Hindi - the National Language of India?
Yeah I know, I have taken to writing again after a very long time. But here is an important issue on hand and I just could not stop myself from blogging on this!
Hindi - is this the national language of India? Well, in short the answer is No. Let me tell you the story behind this. Till 1965, Articles 343 and 345 of the Constitution of India specified that the official language of India to be Hindi in Devanagari script, though states of India were free to adopt one or more local languages for all or any of the official purposes of that state.
Pursuant to agitations particularly in South India in the 60s, today 22 languages carry official status and Government documents can be in any of the 22 recognized official languages. This has been clarified by court rulings as well, most recently in 2010 Gujarat High Court affirming equal role to all 22 languages.India is a Common law country---therefore, unless overturned by the legislature or a higher court explicitly, the ruling in 2010 takes precedence and all 22 official languages are meant to be taken on equal footing. Currency notes in India typically have carry the denomination in all languages as well.
So yes, now we have 22 official languages in India and they are Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri,English, Gujrati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telgu, Tulu and Urdu.
As per the 2001 census,41.03 percent of Indians speak Hindi. Obviously it is the language spoken by majority of Indians. Even the second highest is some 8 percent which is way lesser than the whooping 41 percent. And to that we all have to agree!
Now, you might be thinking that my language is Hindi and hence I m writing so. But no, you are wrong. I am an Assamese. However, I do not mind speaking Hindi! Why should I? Or why should anyone else? After all, language is for communication. Its not a morale booster or an ego concept! Well, to anyone with a sound head, its not!
Frankly, I do not see any basic sense of this whole drama! All languages are important. To you, your language is important...be it Tulu, Urdu, Gujrati, whatever. To me Assamese. However, lets not think one language to be superior to the other.
English...a foreign language and still no one has any issues learning that! And issues when learning Hindi? Why? This is not love for our language. This is pure ego which is holding us. Infact, percentage of Hindi speaking would be much more than 41 percent. .. why... even the ones speaking Bengali, Assamese, Nepali, etc. we all do know Hindi and can converse well in Hindi.
I, an Indian first, know many languages. I do not carry the baggage of not learning something new! Why, learning only increases knowledge not make anyone smaller. Yes, there are people still who think otherwise. But naah, to me, im in a better position.
Whatever and how much ever, the hue and cry, Hindi is the most spoken language in India and no one can change that. Lets just be fair, and think with our heads, keeping our ego on one side, and definitely, we would understand why we need one common language... Hindi!
NB: As a continuation ...
http://princess-starts-talking.blogspot.com/2016/01/language-intolerance.html
Nice one di....
ReplyDeletethank you Nandita! :-)
ReplyDeleteGood one.. Honest n clear
ReplyDeleteHi Dr Subodh Chaturvedi,
DeleteThank you!
Hi Dr Subodh Chaturvedi,
DeleteThank you!
I mind speaking HIndi. Do you have a problem with it? if you do, you're against democracy.
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
DeleteI do not have any problem with that! Please continue. And definitely not against democracy. God bless.
First of all we don't need a national language for our country. English united us as Indians. Let's continue with it. We don't need any language as big brother. Let's respect each other's language and communicate in English with non-native people. Very simple. English is very easy and it's being spoken atleast In a broken level in every nook and corner of India. Above all, it is not a mother tongue to any Indian. So it is equally easy or equally hard for every Indian. So, if at all India needs a national language , let it be English.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeya,
DeleteI agree we do not. Every state has their own language. I speak and write English very well too. My point is, no language is superior to the other. I hope you understand.
God bless
are you telling other language speaking should not be part of a country where 40% people speaks hindi.
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
DeleteYout question and understanding is irrelevant. If I would have meant that the people speaking other languages should not be a part of the country, then that would include me too. Kindly read the blog once again. Thank you.
God bless.
From a broader perspective learning english has its advantages over hindi.Hindi can just be used in india while english is more spoken all over the world and most of the books are in english rather than hindi..and hindi has no application in the south.we are not a developed nation and do not have the liberty of learning a new language just for its sake..we find our mother tongue easier to learn and english is just a way of communication and so is anyother language like you said..we just find this comfortable and easier i guess..maybe if we have time ,necessity and resources we might actually learn hindi and you dont see any southindians asking northindians to learn our language
ReplyDeleteHi Sid,
DeleteI completely agree. And I can speak, write and talk in English. Here though the question is whether Hindi is our national language. Which, it is not. And for me, all of the other languages hold equal importance. But if someone forces me to speak their language then I have a issue with that. At that moment maybe some people like you and me can come forward to rescue and ask the people to atleast use English.That would be so much of help to the others.
Thanking you!
God bless.
Hi Priyanka,
ReplyDeleteI learn English not to go against Hindi but for the below three reasons:
1. English now has become a global language. I am able to travel to almost all parts of the world (including language oriented countries like Germany, France and Japan).
2. English has given job opportunity to millions of people. I am one among the million
3. Loads of inventions and technologies are developed in this language. So it makes anyone to know this language in order to globally competent.
