One of my Ex-colleagues forwarded me this blog link which dedicates itself against the Hindification of India. The link is http://yennarascalas.wordpress.com/2008/03/10/stop-the-hindification-of-india/#comment-35 and below is my response to the same. Please leave your comments on this too.
This blog looks quite pointless to me when it comes to suggesting and directing people what to do when you are in hindi or non-hindi speaking state. It says quite easily to learn the local language - If my friend, learning a language was that easy then atleast 50% of the world population would have learnt atleast 50% of the languages that exist or that they come accross.
I agree with you that hindification of India hurts the sentiments of non-hindi speaking states, because its like forcing them to learn something out of their culture. Hindification is killing or going to kill other languages - Dear, where do you get this from? If knowing more than 1 language kills your brain to process the other language that you know then how come you in favour of learning English but against learning Hindi?
What is Language for? Is it not about communication and ease or convenience of it. If you go to China, quite suddenly at a notice of a week probably - would you be prepared to talk to them? Are you sure you will not face problems because you know the global language "English". If you know the stats - which I am assuming you do, then Chinese is the largest spoken language amongst the full world population - not English, And people in China are very poor English speakers.
The point is when you meet a person and want to communicate with him/her, you use language - if not spoken then sign. You are opposing Hindi as if its not a language but a virus, which will spread to your barricated areas of brain if you use it to communicate. Will it infect you with Hiduism if you use it or is it something else that you are scared of?
You gave an example of Punjabis and marathis using hindi which is leading to the downfall of their language - where did you hear this now? Do you know that Hindi (or Sanskrit) is the base of many languages and the reason Punjabis and Marathis and Gujaratis are conversant in Hindi is because of this very reason. Do you also know that in the world of hindi speaking people and that you mentioned "Bollywood" there are more Punjabi or Marathi words and slangs which are intricate part of spoken Hindi than of any other language? Why so? Why is Tamil not making it into Hindi?
People learn multiple languages and encourage their children to do so, in order for them to interact with more and more and more people but it hurts my soul when I read comments which so proudly advocate the use of only Tamil in Tamil Nadu. I have observed this behaviour in many Tamilians - not to respond or to shove off if asked a question in Hindi even when they very well understood the question and even when they can respond in Hindi, they will prefer to walk on or pose to not have heard. The problem here is the mental block created by politicians in that state against that very language and the people who speak it.
Your blog dear is not in any way promoting - what you call it - "Unity in Diversity" - but instead it is showing your this sense of hatred created for Hindi."If an Indian speaks to you in Hindi and you understand, reply in English." - This statement in your blog is proof enough of your hatred towards Hindi. Doesn't it direct people to neglect this language explicitly even if you know and understand it and can reply back in it? Doesn't it depict hatred against hindi speaking people - to teach them a lesson when they try to speak to you in Hindi? Why? Why to hate one language more than the other? Why love and respect english but not a language part of your own nation? Is it because Hindi was chosen to be the national language against the will of SOuth Indian politicians who then started advocating the usage of only their local dialect and boycott "Hindi"?
Languages were created within small communities at their own discretion - of what they all commonly accepted and understood, later these communities grew and expanded and the language expanded with them. The problems started arising when people started migrating and they realised that not every one uses the same convention. At that point people realised that may be learning the other dialect or using signs are the best options at hand. Indian government realised this same kind of need and proposed Hindi to be that one common language which can bind all communities and states. They evaluated their options - the statistics said (Please refer to link for stats "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:South_Asian_Language_Families.jpg") - Indo-Aryan Languages occupied over 60% of Indian subconitinent and less than 40 were covered by Dravidian languages - which included Tamil, telugu, kanada, and malyalam. The decision was simple - the base for Indo-Aryan languages was Hindi and hence it was to be choosen the one language which will help communicate people when they travel or diversify. Now is this simple stat so difficult for you to practicalise? Is it so wrong of government to choose Hindi as the national language? And my freind please do refer to your history book if you debate on whether or not Hindi is the national language of our country!
