When I started learning other languages, among other questions, I was also often asked if I don't like my mother tongue anymore or if English feels too generic? The questions were so baffling that I would be too stunned to even grasp that such questions too can exist.
I have also often come across questions when I write in my mother tongue. Some questions have been put forth with just a good willed inquisitive intent (thankfully), while some others felt as a sizing up tool. That primarily came associated with a statement regarding my school's medium of instruction and conveniently assumed biased perceptions.
Even if my mother tongue was not the medium of instruction for me, it still is my mother tongue. It doesn't exactly feel nice/comforting to hear things like, "even though your medium of instruction was different, you still write (stories and poems) and read (novels and other literature) in your mother tongue!" What has medium of instruction got to do with that?
I never gave up on my right and duty towards my mother tongue. It still is very much mine. I started with it, probably will end with it too, and will very much keep doing so. Why should my writing in it come along with an addendum?
It still is very much mine. I started with it, probably will end with it too, and will very much keep doing so.
Writing and reading in my mother tongue, irrespective of any other languages I learn or use, is only natural. A T&C star mark alongside it sometimes feel like a stigma, it is not the high praise as few try to (subtly) imply it to be.
That, however, is not the entire story. There have been kind souls too who have acceptance as their nature. They understand equity and equality, where to apply it, and most importantly where not to. They do not see anything else but just the love a person bears in their heart.
Love knows no bounds. Though this statement may seem platitudinous, its value cannot be discounted. Learning a different language or writing and reading in it doesn't mean your love for your root language can be treated differently or perceived differently. You are just loving a bit more... if that makes sense.
So, irrespective of what your background was, irrespective of what other languages you have liked and learnt, irrespective of anything, nothing can (and should) inhibit you from expressing yourself in your mother tongue. It's yours. It's your right and your duty too. Literary freedom is just like Love. Express the Love in your heart.
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