Which language do you speak, or read or write?

Does it matter? Yes, it does. Because there are about 6912 languages in the world now. And, every second week a language dies. February 21 is the International Mother Language Day proclaimed by UNESCO, which is to ensure that people observe, respect and remember their mother language.

Each language is a beautiful quilt of words in which it encloses its people for warmth. Each language is flown by the wings of words to faraway places. Each language is sown into foreign soils with the seeds of its words. Each language is the gift that a mother wraps her child into and presents to the world.

Know your mother language, know as many languages as possible and save the endangered languages.

This year the theme of UNESCO for the International Mother Language Day is – ‘Books for Mother Tongue Education.’

My mother language is Bengali, and whether it is the sweetest language declared by UNESCO or not – I am in absolute love with it for the sheer beauty of the language. Cheers to the only national anthem in Bengali, I’m sure many will like it.