Hindi is National Language of India
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 | 
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Why do I need to mention this thing?
Because an Indian in his blog is saying that only 35-40% of India speak/read Hindi without any reference or facts. Of course, he belongs to a part of India where Hindi is not preferred at all - neither as language nor as national symbol. He is from Chennai. With all due respect to the region and language, it made me go fury over his statement where he asks if Google assume that all Indians know Hindi. And according me, Google should assume.
It is really shame on part of an Indian who doesn’t want Google to present Hindi interface to Indians given the scenario of countries like China, Japan and European countries which prefer their national languages over English. I support him when he says -
Google could display an info box asking the user whether he wants the results to be displayed in a regional language
But when he present wrong facts about India without any proof, any Indian can go angry over such countryman. He should be thankful to be in India and not some place where Kareem belonged to. If he still wants to maintain his statement about the percentage mentioned by him, I would like him to visit other states of India specially the North part of India where he can find each and every Indian knowing/speaking/reading their national language - Hindi.
Spread the word: 
March 1st, 2007 at 22: 46
Hi Nitesh,
I am not opposed to Hindi and I believe my post also doesn’t imply that. My concern was purely from usability point of view. With millions of non Hindi speaking people in India, I feel that Google should leave the choice of language to the user. Of course, the user can change the language at any time. But even the first time, Google can offer a option instead of automatically changing the language to Hindi.
Another thing. It is a misconception that everybody in south India are opposed to Hindi. In reality the general public has nothing against it. It is purely politics that has created such a picture.
Hindi is not the national language India…atleast not yet. It is the principal official language of India. Neither the constitution nor the laws of India accord the status of “National Language” to any language in India.
I hope I have clarified myself.
March 1st, 2007 at 23: 28
You still didn’t clear yourself completely. I would definitely like to know from where you pulled out the stat of 35%-40%. And it is from there your post supposed to be implying your feeling towards the national language. You still state number as millions of non-Hindi speaking Indians without any strong base.
I completely agreed with you in my post about usability factor but you presented it by wrapping with the regional point of view - that is where it hurts a compatriot.
I have been in South India for significant period and I know very well that they don’t oppose Hind at all. In fact, they also love the fact as much as North Indians that there is a language which connects whole country be it a “National Language” or recognized as “Official Language of the union” as per Article 343 of the Indian Constitution. But when you mention this thing, it clears the intentions. It seems that misunderstood the post on the regional basis. Moreover, I know it is all political net but then a government reflects the majority of public - as far as I believe.
I expect that you will take care in future while presenting a view specific to a country.
March 15th, 2007 at 21: 26
Hello ,
We In TN need not know hindi and will never acknowledge it as our national language . if u want us to become Indian only by learning Hindi , then we dont like to exist in the Indian union itself . Our national language will always be Tamil , and to connect with rest of the world English is enough . There is no room for Hindi here
.
March 15th, 2007 at 21: 59
Thanks for the comments Sathish but by just saying that there is no room for Hindi in TN or you don’t like to exist in Indian union (What the heck), you can’t refute for the fact that Hindi is the medium of communication used by most of the Indians. It is the official language of India.
You can connect with rest of the world by learning English but you can’t connect well enough with your own resident Indian brothers and sisters in that way.
March 16th, 2007 at 13: 53
Well Mr Satish i strongly presume that its only your view about hindi which looks so hostile. pls dont generalise it.i dont understand what makes it so difficult for you to accept hindi.you are an Indian first and then comes your region.whether you like it or not but you have to accept it as long as you r an Indian.and its not you who decides to stay in this union or not. may be this is one of the reasons why our constitution makers preferred a centralised govt though India being called a federal state.dont mind but i felt your comments are no different from that of a person hostile to this nation.
March 20th, 2007 at 0: 50
Hi Nitesh
What’s wrong with Hindi not being preferred in Tamil Nadu? Language is generally learnt on need basis. Not to be insisted upon!! If hindi’s a national symbol, so is every other language in india - atleast 21 other official languges. Don’t you think it’s a fundamental human right to choose his/her language apart from being naturally affectionate over mother tongue? Ofcourse, a hindi speaker can be proud of speaking a language that’s spoken by the majority.
We have 800+ lanugages and 2000+ dialects in india. We cannot compare european countries, japan, china et al. with india.
I also understand the need for some language for communication. I think these 22 official language system has solves quite a lot of them. But we can debate on this.
Just because Hindi is spoken by a majority, it cannot dominate other languages. Tamil is atleast 1500 years older than hindi and has it’s own origin, Apart from it’s richness in literature. So, if you want a tamil guy to prefer a language over his mother-tongue, then it should be more appealing than tamil. Otherwise a need should drive him to learn a new language.
I hope by now you would’ve read Article 343-351 of the Constitution of India. I don’t have to give you any explaination on that.
I hope you don’t keep saying hindi is the national language of india and every indian should learn it!!
There is no national language in india. Hindi is a official language of the union (only) for official communication, together with english.
I accept the other reason given by you, anytime i would try to learn languages to connect to others. You can also try learning some south indian language and connect to your brothers and sisters in south. If you are not a hypocrite!
I must also mention that Hindi is not rejected in tamil nadu. If you may know, so many people do certification in hindi. There’s atleast one publication for hindi textbooks for these certification. Every college/private school has an option of hindi being chosen as second language. Bollywood movies are fancied very well and waited for. What more you can expect from a state whose mother tongue is officially The Only Living Classical Language of the world!! It is just the idea of injecting hindi is being hated.
March 20th, 2007 at 18: 21
Hi Indian,
First thing first, you are supposed to give proper respect to national symbols be it the names like India or languages like Hindi/English. From your comment, it seems that you don’t want to respect these symbols but only Tamil.
I don’t think there is any need to give any reason for what is wrong with Hindi not being preferred in TamilNadu which is a state of India, after having said that Hindi is “Official Language of the union” as per constitution.
Yes it is fundamental human right to choose whatever language one wants to speak. And what language can be better than mother tongue. Of course 22 language system has done quite a justice to need for communication in this diversified nation but it doesn’t limit Hindi as the language spoken by just one part of country. Plus I don’t oppose the historical importance of Tamil language. It is equally respectable as Hindi language is. But when it comes to national integrity, union and the symbols of wholeness, Hindi overpowers Tamil without any doubt. And when it is about being proud of speaking Hindi, it is obvious not because it is spoken by majority but because it is the language of nation. When you talk about richness of Tamil literature, you completely overlook the Hindi literature which is much more diversified and much rich, distributed and more reachable than the Tamil literature. The only motivation of understanding national language should be enough for anyone to learn it. I will and I will always say that Hindi is national language of India and if you still need more facts and heat, you can read another post written after this one - Language problem. If Hindi doesn’t appear to be national language of India and accepted as a language at all by very few Tamil guys (as you said), then can they give reason for how come our national anthem is in Hindi and not in any other language?
The comparison with other countries was done just to elaborate the respect for the national language possessed by the citizens of those nations, despite the fact how unique their languages are and how difficult it is for others to learn and so is the situation with India.
