KIRAN RAO BATNI writes: At a Hindi Day function on Tuesday, 14 September 2010, Union home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram apparently gave the following as the reason why (central) government departments must increase use of Hindi in their day-to-day work:
I’m dying to ask Mr Chidambaram one very simple question: Who are the “people” you’re referring to, and what is their language?
Are you referring to the people of the Hindi-speaking States only?
Is your definition of India limited to those States?
Have you grown blind to the rest of India which speaks ever so many tongues?
Have you forgotten that your own tongue speaks Tamil at home?
How can anybody sane use the singular noun “language” when refering to the different tongues that Indians speak, the different tongues in which they need to be “reached out” to?
What do you know about that India which you call home, minister?
churumuri 
“People” here is Rahul Baba and his family..
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N. Ram’s book, “The Agony of Hindi” is one of the best on the topic. He points out that resistance to Hindi imperialism is largely a coastal states phenomenon.
As for Kannadigas’ unawareness that Hindi is not “the” national language, we have Dakshin Bharath Hindi Prachar Sabha and Gandhi to thank. Then, if being Rashtrabhasa Visharada can get me a job unlike kava and jana, why not learn Hindi?
What can we do to make Kannada viable? The economic conditions imposed by unmoderated capitalism on India are its enemy.
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Did Mr P Chidambaram speak in Hindi?
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Fortunately or unfortunately Hindi is the official language of India. I don’t know what Mr Chidambaram meant, but the duty of government of India is to do all official tasks in hindi. If it is not possible today, then at the earliest. It is not possible immediately and will not be possible for a very long time, for at least two reasons.
1. The whole country is not ready to accept it.
2. Hindi itself is not capable to replace English at every level.
Article 351 makes it the duty of government to make Hindi richer and capable to be the only official language.
Reaching out to people means in their language. Hindi is a symbol here for an Indian language. Probably Chidambaram was speaking in some Hindi function. Sep 14 is the Hindi day.
Your question is valid. You asked ‘What do they know of India who only Hindi know?’
Ask another question ‘What do they know of India who only English know?’
Knowing India requires skill of many languages and the urge to know.
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Hindi day seems to me symbolic to the removal of Hindustani/Urdu from official usage.
It should be changed to or celebrated as Regional Language Day.
Also, focus should fall on the ugly mixture of English in all Indian languages. It has become near impossible to hear one sentence purely in one language nowadays. (i live in Bangalore, where you get to hear almost every language in the country)
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for those N. Indians who think that everyone in India should speak Hindi, a simple question: just because majority people speak Hindi (which by the way doesn’t have a long history compared to many other languages) do you want everyone to speak Hindi? If we apply the same argument to relgion, everyone in India must follow Hinduism because it is followed by a majority. Such laughable arguments can potentially spoil the very idea of India…
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Poor Mr PC, being a Tamil elected parliamentarian, sitting on the home minister’s seat, coming from a predominantly Tamil based political background & party, is given the Hindi baton and asked to flaunt it all around the country.
He surely knows this also includes broadcasting his message to the crores of fellow Tamilians – who for sure will only hate it more if he ends up exclusively & explicitly endorsing & upholding Hindi. And not saying anything at all during these “Hindi Days” will perhaps jeopardize his ministry!
Caught between these two devils, I guess Mr PC has brilliantly played the cat on the fence here and got away. I am not sure if he also said more things explicitly about Hindi, but then what Mr Kiran writes here surely throws light on a strong candidate for our policy makers to re-look upon very very soon.
The Indian govt. cannot keep wasting taxes paid by Indians on only one of its several languages.
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Crores are being wasted on promoting/imposing Hindi. English has played a great role in brining all quarters of the country than Hindi.
SBI, main office on St.Mark’s Road – the board indicating we are on I floor has brass letters in Kannada, Eng and Hin. Do we need this? Imagine this is one office of SBI with half a dozen or so floors. What is the amount spent on brass/acrylic/wooden letters. Then there are lakhs of offices of PSUs.
All languages should be promoted and Hindi is not something we should be accepting
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The central government of India being the elected and representative body of every Indian must treat all the languages at par. The current approach of looking at Hindi as above par and trying to impose the language on non-Hindi speakers is detrimental to the unity. Only when the country practices linguistic equality, the ‘unity in diversity’ grows stronger.
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I saw it live when “Palaniappan Chidambaram ” was making a mockery of himself when he was addressing people on “Hindi Divas”
Its unfortunate that PC belongs to a state where Hindi imposition was opposed to the maximum extent.
