Medium of Instruction, an eternal dilemma of a Marathi Parent

Friends,
I have been wanting to write on this for a while, but didn't get my thoughts organized enough to write on this. Today as I sit to write you'll realize it is more of my musings and I'm far away from thoughts organized in any fashion for that matter. But I have enough urge to express my views on this to overcome the inhibitions due to them being not organized.

Firstly I must express my admiration for Santosh and want to go on record to say that I agree with most of the points that Santosh has expressed in his email. Most importantly among them all the point that the "parents" are the key in this situation and even more so in the days to come. When I say Parents, those are not just the biological parents but those who help the child grow, may be including the teachers at school in some cases.
Let me also first up say that there is no better substitute to a child's medium of instruction than his mother tongue. The language his parents speak at home. (Considering the child picks up most of the 'knowledge' in the formative years at home). And the primary reason is that his brain is free from 'deciphering', 'decoding' the knowledge to the language he is more comfortable with if the medium of instruction happens to be a different one. The language that helps him 'form' his thoughts should be easy on him, like water to the fish. Instead of the water to a scuba diver!
For all the Indian children it is very essential that they get an exposure to the "Indian heritage" and culture through their native (may not be mother tongue) language. The poems for example are an essential way of learning the heritage, that can't be translated. e.g. Shivrayache Athvave Roop or Zenda Uncha Rahe Hamara or Saare Jahanse Accha or Paay Takun Jalat basla Asla Audumbar can NEVER be translated. At best they can be interpreted and that's where they loose their appeal and the wholesome meaning and most importantly expression behind them. Every region in this wonderful land will provide its own unique flavor to its culture which can't be given through "London Bridge is Falling Down". Neither can it be reached to their souls by the RavanAAs and RamAAs of the text books, if you can see what I mean. (not for your understanding skills but my poor expression in this foreign language)
Now this being the principle side of the argument, there are some practical sides of the argument too.

The first practical aspect I had to consider when I laboriously twisted and turned in my bed on this topic for Anamay was my own stability and growth. If I have to be somewhat successful in my career today the 'mantra' would be to be as flexible as possible. I have to avoid options that would restrict me to a place, domain, and culture in this field of IT today. Sure, one can be extra-ordinarily talented and achieve the success even after being attached to a place, domain and culture. But if I know myself well, I'm nowhere near to that "extra-ness" beyond the ordinary! And I have to be realistic before anything else, if I have to make informed decision about my child.

Second practical aspect is the choice that is available to me. How many Marathi schools today are available to Anamay that would teach him the culture that we highly talked about above and at the same time give him the broad view of the world which is so very essential, in fact is a life blood of his upbringing? (When I was arguing with Sushrut on this in a Virginia Italian restaurant, he said in his anguish that if in Pune we can't find such Marathi schools, there is no point! I couldn't agree with him more). Come on, I mean let's be realistic! Remember we are in the practical mode of thinking now. Now does that mean that the English schools in lieu would have it them for him? Answer is no. What probably then remains as the most wise and realistic approach is to see that the poor soul does not waste three fourth of his energies in commute, exposing himself to more dangers and pollutions on the road for some `elite' school 10-15 miles away from home.
In fact to tell you honestly, we had almost finalized a Marathi school which "fitted the bill" on most aspects above for him, but when we talked to some of its teachers and to the present day students and we found out that it completely lacked the competitive spirit in its attitude. How would he succeed with this "that's fine... I'll do with it" approach today?
I'm not going to bring the "Lingua Franca" factor in the discussion here. After all if it is a language needed for survival you can definitely pick it up on the way without it being the medium of instruction. It is a given that you get yourself well versed with the language since it is essential to your survival. But that's pretty much it.
So as we can see the decision is no way simple and easy. The parents have to choose between a rock and the hard place. But hey, isn't that how it is on almost any decision we make as parents? What probably then remains in the hands of the parents is to be cognitive of all these factors, in place of just blindly following the stream. As parents we need to be extra careful and diligent about what our kid is exposed to, to be able to achieve what we want him to achieve in terms of growing as a person and growing his abilities to learn more. A very 'cliche-istic' stand but that's the square I end up every time I make a fresh start thinking on this.
But think about it, if on the other hand we are able to achieve this (whatever 2/3% of us that would achieve that), how fantastic a combination would that be? If my son understands the "Sant vachans" which are an invaluable treasure from the land he originates from and also be aware of the new developments in the world due to the vivid exposures he might get due to the flexibility he gets. If he can remember the greatness of Shivaji beyond just the text books and at the same time learn the different other world leaders those influenced our lives? If he could enjoy the sporting and competitive spirits by following different sports (not just cricket) and also learn that these are after all games and are meant for fun.
Gives me enough hope to jump in that direction than just brood sitting on the benches with my head within my knees.
If you think these were distorted thoughts, I had already told you this is how they are going to be.
Mayur