In fact I like to learn local languages and I had been learning South Indian languages sometime in past. I have always been having Tamil friends (who always found it difficult to communicate outside their state) and I think I know much about TamilNadu and the atmosphere out there. I know that Hindi isn’t rejected in TamilNadu from the facts that people out there like to watch Bollywood movies and of course Hrithik and Shahrukh but majority of them prefers those to be translated/dubbed into Tamil first
.
I also understand the motive of behind shooting the Hindi hatred wave and of course, they are very minute guys with no relevance, as you mentioned. All I wanted to clear and represent my view/perspective about Hindi, our national language, over here.
March 21st, 2007 at 1: 26
First of all, Indian does not mean “Hindi”. I come from Tamil Nadu and “Tamil” is my foremost language. I know English very well, and I don’t see English with as much antagonism as “Hindi” because English is “NOT” foisted on others.
And just because we oppose Hindi doesn’t mean we are any less patriotic than you. So, I don’t want to hear that Hindi means Indian and vice-versa.
Chinese is spoken by 1.2 Billion people, but that doesn’t mean that Mandarin or some form of Chinese should be the official language of the World or Planet Earth.
We in Tamil Nadu will learn Hindi as and when we think it is needed. It is an irony that in every state in India, English is the preferred medium of instruction and no one raises a hue and cry about it. Every Indian parent wants to send his/her child to an English medium school so that his/her child can succeed in life. Let me ask you this…is there any central authority in India that is pushing English into schools or TV or cinema or public life. NO, right, then why is English so much popular than “Hindi”. It’s because people rationalize and see a need to learn English to succeed in today’s modern life. Hindi has not, and will not, ever attain that status because it is a language spoken by a portion of India. If Delhi was not our capital, Hindi would not be accorded such a high status.
When you go by economic status, then Tamil/Telugu/Kannada should be the official languages of India because there is more economic wealth in those states. English is paramount because of the economic wealth of America. Otherwise, Russia, with its military might, would have foisted that language over the world.
Our country is so diverse and I, like many other non-native speaking people, DON’T see the need to learn Hindi. If there is a need, then we will learn it ourselves. English stands a better chance because it’s practical than Hindi.
Hindi means Indian and vice-versa. Indian means a state of life in which the rich, diverse, and multi-cultural traditions of the sub-continent are respected and adhered to through whatever faith that one practices.
Let the free spirits of people, freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and freedom of free enterprise choose which language trumps the other. That is why we have democracy, don’t we?
Thanks.
Mec Man
March 21st, 2007 at 1: 39
Nitesh Gautam,
Open up yourself, dude. You show such immaturity in your analysis.
“Just because the Constitution says that I can screw my sister, it doesn’t mean that the Constitution is right.” Is it? If the same Constitution doesn’t take into account the sensibilities of people, then we have trouble.
And, who the heck told you that Hindi has much more literary tradition than Tamil. That clearly shows how little you know about literature, sorry mate.
Check this article out from University of California, Berkley, which is an authority on Tamil literary research.
http://tamil.berkeley.edu/Tamil%20Chair/TamilClassicalLanguage/TamilClassicalLgeLtr.html
If you shut yourself down, then you stop receiving ideas from others. If you open yourself up, then you make yourself intelligent by interacting with others.
Thanks.
Mec Man
March 21st, 2007 at 10: 44
I never said that there is any problem with English as communication medium but as far as India is concerned, we all Indians except very few Tamilians have accepted Hindi as the national language. then what is the problem with those few fellows, I could never understand. See it is only Tamil guys who are objecting this issue. Even I have Tamil friends but they all understand the importance of Hindi as common medium of communication throughout the country. Just visit few villages outside your home state and you will learn very well, why English can’t be accepted as the common language.
As far as the richness of a language is concerned, that was never a primary goal behind this post and still can’t justify the importance of Tamil by just giving reference of a document written by a professor of Tamil placed over Tamil section of a renowned university. WTC huh.
And I couldn’t understand if you want Tamil or English to be accepted as the common medium.
And if you think that constitution can mention anything as you said, then you know nothing about importance of constitution, buddy. You have a long learning way ahead of you, mate.
I think I have made my point very clear in the post and comments so far. Therefore, I wouldn’t be replying to the comments anymore.
March 21st, 2007 at 19: 47
Nitesh Gautam,
You are oblivious of the facts. Not a few Tamils, but every one in Tamil Nadu don’t like to learn Hindi. I have lived in Tamil Nadu for 21 years and I know it for a fact. So, shut your Hindi A** up.
Dude, I have nothing personally against you or Hindi. I would love an India that is strong and vibrant. We want participation from all walks of life and all strata of the population. Hindi is not the way to integrate India. We ought to allow people to practice their own religion, own language, and their own faiths/beliefs. That is the only way to integrate India.
Don’t force your views on others. Persuasion is an art and you should know that force will not get you anywhere. Otherwise, Hitler, Stalin and other Dictators would still be ruling their respective countries.
Anyways, read this article from R K Narayan (I hope you know who he is). You will get a perspective of what I am talking about.
R K Narayan Encounter with a Hindi Fanatic
At Delhi I met a man who complained, ‘I’m back from Madras after a visit, and there I found to my shock, they do not receive the Hindi news on Doordarshan, but only Tamil news from the Madras Kendra at 8:40 pm. Who permitted this and why ?’
‘For the reason that Hindi is not understood in that part of the country’
‘How can you say that ? It’s unconstitutional to avoid Hindi. Such unconstitutional practices must be discouraged.’
‘It seems that the Chief Minister desired that Tamil news should be telecast at that hour.’
‘Oh! Oh! Chief Minister indeed ! If we go on consulting every Chief Minister’s wish, we will get nowhere.
‘But I repeat, Hindi is not understood in Madras’
How can it not be understood while it is written down in the constitution as the official language ?’
‘You can give a man an excellent cookery book, but it will not help if he has not learnt how to cook.’
‘What cookery book ? In Hindi or English ?’
‘What does it matter ?’
‘If it is in Hindi, he must understand it.’
‘It’s probably in English.’
‘English can have no place in our country. It is not in the Eighth Schedule.’
‘Whatever you may say, Hindi is not understood, and whatever is not understood remains ununderstood …. It’s axiomatic, you cannot escape it.
Hindi is easy to learn. No axiom in it, whatever it means’.
‘You may want o shout your message in Hindi through a loudspeaker, but it will make no sense to one who is deaf to it.’
‘It seems to me just perversity. Hindi is easy to learn, a gentle language.’
I agree it is a gentle language, but being promoted in ungentle ways.’
‘Why won’t you people of the south accept it ?’
‘Listen. Because of champions like you, who assume a dictatorial tone and decree must and must not for others. Your tone is self-defeating, counter-productive. While the old caste system is condemned, you are displaying a new caste-superiority and preen yourselves before non-Hindi folk and attempt to order them about, which looks comical. You will have to mend your manners. Approach us normally, with humility, if you wish to achieve results. If you remember, there was a time when in most south Indian homes there were at least a couple of members who attended Hindi classes and appeared for examinations voluntarily, but all that stopped the moment the order came from Delhi that everyone should know Hindi as the only language. It is a historical fact. Think it over. There is still a chance that we shall attain national integration. Good-bye till then.
