It never did. But let’s be honest — in our country, too many people behave like if you don’t know english, you don’t know anything.
I’ve seen it in interviews.
In college admissions.
In office meetings.
In group discussions.
In everyday conversations.
One person speaks in English with confidence — everyone listens.
Another person speaks slowly, with a few grammar mistakes — people tune out.
Same idea. Same intelligence. Different packaging.
This is the problem.
We’ve built a system where fluency is treated like intelligence.
Where your English decides how much respect you get.
Where people from English-medium schools are seen as “smart” by default — and others have to prove themselves again and again.
That’s not just unfair. That’s lazy thinking.
Because I’ve worked with lawyers, engineers, artists, businesspeople — all from non-English backgrounds — who think deeply, speak truthfully, and bring more value than someone speaking ‘perfect’ English with zero substance.
But they were ignored.
Why? Because their sentence had one grammar slip.
Because their accent was different.
Because they paused to think before speaking.
This kind of judgement is not about language.
It’s about bias.
And it shows up everywhere — in hiring, in promotions, in panel discussions, even in classrooms where Hindi-medium students are told, “You’re slow.” No. They’re not slow. They’re bilingual thinkers, translating every word, carrying two languages in one brain — and still trying to participate.
That’s not weakness. That’s mental strength.
Non-English medium students are not weak, not late, not less.
They were just excluded from the system that never trained them.
And now that they’re learning to speak, they don’t need sympathy — they need respect.
It’s time we stop equating English with intelligence.
It’s just a language — not a certificate of brilliance.
And to every learner reading this —
Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not smart enough, just because your English isn’t like theirs.
You’re already intelligent.
Now you’re becoming fluent.
And when both come together — the world better listen.
Because you didn’t have English as your first language.
But you always had something more powerful — a voice worth hearing.