If not Hindi, then which Indian language do you propose should be nationalized? Tamil - spoken in one state, Telugu - spoken in one state, Kanada -spoken in one state, or malyalam - one state and one uinon territory?? Nationalization does not mean supersiding or dividing other languages it simply means creating standards.
Why are we Indians so against following standards laid by someone other than either our own local community leaders or white foreigners? We can follow standards laid by foreigners because they are white and hence always right! But we are totally against them when our Tamil/Telugu/Kanada leaders tell us that they are wrong standards because they were laid down by some stupid north-indian who wants to rule us by making my people learn his language - so he can directly convince them. Now the last part ofcourse is the hidden truth not outspoken reality by the politician.
Anyways...The point here is - I don't see a problem with Hindification (as you call it) of India. Learning another language or more languages never hurts anybody - it just enables you more and makes you more capable of learning other things - whether people, culture or anything else. Learning more languages also does not make you respect your own mother tongue less or makes you forget it. Its just an individual's choice which language he starts enjoying more or is more fluent with - nobody not even your parents can force it on you. Eventually you keep taht with yourself what you wanna keep. If you learned hindi in school days - because government forced it on you, it did not make you forget Tamil and if you would have chosen to keep that skill set with you just like you so dearly keep English or French as souvenirs and mention them in your resume, you would not have written this blog!
Now the thing about ridiculing people when they don't know Hindi - that's something I don't appreciate by north indians if they do it and when they do it - but think of it this way - its those illiterate or unaware humans who ridicule others - who themselves have no idea that Hindi is not the only language in India. Now, this may be also the side effect of Hindi being the national language that people around the world expect that all Indians know this language atleast and that's why the literate individuals who don't know Hindi are ridiculed - "You are literate, you went to school and still you don't know Hindi, I thought Indian Government set it as a national standard?" - might be one of the ridiculing argument but I think people can handle it. Those who did not learn it at school because of a mental block created by society around them will find it difficult to handle such a remark but other than those everyone else will pretty much have a reason of not knowing Hindi!That might be one of the side effect of nationalizing Hindi but other that I don't see it as a catastrophe.
Are you building bridges or walls - Please rethink and re-evaluate your post. May be you just reflect the ideas of some other influential politician around you!
18 comments:
nice to see you here mam- gurpreet !
Nidhi Ji, all your questions have been answered comprehensively:
http://vetri-vel.blogspot.com/
To put it simply, you guys speak Hindi, we will speak Tamil or any other regional language, and if we want to speak to each other let's speak in English. This unless and otherwise we know Hindi, I know for sure that you guys are NOT going to make the slightest effort to learn another language or culture, so forget that proposition. :-) :-)
use the same language which you have used to write your blog if you cant sleak the regional language.....
No one is stopping people from learning other languages. Dont impose anything on others. For what the hell , TN NH milestones are named "only" in hindi? what is the problem of Hindi heartland, if we try to make tamil as the one of the languages of Madras high court? Anti hindi agitation starts back to 1937. I have the confidence that even our generation will oppose hindi tooth and nail if it is imposed on us.
Quite true Santha kumar...there should not be a opposition if TN wants to make Tamil as its high court language...I am with you on that. Just a translator for other languages if required can be appointed when needed. But I am talking here about what's wrong in Hindification of India - meaning Hindi also being one of the languages learnt and taught in schools...and adopting it as one more language just like we so easily and naturally adopt English or french!
Sudarshan...I am always a proponent of learning more and more languages...no harm in that, it adds to your capabilties. And in order to unite a country apart from now that we have english...what other national language out of the 16 did we have as option for the government to choose from which is spoken more than Hindi in India???
Nidhi, look at some of the other posts here. We have to speak Hindi in our high courts in TN, milestones marked in Hindi in NHs..........why the heck do we have to learn Hindi in TN?
