17 Sept 2009

Wither Hindi? Part-II

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This is the second part of a two part series. The first part was published on the occasion of the Hindi Diwas three days ago. Click here to read it before proceeding.

Before, I take up the main theme of this post, I must share an important piece of information that I inadvertently missed in the previous one. Talking of Constitutional or legal categories of Indian languages, beyond the Official and the Scheduled languages, The Government of India declared a new category - Classical Languages - in 2004. Since then, Tamil(2004), Sanskrit(2005), Telugu and Kannada(2008) have joined the elite group.

The eligibility criteria pertains to the antiquity and originality of the language and a rich body of ancient texts, amongst others. However, inclusion of Telugu and Kannada in 2008 started a new political row epicentred in Kerala, upon Malayalam's exclusion. In short, such irrational categorisation has done nothing good for the languages but only given a chance to political parties to rake up the sentiments of the general public, reminding us the Anti-Hindi agitations of the 1960's.

Such problems stem from the fact that despite initial rejection by the Dhar Commission (1948) and JVP Committee (Nehru, Patel and Sitaramayya, 1949); Government of India was forced to follow the linguistic reorganisation of states after the popular agitation and the death of Potti Sriramulu, for carving out Andhra Pradesh out of Tamil Nadu in 1953. Following this development, States Reorganisation Commission was appointed which upheld the language as the basis of reorganisation of states in 1955. Rest is history.

Hence, somehow other socio-economic or political grievances of the states also get mixed up with the language as well as ethnicity issues, creating an unhealthy concoction for the appetite of the Indian federal structure.

Recently, Union Human Resources and Development Minister, Mr. Kapil Sibal started a new debate by calling for compulsory teaching of Hindi in all the Indian schools and hence, create it as the link language between the different linguistic regions of the country.

As such there is nothing new about it as it is in consonance with the provisions under Article 351 of the Indian Constitution discussed in the previous post. You may recall that according to this article, it is the duty of the Union Government to develop Hindi as the medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India, i.e. develop it as a pan-Indian language or a link language in other words.

Moreover, Hindi has been an integral part of the Three language formula evolved by the Union Government in consultations with the states and enunciated in the National Policy Resolution of 1968 and National Policy on Education of 1986, though implemented variedly by the state governments.

According to Mr. Sibal,

Now the lingua franca is English for professionals. When we become producers of knowledge then we can set our language as the lingua franca.

Mr. Sibal is the alumni (infact, belonged to the very first batch) of my school, a prestigious Christian missionary school of this region. He studied in that school when my father used to attend a government school. So, in short, he is generationally one step ahead of my family. It is not difficult to guess what kind of education he must have provided to his children and how proficient they must be in the language that Mr. Sibal desires to make the link language. I might be totally wrong in my assertion about the proficiency of his children but the question I am asking here is, why such hypocrisy?

Secondly, why do we want Hindi to be the link language at the first place? Moreover, will it be fruitful to make such a try?

According to Mr. Sibal,

We should ensure greater emphasis on Hindi. All children are not fluent in Hindi as they are in their mother tongues. Hindi is necessary for students to integrate with the rest of the country. The same students integrate with the rest of world through English.

Well, today I find myself highly integrated with the people around the country. My blog survives thanks to the visitors from places like Madras, Calcutta, Bangalore and Bombay (sorry, Chennai, Kolkatta, Bengaluru and Mumbai, it should read!) and I am sure many of them do not understand Hindi properly. It is English that is binding us. So why should we reserve English for only global integration? Why cannot it be a source of national integration as well?

What is the point in denying our history? British ruled us and gave us English. We cannot deny that it is this English which has made us globally competitive.

English is accused of being elitist. Yes, it is. Who is stopping the Government to make it reach all the sections of Indian society. Mr. Sibal plans to teach Hindi in every school. Is it feasible? Efforts required for making a good Hindi teacher available in a primary school of rural Tamil Nadu or Kerala will be more tedious than making a good English teacher available there. Kindly correct me if I am wrong in this assertion.

