16. Codes that urge to place people forcefully in their suppressed location

A few of the standard features of feudal language can be mentioned here. One among them is something which was seen with great amazement by native-Englishmen during the days of English colonialism.

In this subcontinent, the feudal lord and landlords and other social superiors used to treat people who were known to be doing menial jobs under them, with a terrible level of severity.

There were many instances wherein these subordinated persons were forced to sleep outdoors on the ground, without adequate conveniences, and with meagre food to eat. From an English language perspective, this kind of treatment bordered on stark brutality; rough, uncouth, and beastly.

However, the persons who were thus treated were not seen to be harbouring any kind of rancour or mood of vengeance towards their feudal lords and landlords. Instead of that, they were seen to be having deep feelings of worshipful devotion and obeisance. The more they were crushed, the more was their worshipfulness.

The Englishmen who were to bear witness to this strange social attitude had no idea about the word-codes in the native languages, which more or less worked non-tangibly to create such emotions.

The mental attitude of being more and more ‘respectful’ and worshipful to those who were very visibly rude, impolite and inconsiderate, was a social behaviour which was confounding to the Englishmen.

Yet, this is the way the encoding has been done in most of the feudal languages of the subcontinent.

One should be overbearing and suppressive to those who are under. If not, their level of ‘respect’ will go down. The person who has to sit on the ground has to be made to sit on the ground. At the same time, the person who has to be extended ‘respect’ has to be given more and more conveniences and comforts.

If persons who have been defined as ‘lower’ are given the opportunity to grow, the persons who are in the upper level will lose their ‘respect’.

If persons, who had been given very deep worshipful respect, and who had been given consistently using words of ‘respect’, are given a chance to improve beyond their traditional social, familial and professional standards, they will soon understand that there is no more need to be obsequious and ‘respectful’

For this very reason, persons who are on the higher echelons will not give any chance for the lower-placed persons to improve. For, when the lower-placed persons remain struck in their lower positions, what they give would be ‘respect’. If they improve, what they would give would be disdain and stark disregard. And a mood to question and criticise.

There is a phenomenon that rises directly from this word-code mechanism. There is no exact corresponding word for this in English. However, a slight connection can be found in the word ‘Upstart’. It can be dealt with in the next chapter.