As Mr Kiran Batni has questioned, who are the people that PC is dreaming to reach with the help if Hindi?
The so called intellectual minister in the present cabinet was just being political, but absolutely illogical.
Every state has its own language and a kannadiga in karnataka, a tamilian in Tamilnadu, a bengali in Bengal, A gujarati in Gujarat, An assame in Assam have nothing to gain from Hindi..
Hindi is just another language in Independent India..Central government is trying to grab our independence and is trying to dictate terms to accept Hindi.
After all, Hindi is neither my language/ancestors language to accept it emptionally, nor is Hindi capable of feeding the hungry humans.
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I see more and more people realizing that Hindi is not the sole ‘National Language’ of India and that there is no ‘compulsory rule’ to learn Hindi. This awareness has increased manifold in recent years and this awareness will only increase as years pass, which is a good sign. I’d give it just 20 years – in that time all this nonsense of considering Hindi a ‘superior language’ will die out.
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Yes, This is a waste of crores of money. India is a multilingual country. Central government is trying to promote Hindi in other states. Central government is not only for Hindi speaking people. It is elected by people of whole nation. Non Hindi states must oppose and stop usage of Hindi in any form. Hindi should be used in Hindi states only. Being a Tamilian If Chidambar would have raised this issue, it would have resulted in a very good debate across the nation. But we can’t expect much from politicians.
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Hindi is been offered as alternative to English, but everyone knows that Hindi cannot provide the bread. Its being promoted just to satisfy the politicians from the BIMARU belt since they were vocal about the same right from the pre-independence days.
Even today, they dream of replacing Hindi with English and replacing humans with computers.(Courtesy : Mulayalam Singh Yadav) No wonder, these states have been backward due to having such leaders ruling the roost.
Anyway, its upto Hindi speaking states to promote Hindi and it needs not be done one national scale. India was formed on the basis of linguistic regions and believes in the principle of unity in diversity. One should strive to maintain this instead of trying to disturb the sensitive balance.
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`Under the British, English had emerged as the language of higher education and administration. Would it remain in this position after the British left? The politicians of the North thought that it should be replaced by Hindi. The politicians and people of the South preferred that English continue as the vehicle of inter-provincial communication.’
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2004/01/18/stories/2004011800040300.htm
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`Under the British, English had emerged as the language of higher education and administration. Would it remain in this position after the British left? The politicians of the North thought that it should be replaced by Hindi. The politicians and people of the South preferred that English continue as the vehicle of inter-provincial communication.’
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2004/01/18/stories/2004011800040300.htm
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Many ceremonies recently marked the 35th death anniversary of C N Annadurai, first DMK chief minister of Tamil Nadu. He is remembered mainly for ending Congress hegemony and Brahmin supremacy in the state. But today we should see him in a new light: he saved India from Hindi imperialism, ensured the continuation of English, and so made possible the outsourcing revolution that is moving lakhs of jobs from the West to India.
Read more: How English survived in India – The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/all-that-matters/How-English-survived-in-India/articleshow/558981.cms
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What was PC thinking when he made that speech? why should any one reachout in Hindi in non hindi speaking states for implementing developmental schemes. Its very much an inane thought. By trying to reachout in Hindi, the GOI would only distance from people rather.
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Wow! This must be one of the very very few issues on which I see near unanimity on this forum.
As Vinay says many seem to realize the hoax that’s being perpetrated on us for ages ie Hindi is our ‘National’ language. That’s good for the starters and I hope it will be just desserts for the Hindiwallahs.
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Any ideas for a replacement to Hindi? We all complain but do we have a viable alternative? Why do we pride ourselves in the fact that our kids go to “English medium” schools? On the flip side, why are vernacular schools not the preferred medium? If Hindi is not the language of our ancestors, thus making it unable to accept emotionally, why then do we stick with English?
I personally feel having both English and Hindi as official national languages is the best solution. At the same time, we still have and should continue to value our own regional languages.
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There is no need to link Hindi with Nationality.
Hindi = Kannada = Tamil and all the other languages spoken in India.
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at gyaniki :
(and at others who feel that Hindi is the “national language” of India) –
Hindi is NOT (I repeat, NOT), the national language of India. It is just one of the “Official language” of India. So, Hindi is a “Raaj Bhaasha” and NOT a “Raashtra Bhaasha”. Nowhere in the constitution of India does it say that Hindi is the national language. Recently, a Gujarat high court ruled that Hindi is NOT the national language of India, and in fact, India does NOT have a national language at all! It was a lie pushed by the education ministry that we had to write this answer “Hindi” to the question “Which is the national language of India?” in our middle school days.