Further, talking of the integration with the different regions of the country, the specific region which is having the maximum need for it is the North East. States like Nagaland, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh have stuck to English as their only official language. So why not promote English as the medium for both official and cultural exchanges with such regions?

English education will have the added advantage of making the students more competitive in this era of globalisation. In this respect, idea of English as a pan-Indian language though revolutionary, holds more logic than Hindi.

But is this suggestion really revolutionary? On the ground level, it is English that is being used for communication between a Hindi and a non-Hindi speaking population during cultural exchanges. This is not just limited to the so-called educated elites like us but even to the non-English as well as lesser educated sections who use simple broken English when it comes to crossing the language barrier in a foreign state. Why not promote and improve the standards of English in the Indian schools of all hues and colours rather than aspiring to do the same with Hindi?

Moreover, constitutionally too, English is the official medium of communication between the Union (or Hindi speaking states) and the non-Hindi speaking states under the provisions of the Article 346. English is also the language used in the Supreme Courts, High Courts and for Acts and Bills under the provisions of the Article 348. So why should we emphasise on Hindi as the link language when it comes to the Article 351?

For that matter, coming back to a question raised earlier, that what is the logic behind developing Hindi as the pan-Indian language? As has been elaborated in the previous post, such an idea has failed miserably all these years thanks to the disinterest (rather protest) shown by the various linguistic regions and the importance of English as the global language.

Does Hindi qualify to be the link language because it is spoken by the majority of Indian population (41% according to the 2001 census)? As already elaborated, the actual pure form of Hindi is only spoken in certain areas of the Hindi belt. Infact, the official Hindi used by the Government and taught in the schools, better known as Khari boli (or Khari dialect) is limited to the Western Uttar Pradesh region, originally a rural language, developed only after 18th century.

Within UP itself, there are various dialects of Hindi other than Khariboli which include Brajbhasa, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Bahgeli and Bundeli. Infact, a person like me cannot understand Bhojpuri or other dialects which are part of Hindi as per the 41% figure mentioned above.

When, there is so much variation within just one state, you may figure out the variations in the complete Hindi Belt including regions like Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh and New Delhi. This will also open the eyes of those non-Hindi speaking Indians who see the complete Hindi belt as a single unit bounded by a single language.

Moreover, asserting a majority language (Hindi) upon others is against the basic tenets of democracy. Some may call it as the false pride of the minorities but then that doesn't change the ground reality that there is resentment against it (valid in some cases, politically motivated in others) and hence, problems in its acceptance.

Such resentment is not just limited to the overt manifestations like the Anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu, back in 1950-60's which actually played an important role in bringing DMK to power; but also in the recent times can be seen in the form of Maharashtra Governments decision to extend Marathi as a compulsory subject in all the schools of the state, including the ones affiliated to ICSE and CBSE from 2007-08, basically expressing disapproval to the imposition of Hindi on its natives.

However, as shown above, the official Hindi (khariboli) is infact a minority language like all the other languages and dialects; so the resentment is bound to increase.

However, there is no denying the fact that we do need a pan-Indian language. As already elaborated above, English seems a better option for the same. There is no need for making any official pronouncement for the same as it is infact developing as a link language on its own. Yes, officially the stand on Hindi can be given up and in fact it should be allowed to get 'adulterated' in the different regions.

There is no point in making Mumbai out of Bombay or Kolkatta out of Calcutta as you may try to run away from the British legacy but it will keep haunting you. Its better to accept the truth and in this particular case of languages, the truth comes with the added advantage that
  • it will have higher acceptance by the various linguistic groups, and
  • it will make us globally more competitive.

Lastly, Mr. Kapil Sibal should concentrate on some concrete educational reforms at the basic primary level rather than taking the easier route of superficial reforms in the form of doing away with the Board exams (read Mou's brilliant post with regards to it) or proposing Hindi as the link language just like the Reservation policy (read my take on Reservations) of his predecessor.

