The Prime Minister’s recent remarks on Macaulay and the “mindset of slavery” have revived an old discomfort many of us have carried but rarely articulated. A century later, this experiment produced what critics called “Macaulay’s children”, though in truth, these were Indians who used English to get things done, not people who lost their Indianness to it. Because we spoke English well, we could easily speak for India at meetings around the world, needing no interpretation. English remains a bridge, not a barrier; and without question we must fill the historical and social gaps that Macaulay never created but that our mindsets have allowed to persist. That is the only sensible way to interpret the Prime Minister’s call.

Source: The Hindu March 01, 2026 07:59 UTC