K.P. Narayanan and his niece Rajputhri at Kookanam town in Karivellur grama panchayat in Kannur are the last proficient speakers of Madhika.
In the remote nest of Kookanam, near Karivellur grama panchayat, the Chakaliya neighborhood is facing the impending loss of its distinct language Madhika.
K.P. Narayanan, 87, and his niece Rajputhri, the last proficient speakers of Madhika, fear that after them, the language, which has no script, will be lost to the world. Narayanan offers voice to his issue in Madhika, “Ee bhasha namiki matra hothidanthi.”
Regardless of sounding comparable to Kannada, Madhika can still baffle listeners due to its varied impacts. It is a mix of Telugu, Tulu, Kannada, and Malayalam. The more youthful generation, drawn to mainstream languages like Malayalam, reveals little interest in discovering this linguistic antique.
The duo obtained the language from their forefathers, however with the death of older speakers, they discover themselves the last living link to the past. “People of our neighborhood, specifically children, are not thinking about discovering the language. They choose Malayalam, which is taught in schools and is spoken here,” he states. Rajputhri, echoing her uncle’s beliefs, states her kids too are not thinking about speaking Madhika.
Retired Malayalam instructor N.P. Vijayan, who studied the neighborhood as part of his doctoral research study, states the neighborhood was nomadic and worshippers of Thiruvenkatramana and Mariamma. The neighborhood in northern Malabar moved from the sloping areas of Karnataka centuries back, he states.
Numerous members of the neighborhood still reside in little numbers in locations such as Palakunnu, Kookanam, Pranthanchal, and Ezhilode. Identified as Scheduled Tribe, it was later on consisted of in the Scheduled Caste classification in Kerala.
Mr. Vijayan states the reference of the neighborhood can be discovered in the book Caste and Tribes of Southern IndiaMadhika is a mix of various languages, it is mainly affected by Havyaka Kannada, an old kind of Kannada. Considering that no paperwork has actually been done, the language might not make it through individuals like Narayanan and Rajputhri, he includes.
Social activist Muraleedharan Karivellur associates the language’s overlook to the social preconception related to the Chakaliya neighborhood. Thought about untouchables, they were not enabled to take part in banquets related to marital relationships and funeral services in the past. Dead provided nourishment, supplying meat for usage and conceal for making shoes. A couple of entered farming.
Muraleedharan states that for a considerable duration the neighborhood dealt with dehumanising treatment. Numerous of its young and informed individuals desire to dissociate themselves with the past. “They do not even wish to be determined by their language and choose to speak Malayalam,” he includes.
Like numerous native languages that died, Madhika too is pressed into oblivion by a controling language, Malayalam, states Muraleedharan.