Link to Gujarat court ruling – http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Theres-no-national-language-in-India-Gujarat-High-Court/articleshow/5496231.cms
Link to Wikipedia entry for more information regarding yet another language of the multi-lingual India, Hindi – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindi
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One of the reasons why Hindi is opposed or not accepted readily by people of non-Hindi speaking states is that it is imposed instead of induced. By human nature, imposition of anything is vehemently protested. Second, while non-Hindi speaking people are ready to adopt or accept Hindi, the Hindi speaking people do not reciprocate. They don’t want or show any willingness to learn other languages, even if it is other North Indian languages like, Gujarati, Marathi or Bengali etc. Third, in some other states, under 3-language formula, the students learn Hindi as third language. But in Hindi-speaking states, mostly the third language chosen is Sanskrit, that is, Devanagari script. This compels the non-Hindi speaking students to learn Hindi while Hindi-speaking students do not learn any other Indian language. As long as imposition of “majority ” is resorted to, it will be naturally opposed by the “minority”.
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@Shiva –
you’re asking for an alternative, agreeing that Hindi is not an alternative right now, and neither are any of our own languages.
True, but have you asked yourself why you need this “alternative?” So that you can learn and later earn a life out of it. Right? When you know English is able to help you with that right now, and neither Hindi nor your own language is able to do that right now, why give any special status to Hindi? Why should Hindi feature as an official language in India at all when it is not accepted by a majority of Indians??
If at all you had to give special status to one language, automatically you give that special status to your own language. If your language is not well equipped today, it is you who’ll have to work with your fellow men (of common language) and equip your language with that capability. English did not come embedded with capability to impart knowledge, people made it happen. So was the case with all similar languages of the world.
You mention valuing our own languages is important too. Just curious to know – what exactly do you include in this valuing system? What would you do to show you value your language? Read poems in your language? And then what?! You bring respect to your language, and thereby value, only when you prove that your language is able to give more people a good life, only when you prove that your language is potent enough to assist you on your feet & race with the growing world.
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PC needs to watch what he’s speaking. Utter nonsense it is to say that one language will serve the purposes of the entire country. absolute crap that is. and those people who are siding by him know they are dishonest simply because they know hindi alone would never help them except in a few states in the north. Hindi is just another regional language of India and that’s simply because we have so many languages. a Land of many languages has to give equal status to all languages or else it’s not a true democracy at all. forcing hindi is nothing but against the spirit of India which is ” Unity in Diversity “. all nice to hear these words but when not implemented one wonders the point of saying all these things. time that the central government stopped favouring one language over the others.
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Chidambaram getting ready to be PM?
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Its hard to believe that person like PC, who is from Tamil Nadu and also from a party, which has a Tamil movement background making statements like this. I think statements by him is the mockery of Democracy, that too being in a position of Home Minister.
Giving call to use Hindi in the whole India is just insane, where indirectly central government is asking its officials to abandon or suppress the local/regional languages and propagate Hindi.
One important and sad thing is that central government is using our money paid in terms of tax for propagating Hindi.
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Anshuman Patel:
Yes, thanks to the power of the internet, blogs and similar such media, people are realizing the fact that Hindi is not the “National Language”, and no Indian is required to compulsorily learn it!
Though I speak very good Hindi myself and I could pass as a Dilliwala, complete with Behanchod and Madarchod peppered language (:D), I cannot stand the injustice of some Northies expecting the rest of their country to speak their language, and ridiculing those who do not.
Spread the word and let people know what India really is. If people throughout the country make a conscious choice to embrace Bollywood, Hindi, etc., that’s fine with me. But Hindi fanatics must be made to understand thoroughly that people their talk is bullshit, and people are realizing it fast.
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1) Hindi imposition hurts the sentiments of all Kannadigas, Tamilians, Teluguits, Malayalees, Marathis, Gujarathis, Bengalis, Assamese, Oriyas and other Indians. Everybody should oppose it. It should not look as if only Tamil people are against it. Thanks to the efforts of Tamil people, at least, the Hindiwallas didn’t completely write the Constitution for their own benefit before the others could wake up.
2) I just don’t get the logic of our Central Government spending Rs. 36 crores of tax payer’s money every year to just promote one language. This is absurd. Each state should get their fair share from this amount. If they want to run this program using volunteer help, I have absolutely no issues :)
3) Do we really need formal education and promotion for Hindi? Bollywood and TV have introduced Hindi to the masses already (both in India and abroad) and are going strong. Isn’t that good enough?
