Framing the Future

A book like this is a thought experiment . . . It wonders about the future, a time when I myself will be gone. Language has shaped Peggy Mohan’s thinking for most of her life. Language also lies at the heart of India’s greatest questions about identity, community and the future. Language can unite us, but it can also divide us, trapping people in isolated worlds and limiting opportunity. Yet India stands at a rare moment of possibility. New technologies are making it possible to bridge linguistic divides without erasing the country’s astonishing diversity. Instead of forcing us into a single language, they can help us speak across languages while preserving our own. What if India’s many languages could become not a source of division, but of connection? Blending history, linguistics and a bold vision of what’s possible, Framing the Future shows how India can build a future that is more connected, more confident and unmistakably its own.