Go mobile, says Kambar

Unless we do away with English as a mediating agent, regional languages will not develop, opined panelists at the session on 'What the classical tag means to South Indian languages,' on the second day of the Bangalore Literature Festival.
Jnanpith awardee Kannada poet and playwright Chandrashekhar Kambar said computer and mobile technology should be used to build bridges between languages.
"When I type a word in Kannada, I should be able to get its equivalent in Malayalam when I'm writing to a friend in Kerala. Such things are possible with technology. It should work with all 28 Indian languages. Only then will our ancient languages thrive," he said.
Telugu writer Volga pointed out that the gap between the language spoken at home and the one in the textbooks should be reduced. "We have so many Telugu dialects spoken at home.But the textbook language is different.This makes learning difficult for children. We should work towards standardisation of regional languages," she said.
Tamil novelist Joe D' Cruz emphasized the role of translation. "Works in local languages should be translated into English so as to reach global readers. More importantly, we must translate into each others' languages, so that we can understand our neighbours better," he pointed out.
The panelists felt that the language of the state must be made the medium of instruction in schools.