GUJARATI SAHITYA PARISHAD’S PLAN IS TO TRAIN RJS IN USING PURE GUJARATI
Gujarati Sahitya Parishad, a 105-year-old organisation working for the language, has thought up an innovative way to popularise Gujarati language and literature. It has announced training programmes for radio jockeys where they will be trained to use pure Gujarati. The RJs will be given a brief introduction to Gujarati literature to make them familiar with popular poems, sonnets, old sayings and short stories. They will be trained to connect these to everyday life.
The Parishad has joined hands with Jashwant Thaker Memorial Foundation – an NGO set up in memory of popular Gujarati dramatist Thaker which works for children, women and Gujarati language. Rajendra Patel, chief secretary of the Parishad said, “FM radio is one of the most popular mediums with tremendous reach. We want to popularise, perpetuate and increase the spread of Gujarati using this medium. As youngsters are losing interest in Gujarati language and literature, we are using this modern and trendy medium to attract them. We want them to love using the vernacular language.”
State’s youth generally uses a mixture of Gujarati-Hindi- English to communicate. However, the Parishad wants them to use the pure version of Gujarati. The RJs would be given a brief introduction to Gujarati literature to make them familiar with popular poems, sonnets, old sayings and short stories. They would be trained to connect these to everyday life. Adity Desai, media activist and director of the Thaker foundation elaborated, “We will hold 10-day training programmes for RJs and familiarise them with Gujarati literature, popular folk songs like geet and garba and local mythological tales so that they can use literary references. This will help popularise Gujarati and its literary heritage.”
The RJs will be trained to use clear and correct language pronunciations. “The trainees will be made aware of the richness of the language which has a wide variety of distinct sounds like S, Sh, T, Tha, Ksha. Using the correct word to explain a particular thing/emotion/situation would help the announcers to strike a chord with listeners. Also the pure form of the language will reach all strata of society,” explained Desai.