‘Before you go I want to compliment you on your excellent English. Keep it up, otherwise we could not have exchanged ideas. You would perhaps have gone on in Hindi and I would have been so eloquent in Tamil. The situation would have been similar to the one in my story in which a travelling American and a villager he encountered on the roadside carry on a prolonged dialogue in perfect American-English and impeccable local dialect respectively …. The American thought he was making an offer for a life-size clay horse, in whose shade the villager was resting, and the villager thought the foreigner was eager to buy the goats he owned which were grazing nearby …. Well, why don’t you read the story yourself unless you have made a vow not to look at an English sentence.
- From ‘On Language’ an essay in ‘Salt and Sawdust’ , a collection of stories and table-talk by R.K.Narayan.
March 29th, 2007 at 21: 05
Hi Gautam,
I came to your website by chance.
I also do not see the reason why you say “Why do i need to justify the postion of Hindi as national language?”
There was no INDIA before the british…there was never a national language before that…there were only independent countries..
Since we had a common imperialist, we are now together as an “UNION”…and we will continue to be a strong UNION…”Hindi”, “Hindutva” and “Hindustani” can never be the mantra for nationalism..
Hope you saw Dil Chahta Hai, the more harder you try to grip teh sand in your hand, the more easily you will loose it from your hands…
So imposition is never an option…It will never happen in the “Indian Union” again..and i mean it…
This is the reason why no governement has ever tried it again…
I am happy to be writing this article to you in english..so i dont see you having an issue with it and nor do i…so i dont understand the problem..
I am from Tamil Nadu, and i am proud of my state and tbe tamil language i speak..that doesnt mean i disrespect the other languages…you got it wrong when you say that tamil people dont respect hindi….rather this could have arisen from the fact that the Jingoists tried to impose it on the tamil people…
No language is superior nor inferior to another…
I dont need to know hindi to be referred to as an indian..
I dont need to be a hindu to be referred to as an indian..
All i need to be an indian is to respect a fellow indian citizen..
This i certainly do…
The more languages you know the better it is for you…
After all india is not a homogenous counrty but rather an UNION made by states freed from imperialist rule..
When i use the word “National” i mean the word “Officially/Symbolically”..
The National Bird is “Peacock”, does that mean we all dont put the peacock in the Zoo??
The National Game is “Hockey”, does that mean we all first play hockey in our schools??
The National Flower is “Lotus”, does that mean all women in india must adore their heads with the Lotus Flower??
Hope you see the light now..
Please remember, GAndhi was shot down by hindi fanatics who didnt like his idea of “Hindustani” being imposed as the national language.
When you could live with this, i dont see how you can agree to the same being imposed by you on others??
Our national anthem may be in hindi..and i certainly have no problems in singing the national anthem in hindi…i respect all the freedom fighters like bhagat singh/bose/gandhi not because they spoke different tongues, because we all admire their courage and their bravery in fighting hte “Untruth” and “Oppression”..
Lets not get into the same “Oppressionist Agenda”
“Truth is a pathless land”
Lets all remember that to have a stronger india, we need a stronger “Regional agenda with a national perspective”..
The way it is going on is fine….I certainly have no problems wiht you titling your blog the way it is currently done…cause the “Truth is absolute” and it can never be hidden by Agenda nor propaganda
Good Luck to you and your ideas…
I dont agree with them and nor will i on this subject…but you are entitled to your opinion and so am i..
And Sanskrit is not hte mother of all indian languages…Please do some research…
India (i mean the lingual jingoists) can never impose on its citizens Hindi as a compulsion…but i have no problems wiht people learning it on their own free will and choice….
Srini
Never again…
March 29th, 2007 at 21: 43
Hi Srini
Thanks for the visit, although by chance. I am happy to see that you agreed over somewhat I said and that our views match a lot.
I wouldn’t quote much although I want to say much.
You referred Dil Chahta Hai but I believe that real life is much different than movies. I make my own views and perspective based on my real life observations instead of getting influenced by movies.
And you asked, where the problem is. Problem is not with me or with you, but with our those brothers and sisters who live in remote areas of our country who know only one or two regional languages and believe that Hindi is the National Language. The problem is with those majority of Indians who want to decide upon the National language which can be represented as the identity of their nation.
Imposition is always an option to the government, all that matters is the way it is adopted - specially when it comes to our country. But nor do I am in favor of imposition. And if you think that imposition will never be an option in Indian Union, then you don’t want India to be a union…I think you have already thought of giving up over J&K issue which can never be a part of Union without enforcing the Indian Constitution…huh and you talk about imposition. Actually I think you meant inflict instead imposition.
Everyone is supposed to be proud of their country but the difference between you & majority of Tamilians (I apologize for being specific) with rest of the Indians like me seems to be that we feel proud of India as our motherland and you feel proud of you state. I never mentioned - “tamil people dont respect hindi” but they don’t prefer Hindi and that you know, is true. And it isn’t all that you need to respect fellow Indian citizens being an Indian but to respect national symbols too.
And when you say - “When i use the word “National” i mean the word Officially/Symbolically”, I also meant the same in reciprocal way when I said - “Hindi is Official Language of the union”.
I think I didn’t made any mention of Sanskrit here? Like you, I also respect every language. But making other literature available online in abundance and referring to it like anything doesn’t mean that it is superior than other literature.
When you refer to India as lingual jingoists, be it indirectly, it clears your intent.
April 1st, 2007 at 21: 30
You referred Dil Chahta Hai but I believe that real life is much different than movies. I make my own views and perspective based on my real life observations instead of getting influenced by movies.
[Srini] (thats good, but sometimes movie quotations are inspiring and true!!)
When you refer to India as lingual jingoists, be it indirectly, it clears your intent.
[Srini] You got it wrong. I never referred to India as Lingual Jingoists. I meant the Lingual Jingoists who claim to represent the India Union..
Everyone is supposed to be proud of their country but the difference between you & majority of Tamilians (I apologize for being specific) with rest of the Indians like me seems to be that we feel proud of India as our motherland and you feel proud of you state.
[Srini] I see no wrong in being proud of ones own mother tongue and mother land as well..
For me It’s a honour to be speaking tamil, to come from tamil nadu and to be an indian..
(You can choose the ordering using any algorithm)
I always believe in a strong regional agenda with national perspective for a “heterogenous” country like india.
You wouldnt believe me, when today i met a punjabi from india, on a cab in melbourne.
He was telling me,”When people ask me where i come from, i tell them i am from punjab..and he was proudly emphasising the point that he would prefer to say taht he comes from Punjab and then from India”.
I see no wrong in his statement as well…
For me the bottom line is everyone has a different form of love for their country and its people and its culture..
You have your love for hindi…Iam happy for you…
I have my own loves…
I learnt Sanskrit and Hindi not because its a national language..i learnt it out of curiosity and a desire to master more languages..
So i see no reason why others would do the same…
The problem is with those majority of Indians who want to decide upon the National language which can be represented as the identity of their nation.
[Srini]
Why are we looking for a language to be the identity of the nation?
Our tolerance/respect and love for everything heterogenous is our identity of being Indian.
We dont need to strive and brain storm for a single national identity..thats our greatness as i have already pointed out..
Good luck to you in whatever your goals are..