Good or bad, when we already have a language called English to unite us, why do you have to randomly pick Hindi and impose it on others?
Nidhi please read this:
(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!"
The point is simple, if you know English and I know English, why do one of us have to learn another language to communicate?
Nidhi ji, your blog is a catalog of fallacies. Let me debunk them one by one.
You said learning Hindi will not affect our ability to learn other languages. I agree. BUT, if the whole of Andhra Pradesh learns Hindi, there's no longer any incentive to learn Telugu while in Andhra Pradesh. Everyone will start communicating in Hindi to everyone else. Due to the lack of incentive in learning Telugu, fewer people will learn it, there will be less literature being written in Telugu, and in a few generations time, Telugu will become extinct. The same applies for every language.
>>You gave an example of Punjabis and marathis using hindi which is leading to the downfall of their language - where did you hear this now?
I heard this from Punjabis and Marathis themselves ;)
>>Why is Tamil not making it into Hindi?
Why should it?
>>The problem here is the mental block created by politicians in that state against that very language and the people who speak it.
Tamilians pay very little attention to politicians. E.g. although most politicians in TN are atheist, Tamils are one of the most pious people. Similarly, our stand of opposing Hindi imposition is not because of politicians. I've lived outside India most of my life and had very little contact with TN politicians, but I still oppose Hindi imposition.
>>If not Hindi, then which Indian language do you propose should be nationalized?
None. Why should any language be nationalized?
>>I don't see a problem with Hindification (as you call it) of India.
You may not see a problem. You don't have to. As long as the majority of my readers see the problem, that suits me fine.
>>If you learned hindi in school days - because government forced it on you, it did not make you forget Tamil and if you would have chosen to keep that skill set with you just like you so dearly keep English or French as souvenirs and mention them in your resume, you would not have written this blog!
Omg, I feel like rolling over in laughter when I read this. You simply assume I've not learnt Hindi in school. I've indeed learnt Hindi, and I mention it in my resume, along with five other languages. Learning a language is one thing, accepting its domination is another. I've done the former, but I'll never do the latter.
>>That might be one of the side effect of nationalizing Hindi but other that I don't see it as a catastrophe
I've given four reasons why Hindification is a problem. You haven't convincingly rebutted any of them.
>>May be you just reflect the ideas of some other influential politician around you!
There are no Indian politicians around me. I've lived most of my life outside India.
In short, you've not understood what I've written, but you've decided to disagree with me. The points in your blog range from naive to laughable.
What do you think about Englishfication won't Tamil become extinct. Tamil has given birth to Telugu, Kanada, Malayalam and few due to different language mix and its now nearly less than 50% of the strength of its Childs. So why can't you Tamil people stop English too to save your dying Tamil else soon there could be a language Tanglish and you could rarely find it like Sanskrit in some temples.
General public in Tamilnadu is interested in learning Hindi and they are avoiding Tamil due to one optional language policy in Tamilnadu believe English is Compulsory. Hence the so called Tamil leaders want Tamil to make as a compulsory language. So don't you think now a language is forced on people? Why do you want to force Tamil on people who aren’t interested?
I believe Tamilnadu and Maharastra have worst politicians in the country they always think as if they are not part of India. Don’t you know your CM Karunanithi (who says no to Hindi only for the people in Tamilnadu) has once said his Grandson knows Hindi so he can become MP, your Ramadoss's (who says no to English & Hindi only for the people in Tamilnadu) Grand children are studying English & Hindi. Politicians are there to make benefit out of creating unnecessary issues. If I am not wrong Tamilnadu has even removed good leaders like Kamaraj , Bakthavachalam etc… by falling in the trap of these dirty leaders.
Nobody wants to give up their Mother-tongue but why do you want the poor people in Tamilnadu to study only Tamil and English let them learn few more language.
