The year was 2007. I had just started working as Principal at Delhi Public School, Bathinda in Punjab, a north-western state in India. A student came to seek admission to class 11.
My usual question to him was, “What is your choice of the stream?
My usual question to him was, “What is your choice of the stream?
He
replied, “Medical”.
I
was puzzled to hear this as I had been acquainted with only three
streams of subjects available for the students in class 11 till then:
Science, Commerce and Humanities.
In the 10+2+3 system of education
widely prevalent in India a student is required to opt for one of
these three streams in +2. However I had not heard anything about
this new term, 'Medical', as a stream of subjects.
I
asked him further, “What do you mean by this term, 'Medical'?
The
student stared at me quizzically trying to convey how an educator
like me was not acquainted with this term. So the responsibility of
resolving this impasse fell on me.
My question became more specific now. “What subjects do you want to
choose?” I asked.
He
said, “Physics, Chemistry and Biology”.
Then
I understood that he had had the dream of taking a medical course
after +2 and the group of subjects (Physics, Chemistry and Biology)
was the means to fulfill that dream. I was still unable to understand
how the means, the said group of subjects, can be called by the name
of its end, that is 'a medical course'.
In
the same way I discovered another term, 'Non-Medical', in my similar
interactions with the students, teachers and parents of the school.
'Non-Medical' was popularly used as a term for another 'stream'
which included the subjects like Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.
'Non-Medical'
was more intriguing however. Literally it should have included all
other subjects that are not a part of the so called 'Medical'. Even
those of Commerce and Humanities. But that is not the case. It is
associated with a course or profession of engineering.
Over
a period of time it became clear to me that the combination of
subjects known as 'Medical' was selected with the primary aim of
taking up a course in Medicine and the other combination,
'Non-Medical' was chosen for Engineering. Interestingly 'Medical' was
common to both.
Still I kept wondering whether these words are used only in the casual,
informal speech or they are being used even formally by the media and
the organisations like schools or colleges. Accordingly I took the
samples of news reports related to class 12 Board examinations from different newspapers in India.
The results of the survey were revealing. The use of these terms is limited generally to north-western parts of India. All the newspapers from Chandigarh like The Tribune, The Indian Express or TOI make liberal use of these two terms. But they are not being used by the newspapers in other parts of India. They use Science in place of 'Medical' or Non-'Medical'.
Interestingly a newspaper like The Indian Express uses 'Medical',
'Non-Medical' for the reports of its Chandigarh edition, whereas it uses 'Science' for its Raipur edition.
The indiscriminate use of these terms remain limited not just to the schools or the newspapers in this region. It gets extended
even to the colleges and universities that grant certificates of BSc Medical or BSc Non-Medical to the Science graguates.
The evolution
of a language is closely associated with the aspirations of the
people using that language and the high aspirations of the youth in
India to rise the ladder of social mobility by choosing these two professions of medical and engineering is also a well-known fact. But
why only the people in the north-western India choose to ascribe
names to these aspirations as 'Medical' and 'Non-Medical' is indeed a
puzzle.
The native users of English might be amazed to see the new words that are being formed in their language in a far off region in India. Whether these words are making English still richer or not, but they do represent the voice of the changing times and culture
If Shakespeare was alive and he had observed the coinage of
'Medical' and 'Non-Medical', he would probably have changed one of
his famous statements of The Twelfth Night and said, if language is an expression of culture, then carry on.