Srini
April 3rd, 2007 at 10: 35
Nitesh - i too am keen for there to be more unification, culturally and linguistically, across our country. After all, true unification would be when a villager from Tamil Nadu can easily communcate with someone from punjab to bengal to gujurat.
Now - as a kannadiga who has lived most of his life in India up north, and who understands the culture, phsychology of punjai/harayanvi/UP culture very very well…..and who speaks hindi far better than kannada……let me enlighten you about some facts.
Hindi is NOT the national language in a practical sense. Forget about whats in the constitution. I’m talking abour practicality here. Hindi is the predominant language only ina few states - UP, Haryana, MP, Chattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Bihar. Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir have punjabi, dogri and kashmiri respectively. Granted, these languages are relatively similar to hindi and therfore many from these 3 states can easily communicate in Hindi.
Bengal has bengali and they’re very attached to their culture. Millions of people in the interiors of bengal don;t speal Hindi, and dont care to.
In Maharashtra, if many people speak and understand Hindi its only because of bollywod and its enormous influence on the junta. Same with gujurat.
Down south, the languages have less similarity to hindi than say gujurati…..and there is absolutely no reason to learn or develop a competency in Hindi. Certainly for those who don;t speal english, they’re probbaly quite attached to their communal culture and therefore do not see any reason to learn hindi. Those who are propfecient in english do no feel a need to learn hindi as they dont need it to get ahead in life….all education, and work related stuff is in english anyway.
Now….far more important than the issue of hindi being a pan-indian language is the attitudes and perceptions that many in the north have about the south. Here are some pointers for you.
DO NOT label all people from the southern states as Madrasis. It is a derrogatory term and quite offensive in that it totally ignores the cultural, linguistic, culinary and every other kind of diversity that exists across the southern states. A punjabi will not like to be confused with a bihari…a kashmiri will not want to be labelled in the same pool as a harayanvi…so pls do not use terms like “Madrassi”.
DO uderstand that there is NO such thing as an Aryan Dravidian divide between north and south. Whatever physical, linguistic, religious, cultural differences do exist can easily be explained by clear logical factors. They are more regional variances than indicative of a fundamental differentiation of gentetic heritage.
DO understand that there are heaps and heaps and heaps of people up north who are just as dark as the many of the people down south. DO NOT express surprise when you meet an indian from the south who is fair skinned…..as ALL people form the subcontinent hail from the same genetic pool (a sub root of the caucasian race).
DO understand that beauty is not about fair skin….there are plenty of darker skinned people who can be physically beautiful, if we care to open our minds and stop having skin colour based prejudice. We have suffered centuries of oppression by european invaders/rulers who considered the brown indina skin to be inferior to their own fair skin. Why then are we being hypocritical by endorsing those same atttudes of colour-prejudice.
DO understand that other communities in India have as much a right to be proud of their culture as you. If you were born into a tamilian, bengali, kannadiga, manglorian, gyjurati or oriya family…..would you be just as keen to endorse Hindi??????
I do feel that it would be fantastic to bridge the cultural and linguistic gaps across the country, while at the same time celebrating the diversity and rish individuality….but I’ve seen way way way too much prejudice in the north against the south….and the way I see it…those prejudices have to go first before people from the south will accept Hindi. They will NOT accept Hindi if it is forced upon them. Learn to respect them, and things will happen.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11: 38
Hi Musafir
I respect your thought provoking comment and therefore I would like to clear up on few points as a supporter of national language (Hindi in your words) and a North Indian.
After writing much about not accepting Hindi as national language, I couldn’t understand, why you mentioned in the last -
…those prejudices have to go first before people from the south will accept Hindi.
When you say that -
Hindi is the predominant language only ina few states - UP, Haryana, MP, Chattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Bihar.
I can re-state this sentence as -
Hindi is the predominant language (than any other language) in most of the states of India and there are far more people who speak Hindi than any other language.
You will agree with that.
When you say -
Bengal has bengali and they’re very attached to their culture. Millions of people in the interiors of bengal don;t speal Hindi, and dont care to. etc etc…
I will reply that anyone even me being a Punjabi will like to speak in Punjabi while being in his own state and talking with residents because this is their native language and they feel bounded in that way.
You mixed local with national issue.
When you say it is difficult to learn Hindi for people in south, I will say that it was equally difficult for me to learn 4 languages at the same time when I was 7. But when you have to learn them as part of their curriculum, you easily can. And similar terms apply for other ages. We will have to make a start from somewhere.
Now regarding what you mentioned as -
…perceptions that many in the north have about the south.
My reply is, being a well educated Indian first and belonging to a moralistic family, I equally hate those people who make witty remarks on regional basis and I am not the alone. I know lot of such other people like me.
Who doesn’t want to have a good laugh. You might also have joked with your own mates in light way about people in other region and so did I, but when they happen to be turned into racial and specifically targeted, we all hate them.
Every literate person respects other despite the barriers like color and cast. All I can say is that you might have bad experience with illiterate population. You rightly said that …who can be physically beautiful, if we care to open our minds and stop having skin colour based prejudice.
When you ask - If you were born into….would you be just as keen to endorse Hindi?.
My answer to that is - Yes, I had still been fighting for some common medium and provided, Hindi had such status like today, yes, I had been keen to endorse Hindi.
One last sentence - No one likes anything to be forced upon.
April 4th, 2007 at 4: 59
Hi nitesh
Yes I agree that Hindi is spoken by more people in India than any other language. However that alone does not justify forceful imposition.
I am not against the prospect of speaking Hindi as I am more familiar with Hindi than with any other indian language (can speak kannada somewhat fluently and can uderstand punjabi and gujarati). In fact I acknowledge that there would be significant communicative and cultural unity across the country if everyone spoke Hindi…ALONG with their mother otngue and/or the regional language of the area they live in.
My problem is more with the attitudes of some northerners, for whom hindi is a mother tongue or familiar language. They tend to assume that lack of hindi knowledge or reluctance to speak Hindi or adopt “Hindi” culure is anti-nationalism and therefore these people are not true indians. To these people, my message is - every Indian from every part of India is a true Indian. Speaking Hindi has got absolutely nothing to do with nationalism. I know so so so so so many punjabis who consider themselves punjabi first, and then Indian. They subconsciously refuse to acknowledge the other communcties in India as being equally impt…and they label every one south of delhi as a madrasi…yes, i have experienced such attitudes from urban middle class punjabis…not just the gaav wales. Such punjabi people happen to understand hindi only cos punjabi is relatively similar to hindi, certainly more so than kannada or tamil or oriya or assamese. In my book…such punjabis are also desh drohis….equally anti-nationalistic as any bong or mallu or tamilian who identifies strongly with his regional culture.
You’re talking purely about the adoption of hindi as a common medium of communication, which I somewhat agree with. But i’m trying to bring out the deeper issues of communal segregation, communal arrogance and chavism that exist in the country…it is these perceptions and attitudes that are deeply connected with the issue of spreading usage/adopton of hindi….you cannot look at language adoption in isolation…with it comes the percieved adoption of Hindi culture.
