March 1, 2010. Punjabi University, Patiala. The second day of the Conference on Transnational Punjabi Literature and Culture: Challenges and Opportunities organised by the well-meaning World Punjabi Centre and Sahitya Akademi. The young Finance Minister of Punjab, Manpreet Singh Badal walks in without the spectacular paraphernalia of gun-wielding security men. The calls made by all and sundry for nurturing Punjabi language move him deeply. And therefore, as he rises to speak, he is at his oratorical best. And most irrational. He unspools anecdote after anecdote to lace his very sincere speech. The climax comes with a call to the Punjabis to take a leaf from Ku Klux Klan, the American far right hate group which, in the Hon'ble Minister's judgement, showed enviable commitment to the threatened white supremacy. The Punjabis could form a society like the KKK, he innocently opines, to secure the supremacy of Punjabi. But he could just be using a metaphor, you may say. I agree. I ag...
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Yet people also claim "no-one speaks Esperanto" which is also untrue.
If you have a moment have a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2LPVcsL2k0 or http://eurotalk.com/en/store/learn/esperanto
Dr Kvasnak teaches English at Florida Atlantic University.