Language, it is said cuts across all bariers, making it one of the most potential weapon to be armed with. Most people, at some time or the other have had to share company with people who speak unknown language. The joy of finally finding someone you can communicate with needs no explanation.
Punjabi, Gujrati, Marathi, Hindi and a sprinkling of Konkani - Mr. Vinayak Vaidya speaks them all.The jewel in his crown, however, is his mastery over Japanese, a language he not only speaks but also writes fluently. Mr. Vaidya's continuing affair with the language began in 1991, when, after an arduous tenure of 36 years in the field of civil engineering he retired from Air India as a senior engineering executive. Post retirement, Baburao (as he is fondly called), made a conscious decision to keep away from his chosen profession and learn something new.Aware of his flare for languages, an old colleague who spent time in Japan recommended learning Japanese, because its word order is similar to that of Baburao's mother tongue, Marathi.
Sure enough, his interest was kindled and Baburao undertook a three year course at the Indo Japanese Association and obtained an advanced diploma in 1993. He spent the next four years mastering Japanese grammar at home. "For grammar," says Baburao, "is the spine of any language."
With his proficiency in the language Baburao now corresponds with friends in Japan. He has written a letter to the Consul - General of Japan in Mumbai, who not only replied but also appreciated his command over the language. Not satisfied with having mastered Japanese, he now runs a six month basic course at the Japanese Study Centre, Thane. "With any new subject that you take up, you must make a determined effort to go down to the grass root level and get the most in-depth and detailed knowledge on that matter. Naturally, to do that, one requires immense dedication and a lot of hard work. I still put in 13 - 14 hours of work everyday, perfecting the delicate nuances of the subject," he says, "Knowledge attained should always be pure 24 carat and not 14 carat!" he adds.
Baburao admits that his intellect and thirst for knowledge are an integral part of his genes, for he hails from a family where high educational culture prevails. His father, professor R.V. Vaidya was an internationally known astronomer, mathematician and Sanskrit pandit and was a member of the calendar reform committee constituted by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. His modest and gentle demeanor hides a wealth of knowledge gained through reading and his travels around the world during his Air India days.
Apart from being a linguist, Baburao is a trained violinist and has had his classical music training from Pandit Gajananrao Joshi. He was a regular performing artist till 1974, when he met with an accident that badly affected his nervous system and left him unable to practice regularly. However, he has not let the setback deter him and still plays the violin though not on a public forum.
Ask this 69 year old what makes him want to work so hard at this stage in life, and he puts it very simply, "I do not believe in rebirth. We should utilize each minute to its maximum as we live only once. Utilise life judiciously."

About Classes:
The classes are conducted twice in a week. It is either on Monday and Thursday or on Tuesday and Friday. The classes are of one and a half hour duration per day. The class is also on Wednesday mornings for some who cannot attend the other days. The study materials likeText books, cassettes, Kangi book, scripts, etc.are also given to the students by Mr. Vaidya.

Here is the copy of the letter written by Mr. Vaidya to the Consul - General of Japan, Mumbai.

Here is the reply by the Consul - General of Japan to Mr. Vaidya wherein he appreciates Mr. Vaidya about his fluency in the japanese language.