Common Language for India
One of the blogs infuriated me so much recently that I was not able to contain myself and here I am writing about that blog. That blog was all about “How Hindi cannot be a common language”? Woahhhhhhhhhh, I was like exasperated at my highest level after reading the reasoning given in that blog. It was like some child giving glib excuses when he is not able to do something what he should have. Can be one of the most hideous and horrendous excuses. No marks for guessing that blog writer belong to which part of India….So no surprises there but yes but that TAM chauvinistic and jingoistic tone did surprise me…
So he says English should be common mode of language without realizing that less than 1% of India must be speaking English…That was really funny….People should use at least little bit of research before putting forward such claims….Blv me I am not against South India, I have spent cool 6 years of life there and there are just too many good things about Blore and Chennai….Blore is rocking and ppl out there are very well spoken and very helpful. Sometimes very honest as well… Chennai hasn’t lost its Indian culture and values which is really commendable…
But Still I just cant understand why so much dislike towards Hindi…Each and every country in the world has one language in which their ppl can talk to each other…But here I was standing in Chennai trying to communicate with Auto Rickshaw walla but to no use…Two country men can not talk to each other….Disgusting….Isnt it? I know there is one more event which I will like to recollect :
3 Indians not knowing Tamil trying to negotiate with an auto Rickshaw waala. Those 3 guys trying to work things out constantly trying to talk in either Hindi and English…Auto wala replying back only in Tamil…One of those guys got livid and said “Yaar hindi bhi nahi bol sakte kya”
Auto wala reply in Hindi(shocked) : “No Hindi, No English, ye Tamil Nadu hain yaha keval Tamil chalta hain…”
Man I got the shock of my life….Is Tamil Nadu part of India? I started having my own doubts…
Another Incident
Karunanidhi asking all the pandits in Tamil Nadu to say all those shloks in Tamil and not in Sanskrit. Can we please maintain the sanctity of the Temples?
If I recall my first days in Blore college, the first thing I recall is that I was stamped with this tag called North Indian….Blv me before this I had never heard of this North Indian and South Indian thing….I had 3 students from lower part of the country in school class and we never called them South Indians…I never knew there was term something like this….But yes that’s how ppl from upper part of the country are known in our college…They are beaten, robbed and mentally tortured by the stronger group locals…WHY? Because according to them, these north Indians do all the masti in the college, they ghumaofy all the girls, and then finally during the exams as well do well….
It was like we were doing all this in some other country…..It still pisses me off recollecting those events….
Well I am not saying all the locals exhibited this shallowness but it was on display by lots of them…There were lot of guys who were on the contrary side as well…Really good for us….
Now if I come back to that one common language thing, what do u think is the most suited common language for our diverse country…
Tamil – I guess not more than 5% of Indian population understands this language.
English – Not more than 1%
Kannada – Not more than 3%
Telgu – Not more than 4%
And so many other languages- percentage not more than 5%
Or HINDI – should be somewhere close to 60%
All of the above are my educated guesses and so please do take them as stats…
But don’t u think Hindi qualify as the most suited common language if we have to make rest of the ppl to learn some language…I guess its up to all of u to decide….
here are so many things more I want to write here but I just don’t have enough time to write…May be I’ll write about those some other time…
Please pardon me if in any way I have infuriated anybody...I dint mean to....Totally my point of view...Not even a single person my agree with this...
posted by Amit at 9:25 AM
13 Comments:
:)
Well let me write down my bias first :d
I am a Tamilian. But my entire education was in Mumbai. And so I am supposed to know Marathi Hindi English Tamil :d But I am better in English and the ability in Tamil and Hindi is almost similar. Marathi due to nonusage perhaps less.
And well I dont know how its now, but when i studied, the kids at school called Tamilians "ondu pondu" or something like that and was made fun of along the lines. (Now I think stupid people will be everywhere, that doesnt make the region stupid :) )
While younger sister was capable and scored high marks in Hindi Marathi, well I just scrapped along and even now since the script is similar, at times, use Hindi even while speaking Marathi
and I recently wrote a post on Hindi as a national language
http://wisedonkeyarchive.blogspot.com/2005/04/pa-paa-pi-piii-legal-literacy.html
And though many might not get the message, National antinational
http://wisedonkey.blogspot.com/2005/03/aargh-national-antinational.html
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Many wonder why its so different in Tamilnadu
Personal opinion, perhaps 2 regional parties perhaps who dont feel the need to toe the line of national parties and switch between them at ease :d
and of course opportunistic politics.
Just for Info : Indonesia decided its national language based not on what majority speaksbut whats easiest to learn. That was in the 1940s when i think only 1 /10th spoke now its successful and more than three fourth of the popln speak. But I cant imagine something like that being done now.
