‘Learning in one’s mother tongue builds a strong foundation’: CJI

CJI Bhushan Gavai travels down memory lane on a visit to his former school

- Niraj Pandit

“Learning in one’s mother tongue helps build a strong foundation. Once that is firm, you can stand in any situation,” Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan Gavai said on Sunday during a visit to his alma mater, Chikitsak Samuh’s Shirolkar High School in Girgaon, where he studied from class 3 till class 7.

“My education in my mother tongue has never had any adverse effect on my professional journey,” a visibly emotional Gavai told his former classmates and current teachers and students at the school, sharing anecdotes that left many, including the CJI, with moist eyes.

Gavai's comments came amid a raging row in Maharashtra over the Mahayuti government's bid to introduce Hindi as a compulsory third language class 1, in line with the National Education Policy, 2020. While the two government resolutions to introduce Hindi were scrapped on June 29, the row brought two estranged cousins, Uddhav and Raj Thackeray, together for the first time in 20 years, signalling a shift in political alignments in the state.

The CJI was visiting the Girgaon school on an invitation from his former classmates Vinayak Joshi and Satish Saraf.