MY OWN EXPERIENCE 181

strangers in their own homes. Their vocabulary in the
mother-tongue is so limited that they cannot always
finish their speech without having recourse to English
words and even sentences. Nor can they exist without
English books. They often write to one another in
English. I cite the case of my companions to show how-
deep the evil has gone. For we have made a conscious
effort to mend ourselves.

It has been argued that the wastage that occurs
in our colleges need not worry us if, out of the collegians,
one Jagadish Bose can be produced by them, I should
freely subscribe to the argument, if the wastage was
unavoidable. I hope I have shown that it was and is
even now avoidable. Moreover, the creation of a Bose
does not help the argument. For Bose was not a product
of the present education. He rose in spite of the terrible
handicaps under which he had to labour. And Ms
knowledge became almost intransmissible to the masses.
We seem to have come to think that no one can hope
to be like a Bose unless he knows English. I cannot
conceive a grosser superstition than this. No Japanese
feels so helpless as we seem to do.

The medium of instruction should be altered at once
and at any cost, the provincial languages being given
their rightful place. I would prefer temporary chaos
in higher education to the criminal waste that is daily
accumulating.

In order to enhance the status and market-value
of the provincial languages, I would have the language of
the law courts to be the language of the province where
the court is situated. The proceedings of the provincial
legislatures must be in the language, or even the languages
of the province where a province has more than one
language within its borders. I suggest to the legislatures