The Right to Education though getting the status of a fundamental right under Aricle 21A, back in 2002 by the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act and finally, after intense debate and opposition, its provisions (for free and compulsory education to all the children of the age of 6 to 14 years) being passed by the Parliament and getting the Presidential assent a couple of weeks back on Sep 3, 2009; will face a lot of hurdles when it comes to the implementation stage. The energies of Union HRD Ministry should be concentrated here. Moreover, talking of higher education, even the proposed Bill for the opening of our frontiers for the Foreign Universities, may look promising but has a lot of scope for going wrong. Let us keep all these issues for some other day.

P.S.
This is to clarify my stand on a particular aspect about which I have received a couple of comments - I have no where claimed that English should be our National Language. Infact, I have specifically mentioned - There is no need for making any official pronouncement. There is difference between pan-Indian language and National language; former is by the virtue of its feasibility and convenience while latter is by virtue of its declaration by the Government. India should have no National language.
Italic
This was the concluding part of the series 'Wither Hindi?'. I must thank Pra, Roshmi and others whose comments to my previous post helped me in developing this post further. Leave your honest opinions on the same in the comments section.

Off-the-topic Reflections
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44 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is a brilliant article Vipul sir (incidentally I feel a little bit awkward in saying Vipul sir because my younger brother's name is also Vipul and I am not too fond of calling him as sir, but that is a different point altogether)

you have touched the topic with an excellent amalgamation of facts, assertions, beliefs and quotes from other people. Congrats..

now, talking of the idea itself, I am in complete agreement with you, there is no purpose solved in trying to make Hindi as a national means of transaction. It would be just a wastage of resources.

Anonymous said...

I also agree with the fact that hindi has its own variants in its own famous belt. I am from western UP and can't understand Bhojpuri or any other form...

Pramathesh said...

I feel that Hindi should be popularised by other means and not by forcing. But, since I m double minded. I think, the students will be alright after a couple of years.


I agree with the variations of Hindi,
the Khari Boli, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Baehgeli, and there is also Sanskrit-nisht Hindi & Urdu mixed Hindi, and the Videshaj words (which makes Hinglish a part of Hindi) in Hindi, confusing people. I wonder, what are things that will be covered in the syllabus.

Pramathesh said...

There is an award waiting for you in my blog.

BK Chowla, said...

They say that Hindi dialect changes after every seven Kms.??

Vinay Sharma said...

nice article! ..

@ Chowla: It does :)

Indian Pundit said...

Brilliant.

Absolutely my point.

English should be OUR NATIONAL LANGUAGE.

It must be used for national integration.

This is the very idea proposed by Ambedkar.
EXCEPT ENGLISH.....all other languages must be optional.

States like Nagaland, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh have stuck to English as their only official language.

Few years ago,on our way to Shillong , i was surprised by the proficient english of a young girl selling tea on a road side tea stall. That too in a remote mountainous villiage.

Cheers

Chetan Maheshwari said...

you are right that English should be our national language with its so much use in our day to day lives, and also in the change of city names from calcutta to kolkata,
I feel that language is just a medium to communicate, whatever it may be, whether be the mixture of 2 or 3 or 4 languages, but the main point is communication should be made

English is so much in demand, especially in India, as youth feels it as a status symbol of knowing how to speak English, rather than a medium of communication

Germany and China are trying to learn English, but not trying to make it their National language, and they are doing so to communicate with the world.

