Hindi has put Indian culture on the world map

Editor’s note: This is a reader comment we received on the article ‘ India's open letter to English: It was fun but we've found someone else ’. The comment has been edited for grammar. by Irfan Iqbal Gheta The primary aim of any language is to communicate. We can never imagine our lives without languages, can we? This is because we cannot live without communication. And this is precisely why languages have always played a dominant role in shaping our histories and have influenced the way we think and perceive things. Thanks to languages we are able to articulate our feelings using appropriate words so that our listeners and readers can relate, comprehend and empathise with what we are saying and what we are going through. All the languages are beautiful and sweet. But unfortunately some languages grow extinct with the passage of time while others go on to dominate the world and end up becoming the language spoken by the powerful and the very elite. Languages are special. It doesn’t mean that the speakers of Hindi are inferiors to the speakers of English or vice versa. The languages have always given us a lot. Those like Shakespeare and the great Kalidasa who have mastered their respective languages have earned immortality with the help of their literary contributions. They have made their countries and generations proud with their perfect usages of the languages apart from inspiring artistes and writers worldwide. [caption id=“attachment_1594191” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Narendra Modi. Agencies.[/caption] The languages unite. They rarely divide. It is us petty human beings who indulge in vanity and try to pit one language against another though each language is unique in its own way. If a common man does so, it is understandable and does not raise many eyebrows. But it is a cause of concern when a relatively well-known blogger and columnist does it under the garb of satire. The readers of Firstpost will have understood by now what I am alluding to. Yesterday Firstpost published a piece titled “ India's open letter to English: It was fun but we've found someone else" by Overrated Outcast. The writer has tried to imply through this piece that the days of English are numbered in India and time of Hindi has come. It does not take rocket science to figure out what the writer is up to and how and why this kind of piece smacks of his overwhelming dislike for the new regime at the Centre. The genesis of the piece obviously lies in prime minister Narendra Modi’s decision to use Hindi even while holding diplomatic conversations with his international counterparts. There was a missive to the ministers from his month old government that Hindi should be given preference while using social media like Twitter and Facebook. It had drawn a lot of flak from non-Hindi speaking states such as Tamil Nadu following which the government had to issue clarification stating the missive was for the Hindi speaking states only. First and foremost it is wrong to write an open letter to the language that has enriched us in so many ways. Moreover, the use of language gives us feelings. While reading a novel or a poem or an article we experience so many emotions. We do not know whether the language is capable of feeling anything. Hindi is an equally popular language in India. Nobody can deny this. The actors belonging to the Hindi film industry enjoy worldwide popularity and thanks to our Hindi blockbusters even foreigners have picked up a smattering of Hindi which can prove to be useful under so many delicate or uncomfortable circumstances. Though nobody has forced Hindi upon film makers, the popularity of Hindi films have transcended all boundaries and presented the Indian culture on the world stage. That said, if Hindi is a dominant language in the vast swathe of Northern India apart from Mumbai based Bollywood, English has its own charm. The Indian middle class may speak in Hindi but it certainly dreams in English. Ability to converse in English is considered as a ticket to privilege. The knowledge of English doesn’t guarantee success but it surely guarantees an entry into the places that may shy away from throwing their doors open to non-English speakers. Hindi keeps us rooted to our culture and holds our feet on the ground. But it is English that has created brands like Infosys and brought Indians into limelight as famous writers like Salman Rushdie and Vikram Seth and software code writers who hop across Atlantic to tell the world that Indians are as competent as the rest of the world. English is not India’s girlfriend who cannot be taken home to moms but it is an elder sister who has equipped Indians with the knowledge to compete with the world. Hindi has its own place which no other language can take. At the same time it equally holds true for English too. Therefore let us stop insulting languages under the garb of providing humour and end up creating divisions where there exists none.