{"id":9492,"date":"2021-07-14T13:35:16","date_gmt":"2021-07-14T13:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/?p=9492"},"modified":"2021-07-14T17:32:15","modified_gmt":"2021-07-14T17:32:15","slug":"hindi-english-and-hindutva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/hindi-english-and-hindutva\/","title":{"rendered":"Hindi, English and Hindutva"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Picture by Nicole Herbert Dean<\/p><\/div>\n

Did you know that it was a Christian missionary<\/strong> \u092a\u094d\u0930\u091a\u093e\u0930\u0915, William Carey, who innovated the Hindi language with technology in India? He created printing<\/strong> \u092e\u0941\u0926\u094d\u0930\u0923 fonts and the Hindi bible, the first prose work in print in India. The contribution<\/strong> \u092f\u094b\u0917\u0926\u093e\u0928 of Christian missionaries like Carey are the most underreported stories in the history of India. In fact, Carey brought the first printing press to India. Unfortunately, the credit<\/strong> \u0936\u094d\u0930\u0947\u092f \u0926\u0947\u0928\u093eof the first printing press goes to Raja Ram Mohan Roy, a friend of Carey and not Carey, in Indian history<\/strong> \u0907\u0924\u093f\u0939\u093e\u0938 books.<\/p>\n

So, it is ironic<\/strong> \u0924\u093e\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u0947 \u0924\u094c\u0930 \u092a\u0930 that today, the Hindutva campaign seeks to stamp out the English language in India, and establish<\/strong> \u0938\u094d\u0925\u093e\u092a\u093f\u0924 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u093e Hindi as the national language.<\/p>\n

India does not have a national language…yet. It has two official<\/strong> \u0905\u0927\u093f\u0915\u0943\u0924 languages, Hindi and English. Also, each state has its own native<\/strong> \u0926\u0947\u0936\u0940 language, such as Tamil which is a Dravidian classical language dating back 4500 years. There is a move<\/a> by some Hindu politicians<\/strong> \u0930\u093e\u091c\u0928\u0947\u0924\u093e\u0913\u0902 to make Hindi the official national language. Why? When even the Hindi that is spoken today is not real pure Hindi<\/strong> \u0936\u0941\u0926\u094d\u0927 \u0939\u093f\u0902\u0926\u0940 but a mixture of Urdu, Punjabi, Marathi and English?<\/p>\n

Let’s get the fact straight<\/h2>\n

When you look at the data only 25% claim Hindi as a mother tongue, while 44% say they speak it. Out of this 25%, I wonder how many speak pure Hindi. Most Indians that speak Hindi at home don’t even know the original Sanskrit originating words in Hindi that are used in academic text books. In fact simple words such as \u092a\u0930\u093f\u0935\u0939\u0928 for transportation<\/strong> and \u091a\u093f\u0915\u093f\u0924\u094d\u0938\u0915 for doctor<\/strong> are obsolete. And, anyone using these terms is at risk for being ridiculed<\/strong> \u0909\u092a\u0939\u093e\u0938 for being old fashioned.<\/p>\n

It is also ironic that these same politicians send their children to Christian run schools where they learn in English.\u00a0 They pay huge bribes<\/strong> \u092e\u0941\u0902\u0939\u092d\u0930\u093e\u0908 to get their children into well paying jobs that require English as a language. People run flourishing businesses<\/strong> \u092b\u0932\u0924\u093e-\u092b\u0942\u0932\u0924\u093e \u0935\u094d\u092f\u0935\u0938\u093e\u092f such as BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) which train employees to speak British or American English. So why the move in a seemingly backward<\/strong> \u092b\u0932\u0924\u093e-\u092b\u0942\u0932\u0924\u093e \u0935\u094d\u092f\u0935\u0938\u093e\u092f direction? When, the preset government is trying to establish India as a major player<\/strong> \u092a\u094d\u0930\u092e\u0941\u0916 \u0916\u093f\u0932\u093e\u0921\u093c\u0940 in the global economy?<\/p>\n

Political motivations<\/h2>\n

The rise of this type of nationalism is not new. But it is taking on a more aggressive form because of the ease of propagating<\/strong> \u092a\u094d\u0930\u091a\u093e\u0930 issues on social media and WhatsApp.\u00a0 In its nationalistic<\/strong> \u0930\u093e\u0937\u094d\u091f\u094d\u0930\u0935\u093e\u0926\u0940 fervor let’s not forget the subtleties of gharwapsi. By reconverting Christian and Muslim converts, who naturally love to learn the dominant languages of their religion, they may be shooting themselves in the foot so to speak.<\/p>\n

The software industry<\/strong> \u0938\u0949\u092b\u094d\u091f\u0935\u0947\u092f\u0930 \u0909\u0926\u094d\u092f\u094b\u0917 is heavily dependent on its employees who come mainly from non-Hindi speaking states. The South Indians prefer to speak English in addition to their native south Indian tongue. Software business employers prefer English speaking candidates.<\/p>\n

There have been attempts in the past to enforce Hindi on south India which have been met with not only resistance but violence<\/strong> \u0939\u093f\u0902\u0938\u093e as well.<\/p>\n

I do think it is important though to learn Hindi as a second language. After all one sixth of the world’s population<\/strong> \u0906\u092c\u093e\u0926\u0940 do speak it. That is not a small number. One only stands to benefit from being bilingual in order to do business in India.<\/p>\n

Not only that, I like to teach the local dialects of Hindi to help my students integrate<\/strong> \u0906\u092c\u093e\u0926\u0940 easily and conduct business efficiently.<\/p>\n

If one is to truly understand India and keep her constitutional values<\/strong> \u0938\u0902\u0935\u0948\u0927\u093e\u0928\u093f\u0915 \u092e\u0942\u0932\u094d\u092f\u00a0one must adopt the secular and embrace cultural\u00a0 and linguistic diversity. In that sense, if India were to indeed be a major participant in the push for progress on the world’s stage then Gharwapsi<\/a> has no place on the subcontinent.<\/p>\n

The fight to retain India as a secular country<\/strong> \u0927\u0930\u094d\u092e\u0928\u093f\u0930\u092a\u0947\u0915\u094d\u0937 \u0926\u0947\u0936 must continue.\u00a0 Indians need to respect all religions, tongues and ideologies in order to flourish. But more importantly, India needs to step into the 21st century and embrace her blessing of linguistic diversity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Did you know that it was a Christian missionary \u092a\u094d\u0930\u091a\u093e\u0930\u0915, William Carey, who innovated the Hindi language with technology in India? He created printing \u092e\u0941\u0926\u094d\u0930\u0923 fonts and the Hindi bible, the first prose work in print in India. The contribution \u092f\u094b\u0917\u0926\u093e\u0928 of Christian missionaries like Carey are the most underreported stories in the history of…<\/p>\n

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