If you think Hindi can do all the above, then I am ready to take it up today itself.
If you think it is not possible at least for next 50 years, then please accept it and please dont force us to learn hindi without dropping English out of your pocket.
You might say that only if we start talking hindi, then hindi can attain this goal.
But please note that this can be achieved in every 22 language in India. So as a secular country, please give equal rights to all 22 countries rather than going by majority.
hi priyanka, you are contradicting now... in your original post you have asked every indian to learn hindi and now you are saying that english is fine with you. Also i am against people who ask you to learn their language... but you never posted that as your real problem.
DeleteOne more thing, for deciding on any national subject, majority is never considered but the preciousness of the subject is considered. Crow even though majority is not the national bird. Cow even though majority is not the national animal.
ReplyDeleteSo in the same trend, Can I request all the Indians to leave their ego, become broad minded and take up the oldest living language as the national language. I hope each of the 22 languages will have one such character to make it national language.
if you want 60% non hindi speakers to become broad minded and learn hindi, can't I ask the 40% to learn the precious language?
Also Ponram,
DeleteI myself speak some six of the 22 precious languages of India. Never found one too precious or other one any less. It is really not important to me how many you know. But my point is language if for making the other person ubderatand what we have in our mind. If all Indians understand English, then let it be English. But let's not force each other. Thank you!
Not sure how to put this, but let me try
ReplyDeleteEveryone post about others learning Hindi so that we can communicate, but why no one is interested in posting about Hindians learning another language based on the location that they work for sometime.
Most of those other than hindi as native language speakers, are dual tongue meaning they know another one language. I see you knowing 6 other languages. How many of the native Hindi speakers are Duel tongue. Forget about IT crowd, they somehow speak english due to their work environment.
Hi BEPenfriends,
ReplyDeleteNice name! :)
Your point is valid and has the same implication on you all too! Now when I wrote this article, I didn't target one section of society. To me everyone is equal.
Having said that, let me mention I belong to a very remote town where we have people from other states, who speak their own mother tongues. They converse in us in English. We, in Assam never forced people to learn or speak our language. Even we had teachers in our school who spoke tamil! And I remember very well that we always had conversation in English. No other teacher forced them to speak the native language. So I hope you underatand, the place we work should not be a valid reaaon that we should learn the language. We can still peacefully work and co-exist.
Also, in Assam majority speaks Assamese. But we never forced others to take up our language. If you ever happen to visit our lovely place, you would understand for sure.
To the Hindi point, We do not mind talking in Hindi. Not because it is superior or something. But because we want to interact with all. We do not wish to be the frogs in the well!
I do not know, if I am able to explain myself here.
Hope you understand anyways!
Priyanka, we do don't force others to talk in our language. We too enjoy having conversation in english and live peacefully. Just that, we keep only our mother tongue language and English which is global language for any communication. When we are in our state (tamil nadu) the person who speaks to us does not know either one of this language, we say, either my mother tongue or english. That's not imposition. This is the official language policy of our state.
DeleteWe do that not because our language is superior or something but because we want to interact in our state using our language or english.
Just because you dont mind speaking in hindi does not make you a blue whale of pacific and we don't speak in hindi doesn't make us frogs in the well u see.
Hi BEPenfriends,
DeleteThat's very good that you think that English is acceptable.
To your point of me being a blue whale or you being a frog in the well. I wish to make it very clear. I do not mind learning and speaking in any language. Please note the word 'Any'. It does not mean only 'Hindi'. So yes, whether that makes me a blue whale of the pacific or not I do not bother. And I stated very clear, I learn language because I do not wish to be a frog in the well. What you imply of that is totally up to you. I can only state my feelings. Cannot control what you make of it!
Happy Pongal, btw! :)
It has nothing to do with ego. It has to do with convenience. We find it convenient to speak our language and English. Why should we waste our time learning a third language ?
ReplyDeleteBesides, you need to understand Tamil, Kannada belongs to an entirely different family of languages, compared to Hindi. Assamese and Hindi belong to the same language family, hence you find it easy to speak and learn Hindi.
Rome wasn't built in a single day and India certainly wasn't built by one language speaker. People of different heritage fought for the freedom of the country of ours. Do you think they gave up their lives to create a country where a 'majority language' will suppress their identity? And unite under one language? Seriosly? So what.. People who speak hindi in their homes will get head start in jobs and opurtunities than the people who dont. If we embrace English whole country is on the same page.. Nobody gets a headstart. What if someone asked you the sameway you did to learn Tamil to unite country? Will you do it? Or say majority should always get headstart. If you'll chose English over local language in South India why shouldn't we chose English over Hindi?
ReplyDeleteHi Srinivas,
DeleteAt the very onset, Happy Bihu!
Now, You are correct. People of different caste creed religion language laid their lives to get freedom of India. Yes, if majority of Indians would have conversed in Tamil, I would have done that too. Because I wish to talk with all. But that is not the case now. Anyways, in my whole article I didn't ever point to any specific section of Indians.