My suggestion would be, to reduce the Hindi syllabus, teach it from 5th to 8th. If possible make passing in it not compulsory for going to next class (yeah i can hear the howls:D)
What is required for communication, is different from what is being taught at the moment.
Those who want to learn more can have a different syllabus, (at school we used to have that, learn marathi at higher level or lower level (i choose higher level:D) but make it Mandatory for all to learn the basics.
And finally, questioning the need to learn Hindi is not unpatriotic, just another thought. A law abiding Tamilian who questions how much Hindi a person ought to learn is better than a Hindi speaking Lalo, so please lets get our priorities, right, assuming of course that I am right:D
I am not for English replacing Hindi, because, its tougher to learn and understand. It can continue the way it is used at the moment. But I am neither against people learning English. Learning another language is always useful, and it wouldnt hurt those from Hindi speaking states to learn the language of the neighbouring state either. No I didnt mean Tamil, I mean, either Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarathi as the case maybe. Again this too at basic level. :D
Well there is nothing wrong in a priest telling the slokas in Tamil. Generally its an option, not a mandatory as far as I know. If a devotee pays, for the pooja, and if the devotee wants to appreciate the slokas and if its possible in Tamil why not? Isnt it a bit too much to expect the devotee to know sanskrit too?
The auto driver probably knew Hindi and English (at the communication level) and was probably trying to cheat and take advantage of. A sad aspect of Chennai, which again goes on due to opportunisitc politics.
And do give the link of the blogger who says English should be national language:D
PS : Generally those who write on how everyone must know Hindi (I can mention couple of bloggers from South too) get shrill and try to potray those who say anything against Hindi Syllabus as unpatriotic and antinational. Must say its a pleasant suprise to read your blog:) And though you might not agree with my comments, I will like to repeat your lines
"Please pardon me if in any way I have infuriated anybody...I dint mean to....Totally my point of view...Not even a single person my agree with this.. "
God Gaya, that was a Huuuuuuge comment :))
Personally I think the whole thing about languages is a hue and cry about nothing. There are lots of issues people have to really think about than which language should be the national language, and why it should and why not another and so on and so forth.
My situation is something similar to Gaya currently. My husband Sri's father is Marathi, his mom is Kannadiga. They have lived most of their lives in Andhra Pradesh. So they literally speak 3 languages in their household - Marathi, Telugu and Kannada. I am a pure Kannadiga. So does that mean I can declare that I'll speak only Kannada and no other language? Nope, surely not! Moreover, me and Sri usually communicate using Kannada, English and Hindi. I have also picked lots of Telugu now and am trying to pick up words of Marathi now.
Sri jokes often on how he was thinking he should marry a Tamilian just so that he'll have another additional language in his family ;-) I think the implication of a language is to make the other person understand what you are saying. If the language you know accomplishes this, then you need not know any other language. Learning any other language should be purely out of your self-interest or for your convenience :)
People who don't agree can disagree :-D
Deeps.
Well wisey/Gaya/Deeps
First of all my blog wasnt about making hindi a national language. It was about a common language in India, if we can have one...And i thought ppl saying English could be the one pissed me off as you wud understand how many ppl in India understand English.
Regional languages are always fine. I understand that but when ppl from one part of India move out to some other part of India, dont u think there should be one language in which our whole nation could talk to without feeling uncomfy.
Just look at the state of some N/I travelling to South India or may be some S/I travelling to North India. There should be some way of coutering this problem and i thot as 60% of india already knew Hindi, Hindi would be the easiest to teach or may be spread across with some effort.
Its great that ppl are reading and learning difft languages...Its really good for them and its gr888 feeling to know difft lang. I am not at all against this. Ya, I know I cant be...Was just a statement!
Dont u feel wisey some things have significance only because the way they are. They are important and they have meaning only when they are done in the way they are supposed to be done. U change one thing in them and they loose their importance. If you want me quote examples I can. I think u would already know this and hence i m saving myself from that.
Even down in north, hardly anybody knows the language (sanskrit) but nobody asked them to do in their respective regional languages. And do u really think that asking pandits to quote shloks in Tamil was only because of understanding. Please dont be that naive...
amit, if i wanted to go on a world tour, i wouldnt learn Chinese, just because 1/6th of the world is Chinese... if i had to learn a language it would be on the basis of would it be useful to me.
there r prbly many in TN who think why should we learn a language just because a person knowing Hindi will visit us. I doubt if it is 60% but what counts is the % who visit TN or the % of those from TN who visits these regions.
I agree that a common language is essential. but the question is how do we go about it. so i suggested make the basic stuff mandatory.
Just because a person is dumb, would we say the person cant integrate with other Indians, language is useful but everything.
and personally i will worry more about the literacy levels of women in Bihar then if an autodriver in Chennai doesnt know hindi.
