North is North. South is South. Shall the twain ever meet?
Posted by: aviwriter on: April 15, 2007
I read an article and its discussion forum that argued the imposition of Hindi in our non-Hindi speaking states. Nita is the author of the article and it’s on her blog, My Writings – A wide angle view of India. I felt coming home reading the comments of readers. It’s been on my mind for long. The feeling of subjugation; the yet-another brush with hypocrisy; the obsession for things less important than burning issues the country faces…
Love for language is strong as with love for motherland. I’ve wrestled hard negotiating the questions and allegations: Are you a South Indian? Why you guys don’t talk Hindi? In Chennai (by the it isn’t hometown), people won’t reply in Hindi even if they know.”
Why do you need a language? To communicate with my fellow beings, isn’t it?. I speak Tamil because it’s my mother tongue. I write Tamil because that was my second language in school. Ironically English was my first language. I wish it weren’t. But today’s world is driven majorly by economics. Securing admission in universities abroad, or finding a job inland or overseas, my parents thought English would open up a world of opportunities, which I am sure it did. It’s a practical decision, though not without resentments. Sometimes I feel alien because I find it challenging to make sense of writings done in classical Tamil, prose or poetry. I couldn’t express my emotions better in English, which anyway is an acquired language. Acquired languages can never fake mother tongue.
My non-Tamil speaking friends’s argument is that if Hindi is our national language I must have learnt it. Again I repeat what I said earlier: Love for language is strong as with love for motherland. I’d like to preserve, pass it onto the posterity whatever is possible. I think Dravida political parties in Tamilnadu opposed Hindi imposition because they did not want another colonization of culture, which can threaten the identity as a Tamilian. Our country suffered humiliation during British rule who did not seem to have much reverence for local culture and tradition as Mughals rulers. Though Mughals invaded vast parts of India, they did not colonize us; they did not plunder the wealth of our land to make their homelands rich. Rather they made this their homeland and subtly blended with the land and its people.
In my view imposing Hindi is likely to influence a non-Hindi speaking state’s culture so much so that in a few years it may have far reaching consequences. Why force somebody to learn a language not their own? If need be, they would volunteer for learning.
Don’t our history books carry this statement: Unity in diversity? Let’s recollect it when we feel the urge to see a homogenized India.
~ Balaji A.
Read the article I referred to above to have a balanced view of this debate.
3 Responses to "North is North. South is South. Shall the twain ever meet?"
August 26, 2009 at 4:20 pm
//In my view imposition of Hindi is likely to influence a non-Hindi speaking state’s culture so much so that in a few years it may have far reaching consequences. Why force somebody to learn a language not their own? If need be, they would volunteer for learning.
Didn’t our history books carry this statement: Unity in diversity. Let’s recollect it when we feel the urge to see a homogenized India.
~//
Well said
August 26, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Doctor,
Thank you for you comment. I hope our politicians learn to appreciate pluralism. They need to study Tagore at the moment. Later Gandhi. Last Patel.
~ Balaji.
June 8, 2007 at 4:30 am
The view of acquired language of yours is absolutely right on all aspects. Learning Hindi can be an optional and not compulsion. Infact Hindi is not spoken in many of the states which people who are supporting Hindi should understand. Hindi and non Hindi has become totally polically motivated