And i feel that there is no need to make it national language,

Vishnu said...

a highly controversial topic.. it was a great post.. liked it very much.. most important of all.. it enlightened me a lot..
i personally feel tht our diversity in languages is one of the unique things about india.. languages form our culture tradition n everything.. u said it urselves tht ur hindi has degraded over the past few years.. n this is the case of a guy who was called shastriji.. then jus imagine the situation of hindi in others.. would be totally pathetic.. n u say tht ur hindi vocabulary is bad..tht owes to the responsibilities of the parents.. since it is ur mothertongue.. it is the responsibilities of the parents to improve their child's vocabulary in the mother tongue.. foreign parents take this responsibility.. also they hav contests like spellin bee.. even in india there is a spellin bee contest but its for english.. ever heard of any contest for the language hindi.. being a southindian, i feel brave enough to say tht we are language fanatics.. pple always take it in the wrong sense.. but i feel it is our responsibility to preserve our culture.. what if every1 starts speakin english.. ultimately after some long time,these languages would be mere history.. so i kinda support our mhrd head in this.. u cant expect evry1 to be multi-linguitic.. so atleast every1 shd know atleast their mothertongue or atleast 1 language properly..

n there is a joke tht i would like to share..

when the british were leaving india.. all indians were shouting the following words at the british..
"go back to your home country.. nothin belonging to england shall be here in this independent india"
a british turned around n said..
"something belonging to us will always haunt you.."
n right he was.. its the language "english"..

Anonymous said...

Lot of information I did not know earlier.. great.. but I guess it is not so easy to change the national language to English.. that requires 100% literacy in India, which I dont think will happen in the near future.. so this is all idealistic..

Prashansa said...

Thanks a lot for mentioning my name in your post!I came to know the points you wrote to satisfy my queries.I agree with you that we have always remained divided by this language issue.Thanks to the polititians !! Accepting English is a very easy and practical solution of that and it is going to happen one day or the other for sure.But still I feel that we should find out some other solution to it than English and Hindi is a good option. Sorry I overlooked the fact that Marathi had made a compelsory language in Maharashtra(now you can see it is not a issue of a common man! It is just a political issue!!):-) as debates about it are still going on and it had not been implemented in schools yet!!( Not that easy to implement as well!)

Prashansa said...

Thanks for rasing this issue.Both your posts are very informative and really good.And thought provoking as well.Kapil Sibble is raising so many controversial issues and starting many things which he will not able to finish...But thanks to him many of us are thinking about those issues and that can bring the long needed change

Vipul Grover said...

@Rahul.. Hey, in tht case thrs no need to call me a sir. Vaise bhi, I'll prfr if u jus call me Vipul :)
Its gud to have ppl like u around who despite belonging to Western UP, actually appreciate sch a post where I have sort of written against Hindi hegemony stemming out of Western UP.
Keep reflecting!

@Pramathesh.. Well, as I said in the previous post, Hindi should be loosened up. Its about using simpler terms and vocabulary in the textbooks and allowing the students 2 do the same in exams.
Nd yeah, thnx 4 the award:)

@Chowlaji.. Yes, indeed:)

Vipul Grover said...

@IP, Chetan and Avada.. I have no where claimed that English should be our National Language. Infact, I have specifically mentioned - There is no need for making any official pronouncement.
There is difference between pan-Indian language and National language; former is by the virtue of its feasibility, convenience and the ground realities while latter is by virtue of its declaration by the Government. India have no National language and should have no National language.

@IP.. However, this is just technical jargon.. othrwise, our viewpoints r same indeed:)

@Avada Kedavra.. Idealistic??? U literally broke my heart.. here i was trying to give a practical solution nd u called it idealistic :(
Thrs nuthing idealistic about it.
I have no where mentiond 100% literacy rate target. Um jus countering Kapil Sibal's views and talking about promoting english throughout Indian schools in addition to mother(or regional) language.
Thirdly, i nowhere asserted tht everything will happen in the near future.. sch things cn only happen on long term basis bt need the right policy initiative.

Vipul Grover said...