I mention Bihar not because its a Hindi speaking state but because its the only state in the country whose literacy level remains below 50 percent. In female literacy too, Bihar is at the bottom replacing Rajasthan. )
We also need to think on makin education more practical and employment oriented.
i agree with you 100% on makin English the common language. Its just tough to learn.
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When i recite a sloka, i am more comfortable if i know the meaning, I dont see any harm in someone understanding the meaning, ther r worse things politicians indulge in, so not perturbed on this.
All just my opinion and i need not be right.
Saw ur comment in blog, I had earlier mentioned what u said, and agree with u:)
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Deeps :)) thats integration :))
amit, a clarification, i agree with u on significance, and when it was decided , it was probably not keeping the devotees in mind :d
i am not that naive, but just dont see much harm in it :)
And few months back had to advise my nephew on whether to take Tamil or Hindi in 1st std and I advised him Hindi, because, Tamil he can learn at home and its always useful to know an extra language .
That to me is a practical suggestion, but there would be some who would be idealistic and would be angry that their children will have to choose or be burdened with one more language to learn. I can emphathise and hence suggest a basic syllabus of Hindi from 5th to 8th.:)
and b4 someone says enough from the donkee, lets kick her out, i will stop on this topic:D
Well if we have to argue I guess there is no end to it but I guess it helps in a way that i get to know ur view points and u get to know my view points (supposedly).
But still all hats off to u Donkee ;-)
amit :) its not necessary that we have to agree with each other on everything.
and if u can infuritated and still manage to conclude with pardon me..
i must say u should think of a career in diplomacy :D
cant imagine how u do it:)
i am not very good at words but hope i could convey my respect on ur view point, even when i disagreed.
lets agree to disagree:)
chalo manthe hai ki iss baat par hum donoko maannna, zaroori nahi hai :d
I know that I am not the wisest person on earth and hence I give respect to others points of views. I like arguments because there is just one thing possible from them...Increment in the dimensions of how u think without changing the way u think. Isnt that amazing!
Absolutely Agree :)
India does NOT have any national language:
http://vetri-vel.blogspot.com/2006/12/india-does-not-have-national-language.html
Part XVII of the constitution:
This part 17, defines an OFFICIAL language, NOT a national language.
http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~sk4zw/india-const/p17.html
Article 345: This gives the State govt., power to decide its own "OFFICIAL LANGUAGE"
http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~sk4zw/india-const/p17345.html
Article 343: This defines Hindi in devangari script and English to be the "OFFICIAL LANGUAGES" of union govt.
http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~sk4zw/india-const/p17343.html
DIFFERENCE between National and Official Language:
NATIONAL LANGUAGE: Defines the people of the nation, culture, history.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: A language that is used for official communication
While a National language by default can become the Official language, an Official language has to be APPROVED legally to become the National language.
All languages spoken in India, starting from the most populous to the least are our national languages, because all of them define the people of this nation, culture and their history collectively.
India has NO LEGALLY DEFINED NATIONAL LANGUAGES ONLY 23 OFFICIAL languages as per the constitution.
http://vetri-vel.blogspot.com/2006/12/3-language-policy-part-i.html
3-Language System:
The three language system was introduced by the central government in the 1960s to pacify the revolting southerners. The National Policy on Education, 1968 talks about the Three Language Policy.
The main idea was:
Non-hindi state should learn:
Regional language
English
Hindi
Hindi speaking states should learn:
Hindi
English
A southern Language.
The idea of three language policy is to have:
Even workload:
The north Indians will have 3-languages to learn which is same as that of the south. Earlier, the Hindi speaking states can get away with only Hindi and English but now, they had to teach a southern language as the third language.
This was not followed by the Hindi speaking states and hence, TN which had a strong party in the state refused to entertain any Hindi in TN.
http://vetri-vel.blogspot.com/2006/12/articles-on-1965-hindi-imposition.html
Articles on hindi imposition in 1965:
To spread Hindi, the government is spending $2,100,000 this year.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,839158,00.html
The above link talks about Hindi imposition in 1965. As you can see, India was spending 2.1 Million USD for Hindi evangelization. This was in the year 1965, when India had a literacy rate of about 24 %. We were importing 2 ship loads of wheat a day to barely survive and Shahstri gave his famous call for Indians to skip one meal a day. The times were so bad but we still managed to find funds for Hindi.
///.Blv me before this I had never heard of this North Indian and South Indian thing….I had 3 students from lower part of the country in school class and we never called them South Indians///
Simply because they learn the language of that state. North indians settling down in south will NOT even make an effort to learn the southern languages and to compound the trouble, they will expect the locals to speak in hindi.
When in Rome, be a Roman.
The issue of language is not confined to TN/India but can also be seen in US where the english speakers expect the spanish speakers to learn English (local language in USA).
Since, India is NOT a "single linguistic nation" BUT a country of many linguistic nations, it is the duty of the migrants to learn the local language.
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