Its a worry

I have recently discovered the hidden [from me] world of internet cinema. And as a result have been delighfully hooked on new marathi movies. Delighted not so much that I can watch movies now and keep up with new releases but more excited about the kind of movies I am able to watch.
I belong to the generation that actually looked forward to watching the saturday night marathi and sunday, hindi movies on Doordarshan. The marathi movies then were of substance in the sense that there was a storyline, credible acting and believeable and 'can realte to' kind of portrayals. As we grew up and the weekend offering dried up, so also the interest in watching these movies. The disinterest is attributable to a lot of factors including a fair amount of ' vernacular snub' developed in school but on reflection the movies got ridiculous as well. Slapstick and loud just wasnt attractive enough when the likes of  Stallone and Jackie Chang were available on VCR rentals!
Now I find myself falling in love all over again with marathi cinema. Its a great feeling! Of course nostalgia is always an ingredient when "again" is involved. And it makes me so happy to see the content of movies, the attempts at storytelling and the efforts of actors out to connect with audiences with credible talking points. In the past year I have seen movies address/recognize/highlight various issues for example, public attitudes towards health disorders like leucoderma, downs syndrome, schizophrenia; social issues like farmer suicides, sarva shiksha abhiyan [education for all campaign], abandoned-for-a-younger-woman, children of divorced parents, social image of a teacher-student realtionships etc
The attempts to present these issues are visibly sincere. Whats more the movies although not exactly rolling in hype and publicity enlist almost entirely an A-list star cast. And in many instances have these top artists in the marathi industry also contribute in pre and/or post production like script, story, songs/poetry, production, direction and such.

Now while I am getting all warm and fuzzy about this there comes creeping in my mind a worry. Will our generation be the last taking such pride? What I mean by our generation is the ones who left home for lives abroad and may go back but certainly will not see our kids brought up the way we were. Installing any feelings let alone love or even attachment for the mother tongue in our kids is a topic of  never ending discussion in the expatriate populations, has been for generations I am sure. But I am concerned about mine and thereby the first generation foreign born. While on one hand I concede to the 'this isnt my first language and I dont want to make efforts to know' argument of the born-outside-generation on the other hand [try and keep the economist from popping up!] I now really share the pangs of anxiety and in some part the agony of realising that everything we hold dear about this complex emotion may be lost!
Ours is then effectivly the last generation to appreciate and be thrilled by the joy of such things as even a rejuvenated regional cinema!!