I have nothing against punjabis….most of my good friends are punjabis actually, and i’ve lived in punjab too. Perhaps that is why I have indeed seen ample evidence of the punjabi/north indian chauvism towards the rest of india. You may deny it…and you may well be right…you or your family/social circle may not display such attitudes…but it does exist at various levels….much less of course among educated, cultured and open minded people.
By the same token, I’ll say that other communities in India need to be more understanding too. Every surd isn’t a terrorist..all north indians aren’t materialistic and money minded. Many tamilians I’ve met are very kattar about their culture…almost like the punjus….and they too display a chauvism against other southern indian cultures and indian communities in general.
Yes I too love a good joke and I ahve enjoyed many witty jokes about the different cultures in the country. However jokes are one thing, but adoption of derrogatory perceptions and beliefs is another thing. Would punjus like it if they were called biharis..i for a fact know that nearly all punjus would hate that…biharis are looked down upon in punjab….similarly…why shud people from karnataka be lebelled madrasis or just south indian. I make it a point never to label someone purely on which state they hail from or which language they speak….i believe people are far more dynamic to be pigeonholed into a strict framework of perceved cultural values and beliefs.
April 4th, 2007 at 11: 08
I never was in favor of forceful imposition but a common agreement and so does Indian government seems to be - after all, Indians are famous for their patience
.
As you said, I also wish that every Indian should be familiar with Hindi and should know its importance. Of course, mother tongue is always the first language in state.
Regarding the attitude of northies, I also somewhat agree with you that many upper class northies are still haunted with ego problem and it is not very certain to go away for some time. But if you get hurt from such comments then you doesn’t have idea of how South Indian Muslims would have been feeling who are discriminated on caste and color basis. And at the same time, southies are also equally sinisters. On example is them considering northies and specifically Sardars as terrorists. I equally hate such people but at the same time, I always give my words of advice to them, some agree and others leave apart. Of course, we should consider such people as anti-nationalistic who label others and discriminate on the regional basis.
PS: I address North Indians as northies equivocally as I use southies for South Indians - I hope it doesn’t offend anyone.
April 12th, 2007 at 7: 11
India has 23 official languages NOT one:
http://vetri-vel.blogspot.com/2006/12/india-does-not-have-national-language.html
The reason for having english as the link:
http://vetri-vel.blogspot.com/2006/12/anna-durai-and-two-dogs-theory.html
http://vetri-vel.blogspot.com/2007_01_07_archive.html
Articles on hindi imposition in 1965:
http://vetri-vel.blogspot.com/2006/12/articles-on-1965-hindi-imposition.html
A question that is often asked is “Why are the Tamils willing to learn English but not Hindi?”
My answer would be “Why not Swahili ?”
Even though the answer is actually a question, the answer to my question is the answer to the earlier question too – “No significant use”.
If the technical journals and other scientific articles and information/knowledge is in Swahili, people will learn it and not English. The same logic can be used for any other language.
What do we get with Hindi?
Quite often learning/speaking Hindi is associated with patriotism. Does it mean learning Tamil or any other Indian language is unpatriotic ? or is it lesser Indian language than Hindi ? Why is there such a skewed logic ?
Hindi helps you to communicate with the majority Indians is another answer. As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, Tamil is the majority language so its good to know it. If a Tamil, moves out of TN, he should learn the local language of the region and not Hindi. Till then, a mixture of English and a few words can keep him alive in another state. Making Hindi compulsory in TN for the few who travel outside TN is absurd. What is the percentage of Tamils traveling outside TN?
Now that the jobs are predominantly created in the southern states, will the North Indian in general and Hindi person specifically learn a South Indian language – any one ? or in other words, most Hindi speaking person tend to look for Bangalore, would they learn Kannada ? Shouldn’t they learn Kannada?
Respect is a two way street, if you can’t learn my language, why should I learn another language ? Unless and until, I see a benefit in learning another language, I don’t intend to.
April 12th, 2007 at 11: 36
Hi Vijay
I have already been to your blog long back ago before writing this post and perhaps, your blog was one of the motivation behind writing this post.
The test you have written seems to be copied from one of your posts and pasted here.
I will answer few of your meaningful questions.
We get a common medium of conversation and communication by learning Hindi. And also a feeling of nationalist than being regionally biased.
If you think that Timilians don’t move out of TN, you are being trite and don’t know that you ate shadowing future of your mates unintentionally by guiding them in this way.
Whae you say -
jobs are predominantly created in the southern states
I would say that you don’t know about rest of India, what is NCR region, what is there in Gurgaon and Noida and what is going to be there in Chandigarh, Kolkata and Jaipur. You are acting quite naive.
In fact, it is Indians (or should I say typical Tamilian with full respect to the region) like you who are mis-guiding rest of their countrymen (or Tamilians only?). It would be better if you understand the importance of Nation and the countrymen than asking questions from NRI Tamilians about what are they doing to lift up their language & culture by giving examples of Srilankan militant groups…huh.
April 14th, 2007 at 14: 04
When a northerner and a southie needs to know english to compete in India in the main institutes like IIT, IIM, AIIMS - it makes sense to promote English as the common language.
Each state can promote its own main language.
////It would be better if you understand the importance of Nation and the countrymen than asking questions from NRI Tamilians about what are they doing to lift up their language & culture by giving examples of Srilankan militant groups…huh.///
The LTTE is fighting for its rights as SL Tamils.
Referring to the letter written by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s reply to it, Mukherjee said, “So far as India’s role is concerned, we have stated our position very clearly. A solution should be found within the 1)territorial integrity of Sri Lanka
2)and within the framework of its Constitution,
3) by addressing the legitimate aspirations of the ethnic group, especially the Tamils,” he added.
http://ia.rediff.com/news/2006/dec/22sl1.htm?q=tp&file=.htm
The above article taken from rediff summarizes the “non-negotiable” pose taken up by SL and India.
point 3) says that the “legitimate aspirations of the Tamils” should be addressed.
Tamils want a “federal set up with increased power + non-discriminating constitution”. Presently, the constitution accords legally more power/preference to the sinhala buddhists - which is the major grudge.
The sinhalese are NOT willing to CHANGE the constitution which could pacify the Tamils at the same time, they are NOT willing to let go of the “territorial integrity” - basically, they are NOT willing to negotiate on both issues i.e “more power devolution within present SL + lesser discrimination” or “partition”
April 14th, 2007 at 14: 08
///In fact, it is Indians (or should I say typical Tamilian with full respect to the region) like you who are mis-guiding rest of their countrymen///
India is a country of many nations - this is something that has been acknowledged by the congress of pre independence and there can NOT be India that exists by destroying the diversity - it is “unity in diversity” and NOT “unity at the expense of diversity”
///We get a common medium of conversation and communication by learning Hindi. And also a feeling of nationalist than being regionally biased.///
hindi is as much “regional” as any other language.
Something that led to the 1937 and 1965 anti hindi riots.
When riots can happen in 1937 even under the british rule, it should give a pretty good indication of the seriousness of the issue.
April 14th, 2007 at 14: 09
//If you think that Timilians don’t move out of TN, you are being trite and don’t know that you ate shadowing future of your mates unintentionally by guiding them in this way.//
Well, if that be the case the BIMARU regions would be prosperous with hindi.
