Hindi, Hindustan and India: Should or Should not Hindi be the National Language

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The country is celebrating ‘Hindi Divas/Pakhwara’ (Hindi Day/Fortnight). More than seven decades earlier, on the 14th day of September 1949, the Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi as a State language. The country thenceforth perennially observes 'Hindi Divas' on this day. An estimated 60 crores of people across the globe speak Hindi. It translates to approximately 6 per cent of the world's population.  

India, with approximately 42-43 crore Hindi speaking people, is a bouquet of varied languages with a fairly large non-Hindi population. There are 22 languages in the 8th schedule of the Constitution. States like U.P, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand, M.P and Chhattisgarh are Hindi speaking while states/UTs like Kashmir, Laddakh, Punjab, Gujrat, Maharastra, Sikkim, Bengal, Odisha and the northeast along with the five southern states - Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamilnadu, Kerala and Karnataka - are not Hindi speaking. They have languages like Dogri, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, Oria, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannad. 

It is difficult to have a common language in a multilingual country with numerous customs, and vibrant cultures. India has a Federal system of governance. States have their culture and language that corresponds to their history and culture. People not only love their language but have a reverence and affinity for it. It is the country where language and water change according to the ambience and surroundings (Kos Kos Par Pani Badale Chaar Kos par Baani). Move to put on a language blanket faces severe opposition. The country has witnessed the pro-Hindi movement in the early sixties and equally emphatic rebuttal from the south. Tamil, supposedly the oldest language, has been declared classical language vide an official notification of October 12, 2004.  

Languages are vibrant and lively. Their history is approximately 70,000 years old. In the process of human evolution from primitive to skilled and advanced form, languages evolved as a means of communication. However, written languages evolved much later. It all started as a figurative expression that evolved into symbols known as letters. Letters combined in different permutations and combinations made words and words to sentences. It took long to accustom them; some clans or groups did not know about written language. It is believed that Aryans did not know about writings because of it they used to pass on their knowledge by hearing known as “Shruti”. 

In ancient India, the prominent language used to be Sanskrit, which even today, is considered the celestial language. Later, with time other languages were also evolved and used, but Sanskrit remained the language of the elite class. Pali is one such language that was common during the time of Buddha and later. Ashoka used this language to spread Buddha's messages in this language. Hindi took very long to evolve. It was evolving in mid 19th century, during the time of famous writer Bhartendu Harishchandra. It is evidently seen in the works of Babu Devaki Nandan Khatri, writer of epic 

“Chandrakanta” and “Chandrakanta Santati”. The Language, semantics and word choice of his works were unrefined. It was the incipient stage of Hindi as a literary language. 

Languages take birth, grow, evolve and ultimately fade out in oblivion. Many languages have given up the ghosts. Several of which have yet not been deciphered. The language of the Indus Valley people is an example. Hindi is a language that originated basically from Sanskrit. Both use the “Brahmi” script and most words are common to both. With the mixing of frequently used, less refined words, it started becoming polluted. The process gained momentum with the arrival of invading clans and later reached a crescendo after the British came in. The process is still continuing and a new but perverted Hindi in the form of “Hinglish” has started invading. Absorbing Arabi, Persian, Urdu and English words Hindi assimilated them well. It is the beauty of a language that made it the language of the masses. 

We often see people pooh-poohing English over the Hindi language. The over enthusiasts often omit the fact that language is a means of communication. No language is superior to the other. Comparing languages on the basis of personal choice, interest and convenience is a blunder. A language is sweet, easy and convenient to anyone native of it. Different cultural, ethnic and regional factors and backgrounds mould a language and its pronunciation. The way they ridicule other languages especially English to establish the superiority of Hindi reflects a hidden fear. The baseless unseen and unknown fear is detrimental.

English, with the largest base, stands as the first language of communication worldwide. In India, because of different languages, it becomes difficult to communicate in areas of the south, north-east and interiors of the west. People, sometimes, take help of English for common communication. The fast-growing communication system and expansion of the internet has made it easy and convenient to communicate in regional language and Hindi is also making inroads. The fast mode of transportation, good all-weather roads and decent accommodation has enhanced the hospitality industry and tourism. This augmented the spread of Hindi in areas difficult for language mixing.

To have wider acceptability and recognition as a National Language - “Rastra Bhasha” - a large base is required for the language. With about 58 per cent non-Hindi speaking people in the country, the acceptability of the language is a far cry though Hindi has been recognized as “Raj Bhasha” - the State Language. The lack of interest in the Hindi belt is apparently seen where people use to write in grammatically and semantically poor Hindi. Hindi needs to be refined and pure. It can be done by the people themselves. Those who make emotional appeals and raise slogans in favour of Hindi have to take responsibility else it remains a mere slogan and a “Divas” without meaning.