@Vinay.. thnx buddy.. welcum 2 my blog:)

@Vishnu.. Hey thnx buddy for appreciating it:)
Well, I said my hindi vocab is bad and i assertd tht thrs nuthing wrong in tht. As i said why shud we call khari boli as the Hindi, its jus a dialect of Hindi.. my hindi is influenced by my geographic location..
However, ur suggestion of Spell B kinds of competition for Hindi is a nice one..
Lastly, talking about multilinguality, yes evryone shud know atleast two languages, mother tongue and English.. its the duty of govt. to make tht possible. Think about urslf.. cming from TN, studying in Central India (am I right?) , how cud u hav survivd the transition without support of English. Why shud sch opportunities b denied to anyone.
And yeah, about haunting, thts why i said, jus aCcept it:)

@Pra.. I made it a point to cvr up as many aspects to sort of answer the comments in previous post in addition to the main theme of this post:)
Ofcourse, language is just a tool in hands of politicians bt in sum regions a lot of negative public sentiments can get generatd. Just one bad fish can spoil the whole pond.
Moreover, u mst hav realised, how we overlook certain negative developmnts in our home bt nvr miss out wn sch developmnts happen in our neighbourhood :)
Wn ppl like us cn make sch a mistake, thn jus imagine how the ignorant ones cn be manipulated by the anti-social elements!
Thnx for appreciating bothe posts nd giving ur valuable inputs:)

Vishnu said...

yup.. am studyin in central india only.. english was ma main language of communication..the point is there arent many pple who are ready to learn a new language..

i feel we shd make the sign language or the braille as the national language..

n thanks for remindin me my first years at coll.. where i used to blabber in hindi..

Pramathesh said...

@ Vipul
No National language theory is a good idea.
@IP
Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh etc. did not have an old literary backgound and each tribe has a different language quite different from the other. But, one thing common among them is the Roman Script used by them, So, English was adopted as the state language.

Anonymous said...

:) agree with you vipul.. sorry for misunderstanding what you meant here

Sugandha Gupta said...

hmmm .... first part was better !!!

Aditya Kasavaraju said...

ah ! The age old debate and people use this to fuel some mindless arguments without understanding the ramifications of it.

I have read both the parts, you come across the most rational person. My heart appreciation to you :).

I have seen innumerous debates on " my languge is better" -best place is India community in orkut. People literally chew their heads off there to prove their language is better than others.

For me a language is means of communication-just like java/C++ is the communication between you and your system (just an example). Love for our language is understandable but forcing to learn other's language is foolishness and fighting over them is absurdness.

keep writing Vipul :)

BrownPhantom said...

Brilliant analysis. Some might find your points uncomfortable, but I see that you have tried to be as neutral as possible. The arguments are persuasive regarding the state of Hindi.
Well done :)

Bharathi said...

Sorry for commenting so late. I did have some time inbetween the day but wasnt sufficient enough to think on high topic like this.

Generally people in India link emotions with language, forgetting the fact that language is only a tool to communicate. DMK used this emotion very well to come to power. But I believe people now changed a lot in Tamilnadu as PMK failed trying similar strategy recently.

The only reason I think of saving languages is for the rich litterature. For example in tamil, we have Thirukural which is a class act. I am sure many languages have class acts as such. It carries history aswell.

I agree, English is almost a global language though I strugled a lot in many of European countries other than Denmark.

Somewhere I read, children at the age of 6-14, they have ability to learn 7 languages.

I would suggest English, Hindi and local language to be ttaught at the same time.

Vipul Grover said...

@Vishnu.. well talking of ground realities, sign language is indeed the most common form of communication wn nuthing else wrks :)
On a serious note, talking of lack of interest shwn by ppl, well many also show lack of interest in sending their children to the schools, tht doesn't mean govt. will not encourage thm to.

@Pramathesh.. Thnx man:)

@Avada.. Vindicated :p

@Suga.. sch a short nd 'sweet' rply aftr so mch contemplation.. lol

Vipul Grover said...

@Aditya.. Hey, welcum to my blog, frst of all. Thnx 4 all d kind wrds:)
Really liked ur Java/C++ analogy.. Its true, language is just a means to communicate.
Though it is also the storehouse of the complete cultural history of a civilization, thrs no point of comparing cultures on its basis!
Keep reflecting :)

@BP.. Neutrality is the best policy while dealing sch issues!
Thnx for appreciating:)

@Bharathi.. So there u r finally:)
As i just rplied to Aditya tht language is indeed the storehouse of the complete cultural history of a civilization.. so ofcourse it needs to b cnsrvd frm tht point of view (thr r already diffrnt branches of education doing tht).. bt, one thrs no need of cnsrving it for day to day communication and two no point comparing cultures on its basis. U agree, i know:

Anonymous said...