April 14th, 2007 at 14: 11
(Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister (1967-1969) C. N. Annadurai was a great orator and writer. He sprinkled his speeches and writings with little stories (fables) to drive home his points. Here is a short story he told to drive home the irrationality of arguments for making Hindi the link language of India.)
A man had two dogs - a big one and a small one. He wanted his dogs to go in and out of the house freely without him having to keep the house door open all the time. So he built two “trap doors” - one big trap door for the big dog and one small for the small dog. Neighbors who saw these two doors laughed at him and called him an idiot. Why put a big door and a small door? All that was needed was the big door. Both the big and the small dog could use it!
Indian government’s arguments for making Hindi the official or link language of India are as ridiculous as the need for a big door and a small door for the big dog and the small dog. Indian government agrees that English is needed for communication with the world, and every school in India teaches English after the fifth grade. Then the Indian government says that all of us should know Hindi also in order to communicate amongst ourselves within India. I ask, “Since every school in India teaches English, why can’t it be our link language? Why do Tamils have to study English for communication with the world and Hindi for communications within India? Do we need a big door for the big dog and a small door for the small dog? I say, let the small dog use the big door too!”
http://vetri-vel.blogspot.com/2006/12/anna-durai-and-two-dogs-theory.html
April 24th, 2007 at 10: 34
Friends,
I read some of the comments here, but i fail to understand why there is much fight on this isssue. I am a North Indian, speak & write Hindi fluently, can’t speak or understand any Southern Language, but still i won’t like Hindi to be National Language of India because of the simple fact that Hindi is not our language. Tamil, Malayalam and other souther languages are ours. My north Indian friends should understand that our original langauage was Sanskrit not Hindi. And why i say that some of southern languages are ours because these have striking similarities with Sanskrit. Although we (the younger generation of India) don’t understand Sanskrit, but i think that no one (apart from English worshipers) will oppose Sanskrit as National Language! What you guys say? And one more thing, although English has become a language of success, still i think that we Indians should not glorify or choose it in the fight of Hindu verses Tamil or any other language!
Apart from it, one of my friend here mentioned that Gandhiji was killed by a Hindi fanatics, i think that he is misinformed, because Nathuram Godase was Maharashtrian and was Marathi speaker. Marathi speakers too take pride in their language as much as Tamilians in Tamil.
May 9th, 2007 at 11: 44
Friends,
I am North Indian and hence Hindi speaker.But I think I can’t take it for granted that eveyone I meet must know Hindi.Entire problem is solved if we try to put ourselves in other’s shoes.
Nitesh, I put forth a scenario to you.A child takes birth in a remote village in Kerala or Tamil Nadu. His / her entire life is spend there,surrounded by people speaking local language….teachers, friends, shopkeepers,parents etc…. he / she has really no need to learn Hindi or even English….now tell mw how can you expect such a person to know Hindi.Anyone learns only that language which he/she needs for communication.South Indians living in Delhi know very good Hindi….why…simply because they need it for communicating…as simple as that.
Hence expecting people to speak Hindi irrespective of their background is foolhardy and unjustified as well.
As far as I am concerned I feel very obliged to a non-HIndi person if he/she communicates with me in Hindi. He / she has really has no official/moral obligation to do so.
Guys, just thinking form other’s viewpoint will solve lots of problems being faced by our society.
Manish
May 9th, 2007 at 12: 40
Hi Manish
It seems that you have taken the discussion in wrong sense. We aren’t talking about picking up with a communication medium which is what your given problem about but common medium of communication in one country.
You are right that one learns whatever is provided in his surrounding and that is why this discussion is all about that surrounding. Why not we can have one unanimous common language in such environment?
May 9th, 2007 at 17: 04
Nitesh, you asked for one common language.But then who is going to decide which medium we should have?Just because we Hindi speakers are in majority doesn’t mean that it gives us right to decide it.Isn’t it?It will be nothing short of dictatorship.
Having said that, I don’t believe that South Indians are averse to Hindi. It was only due to Lal Bahadur Shastri and other North Indian politicians’ stubbornness to impose Hindi that South Indians fought against such lingual dictatorship.Just think that even a great person like Lal Bahadur was blinded by this lingual bigotry.But see what Hindi movie songs have done in last 10 years or so.What entire Indian govt machinery failed to do, movie songs have done easily…today Hindi songs are listened in many Southern cities and towns too.
So what does it convey….if language is imposed, target society will definitely and naturally resist and they have every right to do so…but if language is spread by cultural means people will certainly accept it.
With regards
Manish
May 9th, 2007 at 18: 10
Manish you sound like a dictator when you speak against a former prime-minister of India. A PM doesn’t get elected without any reason or support nor does he think against nation’s interest.
Movies are just one dimension or example to prove that imposition never succeed and I agree with that. You are talking bureaucratically over this issue by saying - if language is spread by cultural means people will certainly accept it after your previous comment.
By mentioning North Indian politicians’ stubbornness, you appear to be against North Indians no matter from which region you belong to. You yourself are biased on regional bases and I don’t think there is any reason to proceed with this discussion.
Of course, I am also not in favor of imposition but still, common agreed upon conclusion is a must for such issues and till then there is no harm in accepting a language spoken by majority as national language.
June 2nd, 2007 at 7: 23
Dear Mr. Gautam,
As indicated by the following link, Hindi speakers constitute only 40.2% of the population:
http://www.ciil.org/Main/Languages/map4.htm
It is, therefore, not the first language of the majority of Indians.
Ravi
June 4th, 2007 at 10: 34
Hi Ravi
In the same graph, you can see that majority of Indians speak Hindi language than any other individual language.
I couldn’t understand, what other measure required to accept this language as first language?
June 23rd, 2007 at 11: 16
The problem with India is simple. India is a democracy, and India did not need this in 1947 and still does not. Simply, without this India would have crushed Pakistan on Both sides in 1971. It would have used the Airforce in 1962 to teach the Chinese enemy a lesson they would not ever forget. India would have never allowed the inferior in every way Chinese to support rebels in India. And this debate would not be occuring. Hindi is the national language of India. Regional languages are there but they have no right to be even be considered national. Tamil Nadu could not survive without the union. And neither could any of the states.
June 23rd, 2007 at 11: 22
Tamils are misguided, Tamil has loan words from Sanskrit. Tamil is Dravidian. Hindi is the official heir of Sanskrit. Tamil has nothing in common with Sanskrit grammar or origin. English has even less in common with Tamil.
September 28th, 2007 at 11: 08
I personally feel there is not neccessity to learn Hindi unless a person learns it out of his own will.
