question of Hindi

Saket Sahai

Hindi may have become the official language on paper, but due to our selflessness, it is deprived of its right even after seven and a half decades of independence. It is a proven truth that no language is ever inferior in its original form. But under the policies of the government, practically all the languages ​​of India, including Hindi, went on becoming inferior, but to be honest, they were made deliberately.

Along with Hindi Diwas, events like Hindi Pakhwada, Hindi Month have started in government and private offices. Again the same promises, same style, but again the same rule of English. Seeing this, it is only natural that this tension arises in the mind as to how long such paper and ostentatious efforts to promote Hindi will continue. There is nothing wrong with organizing or celebrating. India is a country of festivals and events.

Then why should we avoid the celebration of the national language, the official language? But the painful thing is that even in the nectar year of independence, the basic condition of the official language of India has remained in transition to a great extent. It is unfortunate that in the matter of Hindi, the whole system of India has been working in the absence of balanced and progressive thinking. It is also an established truth that language is not a matter of sentiment alone, but of concrete reality. But even today in the matter of Hindi, we all work passionately. The result of this is that in reality the rule of the British over the polity remains intact. The saddest situation is that Hindi, which had gained acceptance across the country on the strength of its concrete social and political reality, was pushed back by the entanglement of the system.

The linguistic irony of India is that we have long failed to free ourselves from the vicious circle of a foreign language. What happens if you place the blame on one person? Because society and system have played a role in maintaining this vicious circle. Hindi may have become the official language on paper, but due to our selflessness, it is deprived of its right even after seven and a half decades of independence.

It is a proven truth that no language is ever inferior in its original form. But under the policies of the government, all the languages ​​of India including Hindi became practically inferior, but to be honest, they were made deliberately. And through a complete process, English was established as the best language. Since this system has proved to be extremely useful for a particular class, all kinds of policies were adopted to maintain it. Is it not the misfortune of the country that even today the use of Indian languages ​​along with English in the Supreme Court and twenty out of twenty four High Courts of the country is far away?

This conflict of English language with Hindi or other Indian languages ​​in India is to a large extent one of sentimentality versus reality. That is, even though we may say in sentiment that Hindi or other Indian languages ​​are not inferior to English in any respect, but the sad truth is that we ourselves have created such a situation for Hindi and other Indian languages. If this is not the culmination of unending love and inferiority complex for a foreign language, then what is it if amidst all the miseries, from officers to clerks and office servants, they want to cut their stomachs and send children to English medium schools and send them too. If so, it has deep meaning.

It is also clear from the media reports published from time to time that the number of students taking admission in English medium schools in the country is increasing rapidly. Even though the total number of people studying in Hindi and other Indian languages ​​is still very high. But it is also a matter of misfortune that such people of successful and affluent class will be rare who are not voluntarily getting their children’s education in English medium. It is also true that as the number of people belonging to the middle class or lower middle class increases, the position of Hindi or Indian languages ​​will only decrease. Because so is the atmosphere.

In such a situation, the new education policy raises a ray of hope, but only when there will be communication of linguistic confidence in the system and the people. Only then people and system will give preference to Hindi. Now the time has come when the government will have to rise above the sheer sentimentality and take steps to give Hindi and Indian languages ​​their due rights. Governments also have to understand that language is not just a means of expression. It is also a system of life and unless the life system in which English is getting a dangerous opportunity to flourish, the hope of the rise of Hindi and Indian languages ​​is only a day-dream unless a decisive blow is struck.

It is the power of Hindi that it has molded itself according to the changing nature of the world of meaning. Today Hindi has its own commercial value, so Hindi has challenged English in the world of business, entertainment, interaction and communication. In the last few years, the word wealth of Hindi language has expanded as much as that of any other language in the world. Hindi has a substantial presence on the Internet today.

Google has played a big role in recognizing the power of Hindi and establishing it as a strong language in the technical field. Today Hindi is counted among the rich languages ​​of the world. English, which has the distinction of being an important international language, has only ten thousand words in its root, whereas Hindi has the strength of more than one million words more than the total strength of Sanskrit and similar languages ​​of the country. Today, on the basis of numbers, Hindi is demanding the right to be the language of the United Nations. But before that it is necessary that Hindi should get its real right in its home.

The role of Hindi and Indian languages ​​in innovative thinking is not less. It is a matter of concern that Hindi and Indian languages ​​are available only up to the level of jugaad in the field of technology. In such a situation, question marks also arise on the significance of the digital revolution. For the growth of the role of Hindi, it is necessary that in India it should be established as a language to be developed in the form of teaching and communication in knowledge science. For this, universities have to take the lead. Today Hindi is present only in minority form in higher education in India. Everyone has to work together to change this situation.

In the nectar year of independence, it should be resolved that the only option is to link Hindi with political, economic, administrative, scientific, technical and industrial system at the national level for self-reliance and protection of constitutional interests. In this direction, along with Hindi speaking states, all the states of the country will have to take initiative. Otherwise the three paats of the same cover. For the implementation of Hindi, the biggest need is to change the social system. It is a fact that the land of Hindi is related to the common people, then English is related to the process of exploitation and accumulation in India. The ladder of prosperity can never be climbed without being directly or indirectly involved in this process.