>>Tamil has given birth to Telugu, Kanada, Malayalam and few due to different language mix and its now nearly less than 50% of the strength of its Childs.
I think I know who you are, but anyway, I don't understand what you mean by less than 50% of its childs!! Looks like someone needs an English lesson here.
>>General public in Tamilnadu is interested in learning Hindi and they are avoiding Tamil due to one optional language policy Hence the so called Tamil leaders want Tamil to make as a compulsory language. So don't you think now Tamil this is forced on people.
Hee hee, what a clown!! General public in TN wants to learn Hindi and avoid TN, this has to be a frickin' joke. So you are saying that children in Coimbatore district want to communicate with people in Trichy district in Hindi?
>>I believe Tamilnadu and Maharastra have worst politicians in the country they always think as if they are not part of India.
Since when did knowing Hindi become a requirement to be an Indian? And this leaves out 850 Million people in India, so you claim that UP, Bihar, MP, Rajasthan alone are India!!
>>If I am not wrong Tamilnadu has even removed good leaders like Kamaraj , Bakthavachalam etc… by falling in the trap of these dirty leaders.
It is an Indian phenomenon, stop being a joker.........!!
>>Nobody wants to give up their Mother-tongue but why do you want the poor people in Tamilnadu to study only Tamil and English let them learn few more language.
If they want to learn a few more languages, they will gladly, I don't want some nutbag like you giving a series of contradictory statements.
You claim that no one wants to give up their Mother Tongue, but at the same time want people in Trichy and Thanjavur to speak in Hindi, what an idiot!!
I speak 10 languages and I doubt if you could actually speak 1, go get a life before you get into 'policy' framing!!
>>Nobody wants to give up their Mother-tongue but why do you want the poor people in Tamilnadu to study only Tamil and English let them learn few more language.
You perfectly fit the description of what even a true educated, knowledgeable South Indian would call a bloody Bimaru!! This applies only to you and not a generic label.
What is an national symbol?
While countering the arguments that Hindi is spoken by most number of people, He replied if that is the case, Rat should be the national animal and crow should be national bird. He cleared his stand by saying, National symbols define the culture of the country.
We are not objecting that hindi should not be made the national language of the country. We accept that it represents the culture of a section of India, but not the whole. If hindi is made as the national language, every other major language should be made the national language of India.
I just want to ask one thing. Why do people fight over which language to speak in ? After all languages are just a mean of communication. As long as the ideas are conveyed effectively it doesnt matter whether you speak Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi. Punjabi, French, German or Chinese or whichever is your mother tongue. And have you ever thought that there are other languages too to communicate like Sign Language why not use one of them to communicate (although each language has its own restrictions which prevents a single language from becoming a common medium of communication)? By the way I love all languages. Why not try to speak whatever language the other person is comfortable in :). It isnt necessary to communicate entirely in one language. Most of the people today use a medley of langauges with words from other languages. Take for example: Hinglish :D. My language for instance is peppered with words from Telugu and Japanese (me being an avid fan of Telugu movies and Japanes anime). Language is simple an end to the means of conveying ur feelings and thoughts. Lets not argue over it
Language is not just a means of communication, it is the glass which you use to look at the world. I am a Linguist and I teach Sociolinguistics, and this imposition and incursion is not a good cultural sign, it will only lead to hostility.
If you are so whatever, then you'd understand that we are only asking Hindi people to speak in Hindi and not expect us to speak in it quoting an array of stupid reasons!!
You said hindi is base language of many like marathi and punjabi.
Buddy, atleast study a little before wtiting a blog. Hindi is hardly 500 year old language and Marathi is 2000 year and older than that. So I dont understand how hindi became a base language.
And yes I am maharashtrian and I am just fed of with Hindification of India and Hindification of my state.
Please stop saying "Hindi" is national language of India.
India has no national language by statistic as well as by indian law.
have doubt go study law else refer this official link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_language
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