Here is my answer for it:
http://www.unitingindia.blogspot.com/
October 6th, 2007 at 12: 11
hi all.. I too accept hindi occupies majority of the places. so according to ur views if majority of peoples speak hindi then it should be accepted as national language.. I ask u one question. english is used more then hindi..so shall we make english as our national language. dont speak about majority.. so according to ur point of view 42% of poeples speak hindi.. where is rest. they are also indians. so hindi should be national language when 100% of peoples able to read,speak,write hindi.. upto that this topic is useless
November 13th, 2007 at 3: 15
Nitesh, I appreciate your wish to have a common language for communication. I wish too that there is one in India. Unfortunately in India you cannot have one. Your choice for that is Hindi. You have every right to proclaim your wish and choice. But the arguments that you put forth for your choice exposes your naivete and immaturity. The framers of our constitution refrained from declaring Hindi as National Language. Please distinguish between National and Official. Till date no one have defined what a National Language is. In the Indian context none can. In Germany, France, Spain, England etc etc, only one language is spoken throughout the country and if any other language is spoken it is only by the immigrants who are negligibly few. Hence those countries can define and declare a National Language. But India is multilinguistic state. Majority of Indians can speak Hindi but do not have it as their Mother Tongue. Moreover there are numerous variations of Hindi. Even if Delhi Hindi is accepted as Standard, your criterion is not strong to have it as a National Language. Many North Indians, Gujarati, Sindhi, Rajasthani, Punjabis etc are settled in Tamil Nadu. They first learnt Tamil and communicate with others in Tamil. They never imposed their language on Tamilians. In Tamil Nadu, Tamil is the regional language and a Tamilian is in no way obliged to speak another language than Tamil. For your comfort you cannot expect another to bend. You need to be broad minded and accept reality and facts. Golden rule is ‘Do unto others what you want others to do unto you’. You are not obliged to speak Tamil in Punjab. So is the converse. Please try to adjust. Do not jump to conclusions. I trust you will agree with me.
November 14th, 2007 at 5: 35
no civilized multilingual country follows such a system whether it be Canada, Mauritius or Switzerland. This is a crude national integration strategy ..taking the language of the “majority” and plonking it on everybody else. This is not based on a sustainable win-win paradigm and will always create some kind of a counter-reaction i.e destabilizatiion or encourage English even more …
Hindi if at all spreads only based on the law of convenience i.e because it is closely related to some Indian languages. It will even create a situation that will bring it to conflict with UN and other intenational principles. National integration based on mutual respect and not one half always trying to destroy the other half. Unity in diversity ! That is what India is about !
November 14th, 2007 at 5: 39
Also such a system creates a peculiar situation where one part would have three (or two without English) languages and the other would have two (or one). Show me one other country which follows such a system ? This is a double advantage for a hindi speaker (because Hindi is his mother tongue and he has natural fluency in it and a double disadvantage for a non-hindi speaker. Only a neutral language should be the official language.
December 3rd, 2007 at 12: 35
Guys please end to this, India don’t have any national language yet. India recognizes 27 languages as official languages that includes all regional language including Hindi and English, in center English and Hindi are the language to communicate between the states, Hindi is the communicative language between center and some north and West Indian states, and English is the communicative language between center and east like Bengal, Assam etc and southern states. English and Hindi have special recognition in the center, other then this noting else to do with Hindi. If you say Hindi is the symbol of unity it’s not near to true, the dominant culture shown by Hindi speaking people don’t prove that. Actually speaking unity in diversity is a person when moves to other states his primary focus is to be among local people and learn local language first, stop being an alien. Please make use of Google and Wikipedia for knowing more on this topic.
Concentrate on development,
You may be a Hindi or Kannada, first learn global language like English, and your views should be concentrated on development of state and country and on rural education as there votes counts.
February 9th, 2008 at 6: 17
We kerala people are shame to speak hindi.We consider it is the language of bihar and UP.wE RESPECT Tamil because malayalam derived from Tamil.Tamil and malayalam are 90% same.We learn English for communication with outsiders
February 9th, 2008 at 23: 24
It is foolishness to impose Hindi on Tamil.Because Tamil is more than 10000 years old language.It is one of the old language in the world along with Hebrew.Tamil is official language of 3 countries.India,sri lanka,singapore.In Malaysia it is a major language.Tamil is mother of all Dravidian languages.People from andhra pradesh,karnataka,kerala can easly undersatant Tamil.Totally 250 million people in south india can speak Tamil.In world wide 300 million people can understand Tamil.India is a diverse nation.Let hindi people speak hindi,maratis speak marati,kannada speak kannada,tamil speak tamil,bengali speak bengla.All india can speak engkish each other.Imposition of language is not Democratic.Be proud to be Indian.Learn your language and English and respect other languages.Be good indian.India Vazhka
March 12th, 2008 at 11: 04
Dont know why Hindi speakers feel proud of a language brought by Muslim invaders. Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Sanskrit and also Tamil etc are all native to India. Urdu and Hindi are not. I dont say dont learn any language, but it is shameful that these foreign languages be imposed in the name of ‘official language’.
It is shameful that the country adopted a Muslim language like Hindi and disposed of pure Indian language like Sanskrit. Now they want to destroy the other languages.
Hindi speakers,your true language is not Hindi. These have dumped on you by the Muslims. Israel kept its heritage by adopting Hebrew. India lost its heritage with Hindi and Urdu brought by the Muslim invaders.
March 27th, 2008 at 0: 22
Hi Nitesh, After reading your piece as well as the responses, I feel that the only true national symbol manifested as a language is Samskritam. Bharatavarsha has been spoken of and praised in literature of Samskritam right from the oldest Rigvedic age! As one of the contributors in the responses rightly mentioned, Bharatavarsha was never a Union until Imperialists like the Moghuls and British looted us. Even though we adopted a Union of States called Bharat (India), our founding constituionalists were sensible to understand our diversity and hence did not make Hindi or Hindustani alone as the National Language. Moreover, the commonly spoken “Hindi” is not real Hindi but Hindustani. The real Hindi which sounds so very much like Samkskritam (example: Hindi used in and taught by Hindi prachar samitis)is not spoken by majority of North Indians. Hindustani which is a bastardised tongue of Urdu and Hindi is what is commonly spoken. So, please stop pushing Hindustani;unless you are referring to the real Hindi which is sanskritised. I fully endorse your feeling that we Bharatiyas need to have a common-official-national language; and let that be our highly cultured Samskritam. Almost all Bharatiya languages have close ties to Samskritam linguistically. If Isreal can revive a dead Hebrew language into a daily spoken and transacted language, Samskritam definitely can be similarly made popular. Mind you, there are still some pockets in Karnataka and some north Indian states where Samskritam is used commonly (ofcourse due to outreach efforts). Most of us Bharatiyas are more willing to learn Samskritam if made popular rather than Hindustani presently masquarading as Hindi. This is because of our age-old link and relationship with Samskritam and not Hindustani.
Finally, if you desire one national language which can assimilate and resonate better with all Bharatiyas, it is Samskritam. I recognise potential resistance to this by certain citizens who associate Samskrtam to Hindu religion etc etc. To such people, I say that Samskritam is beyond religion as it was used by non-hindus in the bygone eras. Well… it should be remembered that Bharatiyas who under force, converted to other religions and adopted other cultures we originally Bharatiyas long before invasions. So, they are very much our brothers and sisters. Hence, they should also give up cultural slavery of our invaders and take steps to learn Samskritam. If all this happens, only then can we have ONE National Language. Thanks for your time to read this.
April 16th, 2008 at 2: 37
hello all and esp.. guatam.
1. Hindi is not the national language but only the official language of India along with English according the constitution.
