I was thinking about this for quite some time now.
I seriously feel that Marathi has found new wings to rise from wherever it was... Well I am not saying that it rose from ashes, not at all; Situation was not really that bad, however I should admit that there was a time when I could see Marathi nowhere... It was not used in public and most importantly we did not had it in our hearts! The most important place where it should be!
However I see a huge change happening... As its well clear from one of my previous posts(one of the best ways to force reader to spend more time, add self references ;) ), I am from Marathi medium school. I am not saying that my English was good(and not at all saying that I am good at English now), but at least as I realized afterwards, that very few people actually know English as a language... To really know that language one should feel it in their your heart, whatever one think and do should be in that language. I certainly feel that many English medium school people lack that. Just reading a few pulp fiction novels, watching a few popular Hollywood movies, and using English and some desi language is definition of knowing English for them.
So I was and am very happy that I don't belong to this hybrid(or dhedgujari, oh! is it casteism?) category. Which don't understand their mother tongue, and hence fail miserably to understand their own culture(culture includes, understanding music, books etc). There are exceptions of course.
Same is true for Hindi speaking population, they don't even read Hindi!
I was sometimes doubtful regarding my love about my mother tongue. Sometimes I felt like I am going nowhere. I mean there were no fellow followers, I felt deserted.
Nevertheless I was very much self confidant and happy about my stand, and never regretted it.
For some time, even I was convinced that Marathi is dying slow death. Everywhere I could see senior Marathi veterans asking to rejuvenate Marathi language, asking Marathi youth to learn and respect Marathi, expressing grief that there is no fresh crop of Marathi writers, poets etc. Marathi certainly had lost its golden era when there were likes of PL Deshpande, Babuji, Shrinivas Khale, Gadima etc and I could see no ray of hope...
But now I feel that situation has changed for good. May be because of the efforts those eminent people made to promote Marathi or whatever. And hope that this change would remain with us.
Marathi is finding new identity all over India. There was no dearth of Marathi people in any area except politics anyway. Marathi speaking people contributed and sometimes dominated all fields, be it history, cricket, cinema, freedom fighters, photographers, movie artists, music, scientists etc.
But sometime in between, Marathi lost its charm, Marathi was ignored...
I believed that Marathi is going to go away, for one there was not enough people contributing to Marathi, and for second, Marathi youth ignored(or was ashamed of) it.
As for example Punjabi might not be that great as a language(I don't mean insult, looking from no of creations in Punjabi like books, quality music, novels etc) but because Punjabi is so celebrated; Punjabi youth is not afraid of talking in Panjabi. I wish same should happen to Marathi but the reason should be the first one that I mentioned.
Now I can see and feel the change.
Salil and Sandeep changed marathi music scenario completely, they were the pioneers. And afterwards Ajay-Atul contributed to it. Marathi cinema and music is now recognized as music with content and not just extravagance, not just show off.
Marathi actors, directors, writers, choreographers, cinematographers are contributing significantly to Bollywood too. However I should mention that Marathi actresses and models made their way and established themselves into Bollywood much earlier. Marathi girls are beautiful and smart is very well established. Also Marathi girls are modern, charming and intelligent and I am very proud of them! I must admit that Marathi boys fall way far behind when it comes to smartness, modernness and charm... Now people like Shreyas, Ritesh and Atul Kulkarni are establishing themselves.
In previous couple of years Marathi is getting recognized everywhere... Marathi channels have blossomed like mushrooms in monsoon. Now there are 10 Marathi channels, Sahyadri, Z Marahi, E tv Marathi, Saam Marathi, Mi Marathi, Star Maza, Z chovis taas, IBM Lokmat, Z cinema and now Star Pravah! Marathi has totally changed its face. Very few Marathi households now watch Hindi channels, almost all has switched to Marathi.
Add to this great reality shows like Sa re ga ma pa, Ekapeksha ek which highlighted their uniqueness by avoiding cheap publicity stunts and maintaining very high quality. Marathi has got new assurance now. This is pretty clear if one looks at quality equipments used, huge, flashy stages and expensive stage shows (like Mata Sanman, Z puraskar). And at the same time I must mention good quality that is evident everywhere, even news reporting is very mature...
After seeing all this I have started feeling that Marathi is re-establishing itself and that too with bang! I would have followed my Marathi love anyway, but it feels really good that what I believed in(as having great quality, and hence should not be lost) is proving its mettle. And I have many like minded fellows now!
