Re: Telugu script withering away?
Ramana R. Juvvadi (juvvadi@horizoncomp.com)
Thu, 24 Jul 1997 13:33:24 -0400
Perhaps no objection to Romanized Telugu is as serious as
loss of identity and pride. While I don't have a clear answer it is
probably worth looking at others who went through this process.
Two examples that come to my mind are Turkey and Maharashtra.
Clearly, breaking the influence of fundamentalists was one of Mustafa
Kamal Pasha's motivations in changing from Arabic to Roman. Is Turkey
in a better economical position today? What would have been the status
of Turkey if the change of script didn't take place?
At the beginning of this century, Tilak suggested that all the Indians
should adopt Devanagari script. I don't if Tilak had anything to do
with it, but Marathi went from Modi script to Devanagari. Do
Maharashtrians suffer any identity crisis today?
Ramana