“English is like an illness left behind by British,” is the unkindest statement and least expected from Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, otherwise an affable and witty speaker (Page 1, September 15). Has he forgotten that his innumerable catchy one-liners are all in English? For example, who can forget his “MODI” stands for “Making of Developed India” and his condemnation of vote-catching using the four B’s: “Bottle, Biryani, Bus and Batta”?
Mr. Naidu should remember that English will remain the foremost global language — from international business and science to the Internet and diplomacy. Even in China, people have become hugely enthusiastic learners of the English language. To get an idea of this, one has to read Martin Jacques’s book, When China Rules the World .
C.V. Venugopalan,
Palakkad