2a. Do you understand the difference between “most number of votes” and “majority vote”? Hindi is the mother tounge of only 40% of indians. So you cannot force it on the remaining 60%. Though the above mentioned 60% is split between non-hindi languages, the fact is that they are the bigger lot. (ie. tamil, malayalam, tulu, kannada, telugu, kodagu, marathi, gondi, munda, lambda, kuruk, oriya, bangla, manipuri, bodo, assomia, nepali, dogri, kashmiri, shina, punjabi, gujarati, kutchi, sindhi and konkani, urdu and sanskrit).
2b. So Yes, Hindi has the major share but NOT the majority share. For that more than 50% population should speak hindi as their mother tounge. Which is not the case as of today. So Hindi doesnt even have a case by democracy.
3. Now, if you consider the age, ease, richness and beauty of the language, then i will have to say Tamil, bengali, telugu and sanskrit are far far ahead than Hindi in those terms. Infact for that matter even malayalam which is an amazing belend of tamil and sanskrit is great, but is would loose out on the age factor.
4a. There are only two langauges which can truely be national in all senses. Sanskrit and English. ALL other indian languages are limited is some sense or the other, either my region, community or semantics/phonetics.
4b. Both the above have plus and minus. Sanskrit is the “one of the most” oldest languages of human civilization. Its grammar and structre is unparalled. It has the most unambigous syntax and semantics. Hence Paninian grammar is used in artificial intelligence/ real lanaguage processor applications. Sanskrit is a symbol of indias heritage and culture. It is common to all Indians. Even tamils. I say this not only because Tamil has sanskrit influence, but for the fact the the opposite is true too. Many do not know that there is a substratum of saskrit etymology which is dravidian. So just like tamil has taken loan words galore from sanskrit, sanskrit has a lot of root words which are dravidian.
Sanskrit is also advanced in many fields and has great literature wealth. But sanskrit is spoken only by megre numbers and I should say is complex. But it surely can be revived, like Hebrew. Look at it this way, atleast saskrit is live in some sense or the other and spoken by a few still. Hebrew wasnt even there at the end of WWII. It was put together by the jewish linguists by sewing together different semi-spoken versions from the jewish diaspora, based on the theoritical knowledge from their scriptures. If that could be done, then I am sure we can do a lot better with sanskrit. By making sanskrit the national language, we will give it the place it deserves. Please note, i just said national language, like a national symbol of our culture and heritage. just like our national bird, animal, etc. No force to use it officially. It can be one of the official lanaguages along with Hindi and English, to choose from by personal choice.
4c. English on the other hand is easy, already popular in India and around the world. It is advanced and very agile and growing in vocabulary by adopting and adapting. I hardly need to say anymore about English as we all know its place in our lives. But the fact remains that it is a foreign language and not indian at all. It also is the leftover of a colonial era. We can surely make English the national language, but iam sure even those indians who speak english at home like the anglo-indians and the many metrosexual angrez-ki-aulats will have a consience bite doing so.
5. Though Hindi is very popular all over india and is increasingly understood by 70% of indians though not spoken by, I still have to rule it out for national language. But i surely agree that it should continue to be the official language of the Union government along with English as it is today. It will be a link langauge amoung officialdom and amoung the military. Hindi thus surely has a role to play in integration. Nothing more is needed.
MY SOLUTION:
Sanskrit - National Language, as a respect to our culture and heritage.
Hindi and English - Official languages of the Union, link language for Union-State, State-to-State and Military communication.
Regional Laguages, Hindi and English - Offical langauges for their respective states. States may choose as they wish.
Regional language and English - medium of education for primary and higher education.
April 16th, 2008 at 3: 09
FUTURE LANGUAGE\NATURAL EVOLUTION: This discussion may seem important now, but is actually futile. ‘coz languages are never stagnant. They keep evolving, proliferating and growing according to the needs of their carriers, us humans. As humans migrate to other places, mix with other groups , communicate with other civilizations their language keeps changing. The best way to unite Bharat is to let people mix as they want. Give them all freedom to do so. Thus a common language will evolve natuaraly. It will be a really slow process but is a much better and natural solution. Certainly a better option than an artificial solution created by force and law.
With such mixing a common language will emerge all across india in about 200-300 years. There wont be any regional langauges. Only Dialects. The common language will be called Hindi (as in language of Hind / India / Bharat), but will only be so in name. By then the language would have evolved beyond recognition with many many dialects. As i see it, each regional dialect of this future common langauge will have 4 substrati. The botton root layer will be formed by todays regional languages ( erstwhile regional languages if you look at it from the future). The second stratum will be of the dominant regional language of the area (again, erstwhile dominant regional languages if you look at it from the future). The third will be of sanskrit. And the fourth top layer will be of the influence history, neighbourhood factor and trade relations (ie. english, persian, arabic and chinese).
for example, The dialect of this future common language ( called hindi by name) spoken in kerala will have substratums of malayalam (todays regional language); tamil (todays dominant regional language of the area); sanskrit/hindi ( todays dominant language of the nation) and the historical & trade influence of (english, dutch, protugese, arabic, hebrew, latin etc).
Another example would be say assam. where the future tounge would be a mix of the local assomese/bodo, the dominant bengali in the area and hindi/sanskrit with influences from english, chinese, tibetian, etc.
All this depends on past, present and future events of population mix, match and migration.
But one thing is sure. A common tounge will evolve as the world gets more connected and smaller.
April 27th, 2008 at 18: 02
I dont understand why you guys are wasting so much time on a language when attention is required on several other important, critical factors … poverty,unempoyment, world peace, global warming etc. Language is just a means of communication … the english,dutch,french etc traded without knowing any local language.
Business and love doesnt need any language. Japan, China and Russia, most of the european natons dont speak english fully … still they do business globally with broken english.
Every body is biased towards their own family,city,state,country … and so towards their language. You cant get anything by challenging these … India is biggest democratic country in the world, if you can understand what deocracy is then you will not be wasting time on all these things.
April 30th, 2008 at 4: 38
Hi,
I was just going through your blog and was surprised and pained to see the fanatism that exists within the people of our own country.Dear Gautam thanks for all the facts and figures provided by you but we all know according to article 343 and 351 of indian constitution ,hindi is not the national language so stop propagating that. It is commonly referred to as the national language of India and we have no problem with that.
Please note that not all south Indians have anything against hindi. infact many of us love that language.It is only the fanatic Tamils who have a problem with hindi.Infact Tamils seem to be having a problem with all the other indian languages but Tamil.They go to another state for employment and refuse to learn the language of that state.They have the audacity to disrepect the language and culture of other state.They have the arrogance to say that they do not want to be included in the Indian union if they have to learn Hindi.How fanatic can one get ?So why waste time and energy on such people ? Anyways goodluck.
May 22nd, 2008 at 19: 49
Just Responding to the above post to reveal what a fanatic means.
Speech given by Nathuram Godse in his trial for killing Gandhi. Please do read it carefully and it will reveal to one and all who is the real fanatic and the concept of fanaticism.
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Born in a devotional Brahmin family, I instinctively came to revere Hindu religion, Hindu history and Hindu culture. I had, therefore, been intensely proud of Hinduism as a whole. As I grew up I developed a tendency to free thinking unfettered by any superstitious allegiance to any isms, political or religious. Tha