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there is something waiting for you :)
Hope you like it:)

Prashansa said...

Yes you are right boss! Tnx!!
You have an award waiting for you on my blog! Please collect it!

Dhiman said...

After reading your informative post I just would say when we talk of a pan-India language we talk of all of India and not just the cities mind you. People in Tamilnadu except the city breds can't speak English. Here Tamilnadu is an example. English is a global language but language is a identity too. People of Germany speak German, People of Spain speak Spanish, People of Bangladesh speak Bangla. People of America & Australia speak English becuase they are originally English settlers.
I can tell you some of foriegn clients(Business development) people speak to me in Hindi as a gesture we do to a Japanese by in speaking Japanese. I feel Hindi has been given a national identity for whatever reasons maybe. And states making their home languages compulsory is a political more than anything to do with practicality. English is a 'foreign' language and it doesn't give us an edge when U speak to a Dutch or German or Russian. I know this because I had to deal with pan-European customers.
Its right we should not force any language on any body but like we have a National Bird, a Flag, a National animal we can have a National Language which will give a collective Identity to the country. As far teaching in schools is concerned a 3 language approach is best for us. I am surviving because my school taught me Hindi, English and Bengali. Isn't That fair enough?

Bharathi said...

how do you think you can conserve when it is not in use?

Vipul Grover said...

@Dhiman.. Buddy, the basic premises of this post is refuting Kapil Sibal's irrational stand on making 'fluent' Hindi available in evry school. Um just saying, if tht's possible thn making English available will be easier and more fruitful.
Moreover, talking of rural areas, I am getting sch questions again nd again. First tell me, why do you think english is not present there. Its because govt. has not taken initiatives. I am saying make english reach those places and I've no where asserted tht English is already present there. Why do the city breds want to keep english to just ourselves. In Marxian terms, I might accuse u of being status-quoist.
Talking of National symbols, I mst say, there is no comparison b/w othr ones and language. I've already elaborated how, Hindi (khari boli) is just a minority language. Now the grievances of other groups may be political or genuine, the truth is there is resistance. So, thrs no point in carrying fwd sch agenda.
If nationalism just flows through the language, then it is not true nationalism.
If French pride or German pride is true, thn we'll have to consider tht Tamil pride or Marathi pride is also true. (I am talking in terms of language).
[If you are in France, even if a prsn knows English, he'll trouble you by pretnding tht he doesn't know. It happened with my Dad wn he was staying thr. Similar things happens in Chennai too. So, I see both of thm in same light. If one is true, other is true; if one is false, thn othr too)
I know English is still not the cure to all ills wn it cums to global communication, bt atleast it is the best bet for us.
Lastly, comparing European countries with India is not apt according to me. India is a complete Europe in itself, having higher diversity than in cmplete European continent.

@Bharathi.. I'll use a very strong language to put fwd my point, "Just to hold onto your past, the future can not be held to ransom."
I know empathy is lacking here but I really don't want to reframe the sentence just for the sake of showing some empathy.
Languages can be conserved at the univeristy research level. Moreover, all texts should be translated to simpler languages for further reference, without adding any personal values to them, i.e. translated word to word. Bt thn ofcourse, this is a vry difficlt (nd inpractical) task, I agree. Bt not more dificlt thn making 'fluent' hindi available in all the schools of India.

@Both Dhiman and Bharathi.. I am sure, if any non-Indian reads this discussion, he'll be amazed to see, how a prsn frm Hindi-belt is asking for Hindi to wither and how the non-Hindi belt guys are refuting his stand.
It happens only in India :)

Bharathi said...

