ram and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya. The service which Swami Dayanand Sarasvati rendered to Hindi literature owed nothing to English. Tukaram and Ramdas who have enriched the Marathi language were not ia the least under the obligation of the English language. English cannot claim any credit for the contribution to Gujarati literature of poets from Parmanand and Samel Bhat down to Dalpatram. When we consider how languages grow, we come to the conclusion that a language is but the reflection of the character of the people that speak it. Language depends upon the peculiar genius and occupation of a people. The inordinate use of polished and courtly forms of speech indicate that we have been under subjection for generations together. The English language abounds in nautical terms. We cannot import them in the Gujarati 177