When we Forget the very Purpose of Why?

Why do we give a name to someone when they are born, I asked my 7-year-old kid.

So that I can call them by their name when they are in a group, he said.

Those were the words of a kid who is not yet biased by our weird world rules. We sometimes give the same first name in the honor of something we believe in or the place we live in, forgetting the fundamental reason why we name people. Or we even make the names so difficult to say it.

Why do we have so many languages? I asked my kid again.

He thought for a while and said he was not sure.

Imagine if there were two groups of people in different parts of the world and they never met. Each group of people has to communicate in some way. For example, they would give different sounds to things like one group would say “tree” pointing to a tree and other may say “ped(Hindi)”. Thus started different languages.

Oh I get it now…

Now tell me, do we need so many languages?

He said, No. We just need a way to talk to each other.

We forget the fundamental purpose of language and we fight for that forgetting the purpose. We relate language to our culture, to worship, to every emotional part of our lives.

What do you think about a place where there are 19,500 languages. Is that a good thing? I asked.

He said that means people hardly spoke to each other. How is that possible Dad?

I smiled.

Do you know why in your school, your 2nd-grade kids are split into 4 classes with 4 different teachers?

He said, In one class if all students sit together, it will be difficult for my teacher to look after all of us.

Ok cool, that makes sense. But does that mean you hate the kids from other classes. You do play with them during lunchtime right?

Yeah, of course. Why should I hate them, they are all my friends.

Now tell me, why do you think we have countries. Think of countries as different classes in 2nd grade.

Oh, got it. It is for managing people better? If so Dad, why do they all hate each other?

I smiled.

We forget the very purpose of many things created in this world.

Look around you and ask this question, you will be amazed at what you would find.