Its not recently that I have realised that the prime reason behind globalisation is a simple marketing logic, rather than any socio-economic one. Let me take you back to the 1980’s when advertising & marketing as a functions were at their zenith and every Tom Dick & Harry had a say on anything and everything on marketing. Remember this was after the industrialisation revolution in the developed nations. The MNCs soon realised that it was getting costlier and difficult to advertise and market their products around the globe. The cost of customisation of products and communication for each and every country (in India’s case, for every region, state) was killing the margins. Off course the developing nations were no doubt potentially volume oriented markets, but then they weren’t ready for it given their cultural, economical and psychological criterion. This was a huge gift of opportunities but wrapped in the hard packing paper of global socio-cultural diversities.

What to do…?

Someone came up with this noble solution. “All the problem arises because each consumer who busy our product/service is very broadly different from the other, even within the same SEC, Country or Culture. So why not do something that all the world (our current & potential consumers) are dragged, lured, aspired, trapped, invited, compelled, seduced (by hook or by crook) into us”. Hmmm…did you say Eureka!!!

Idea? Ready. Implementation? Not quite. So how do you go about it.
The various social researches carried out, showed that people (atleast young ones) develop, grasp their culture from films, media & books. So started the race to start a Global news channel (CNN, Fox, ABC etc for the uninitiated). Their brief? Try & show all the products that our manufacturers can produce. Prove it to the public that whatever we show is ‘IN’ and Hep. Generate aspirational value to it. Make it as desirable as possible. Let it be clear that if you are not like what we show you, then you are outlandish, outclass, dumb & good-for-nothing. It was the same with the movies. Or why else is it that only after late 80’s foreign movies were released worldwide, with cheap alternatives as Video Cassettes, VCDs, DVDs also readily available in small towns with vernacular versions. The books, especially pulp fiction & novels portrayed the decided image, aroma of the characters and the story.
Popular music was substituted for rock and western classical, as it was more suited to the developing world population. All this are now within themselves a very evolved and progressive industries. Something that was to be used as a rocket launcher, itself is now a revolves around the mankind as if a satellite.
Many such instances can be very easily traced out, to prove the point.

Let is be clear that I am not trying to decimate globalisation as a trend. I just want to convey the ulterior motive behind the Globalisation Crusader’s seemingly eternal campaign.

Languages have always been a foundation stone of any human civilization in any era. It’s a very crucial tool of communication and expressionism. Without which the castle of civilized societies will fall down like nine pins. Looking at the current scenario and the pitiful state of many regional languages world over it seems as if a huge turmoil of human society is in the offing. To put it in figures, a 100 years back we had around 15000 languages and dialects that were being spoken on the globe. This figure has now shrunk to 6000-7000.
History is witness. The societies & cultures that lost their languages, started their downfall, the beginning of their end. Lebanon, Ukraine, East African Countries, many other cultures have got wiped out and it all started when they confiscated their native/mother tongue.
The degeneration of these dialects and languages also results in lesser diversity of the mankind. Diversity is what the makes humanity progress. The farce of One World One Family, is true only till all the societies on the globe are allowed to survive and live complimentarily. If one tries to force one language on the earth, believe me , we are in a for a disaster. My favourite example to explain this is China. Maoists, although forcefully, pressed hard on the public to use and communicate in Chinese. The education, communication, TV, computers, advertising, everything is in Chinese. No wonder, China has the bonus of having a educated and yet very honest and passionate workforce.
So what is the solution? Youth. The answer. As a society we must keep the aspirational values of the language intact and may be nurture it. The rest care for culture will be taken care of. So praise your language and try to make it as desirable for the young ones. After all this is least you can gift them, a language a culture of their own.