After a short thought, I think I woudnt disagree.

Vipul Grover said...

Vindicated once again.. (Now was tht bcoz u saw sum weight in my argument or u tuk pity on me cnsidring d fact I also have to stdy, so mst not put in too mch time thinking about a rply :p)
Watevr it may b, its alwez nice to think beyond wat we wrote thnx 2 sch cmmnts :)

Lakshmi Rajan said...

Good points made! Infact stressing
Stressing Hindi would be a dangerous consequence for the democracy of India especially when language is a sensitive issue down south. Hope better sense prevails. I have interesting point to be added from my own end , At home even after my two years of marriage i speak in english guess why ? She does not know my tamil nor i know her Hindi well ! I think it speaks on micro level on this subject ;)

Bharathi said...

Some how I am convinced that we can compromise on anything to improve the communication which is more important.

Secondly it would help us to stop fighting based on languages.

Vipul Grover said...

@LR.. Its indeed a micro level manifestation of this discussion:)
Thnx 4 appreciating the post.. keep reflecting!

@Bharathi.. Rightly said buddy. Um happy tht we cud agree upon this subject :)

Anonymous said...

Hey I have an award for you at my site :)

Bharathi said...

me too :-)

Note: If can say honestly, I would suggest you to make the images sharp in your header. Now it looks little unprofessional for me. Sorry if i am little negetive.

S said...

I understand the point on English being emphasized as the national language for our country, but somehow the very silly Indian inside me urges me to still believe in Hindi as our National language and to be given a wider and deeper importance !

Hate giving examples, but China is one country which is setting standards at every sphere and in every possible way, but they won't succumb to the wide-spread English bug.

It's not about the language, it's about cultivating the minds to speak for themselves in whatever language they want !

I'm sure I had left a point, would be looking forward to see you on my blog.

I really liked your 'reflections', might follow you after reading 2-3 more articles ! :)

Sourav...in love with me and life

P.S. @ INDIAN PUNDIT : The 'tea-selling' girl you had talked about knew English, so? Isn't she still selling tea??

Vipul Grover said...

@Bharathi.. :)
Hey about the images, man tried it by diffrnt means but on resizing thm they always gt a bit fuzzy :(

@Sourav.. Hi, welcome to my blog.. well buddy is it the silly indian or the silly north indian in u tht urges u to blive tht Hindi is the national language.. think about it:)

China and India cannot be compared as they were not ruled by British and hence English was not engrained into thm thru a century of english education.

Moreover, do you know China has officially created a new Chinese script in English alphabets. So they have succumbed to the bug while we haven't as english became a part of us gradually while in China they hav deliberately adopted it.

Lastly, cultivating the minds is useless if they cannot communicate with their fellow countrymen or the world citizens. Hence global and pan-national languages are must.

Will visit ur blog.. keep reflecting!

Shilpa Garg said...

WoW! This post has been selected as Blogadda's Spicy Saturday Pick!

Congratulations!! :)

Vipul Grover said...

Thnx Shilpaji :p

Roshmi Sinha said...

Well written. I will comment on this in a day or two...

For the moment, it is... Shubho Bijoya!

Vipul Grover said...

Thnx Roshmi.. Happy festive season to you too :)
Will luk fwd 2 ur comment!

Roshmi Sinha said...

Well, I think I have touched upon most of the points here... in my comments for the Part 1 of this article.

Yes, each language is unique and differs from region to region within a single state... and hindi is no different.

e.g., the bengali spoken in various parts of West Bengal is different. I as a bengali will not be able to understand the bengali spoken in some parts of West Bengal itself... and I do not understand the 'bengali' spoken in Bangladesh... at all.

Also... bengali has evolved from sanskrit... it has some similarities with the Oriya and assamese language... to an extent with Nepali as well.

Vipul Grover said...

Yeah, u r right; its the same case for every language. Dialects keep changing, say, every few kilometers!
thnx 4 sharing inputs regarding Bengali :)