4) Will learning Hindi automatically infuse patriotism and unite India? That logic doesn’t fly. The very “way of life” itself in the Indian subcontinent, the desi way, the importance to family values, the customs, tradition, society and several other factors are what are truly bringing Indians together anywhere (be it in India or abroad). This is beyond the scope of any single language. No single group can stake their claim to it. It has evolved over the past 5000 years.
5) Why are Hindiwallas not willing to learn other languages and cultures within their own country? Come on, many Kannadigas have learnt Hindi. Why can’t Hindiwallas reciprocate?
6) Did you know that the Hindi belt is a drag to the Indian economy? Let us work on fixing this issue rather than the controversial language topic. Most progressive states are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. And Karnataka’s economy is one of the fastest growing. Are we getting the attention and importance we deserve? No! Railway density is below the national average. Many of our languages like Tulu and Kodava are fast disappearing. It’s high time we speak up now for our rights as a member of the Indian Union.
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Even if it is true that about four hundred million Indians speak Hindi as their native tongue, it is hard to see why it should the only official language when the other eight hundred don’t even have a nodding acquaintance with it.
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Here I would like to mention that ………I am an Indian of Punjab origin..Learnt Punjabi,Hindi,English and Sanskrit during school…I stayed for 6 months in AP and learnt Telugu, 3+ years in Chennai and learnt Tamil……….Then WHY CAN’T ppl living in other states be open to other Languages……….Why the flower is plucked before blossoming…Let ppl take their own decision and instead of enforcing your own view point.Let ppl be open minded and dont suppress their feelings.If you know Hindi, you can survive in most of the Indian states……We ppl only says why we are not developing …..BECAUSE still we are Punjabi, Tamilian,Hindi,Marathi,Kannad etc. and not INDIAN……Be open Be Indian accept Indians…….
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Dear M,
You learnt the local language because you were the stranger. And that is the right thing to do, so I congratulate you for being a good human being in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Those who are “living in other states” (those are your words) are not, I repeat, not strangers in their own land where their ancestors have been living from a very long time: such as Kannadigas in Karnataka, Tamils in Tamil Nadu, etc. Hence, these people need not learn languages which add no direct value to their lives. I will take my own example, since I fully represent a Kannadiga in the sense of this argument.
I accept your point that I need to be open to other languages. But not in your sense of “being open”.
Your sense of “being open” is for me to learn a language which hasn’t been spoken from the paleolithic age in more than 1000 km radius around me (except for the artificial and transient use created by flawed politics).
Your sense of “being open” is for me to languish in blindness, or in a state of flawed Indian-ness, when 60 million of my Kannadiga brethren find it shameful to use Kannada in Karnataka itself, because of the situation created by Hindi Imposition.
Your sense of “being open” is for me to accept that a hundred Kannadigas should learn Hindi because 3 migrants were sent down to Karnataka from the North due to flawed politics and population control.
Your sense of “being open” is for me to accept lying down that you, the stranger in my premises, has some sort of an upper hand over me because you are from a part of India which speaks a language (or a language linguistically proximate to that) which unlawfully found its way to becoming the only Indian language which is called ‘official’ by that supreme law book in India, the Constitution of India.
Your sense of “being open” is the sense in which a tyrant conqueror wants tens of millions to “be open” to speak his language, wear his type of dress, and follow his religion, because they’re helpless.
My sense of “being open” is different.
I wish you no harm, I do no harm to you. Indeed, I wish you the best that life has to offer, and I will do my best to help you achieve it. I welcome you to my premises and share my food, land, water, air, everything. I do not consider my language as any better than yours, or any worse.
But remember that in my sense of “being open”, I will not do any of the above, and actually do the exact opposite, if you cause harm to the life, liberty and happiness of those in whose midst my mother gave birth to me: Kannadigas. And that includes not speaking in your language except for teaching you mine.
And that includes helping you, a beautiful flower, to grow and prosper in the beautiful garden in which I live without becoming a weed which consumes the other beautiful flowers which have lived in my garden for ever.
And regarding your claim that India’s development is harmed by Indians’ real identities: it is absolutely wrong. India’s development is harmed by Indians’ real identities being suppressed, and false identities being imposed. India’s development is harmed because Indians are unable to use their own identities, their own languages, their own historical knowledge, in the newer systems of education and economic growth.
Let me make another thing very clear: I do not want the development of the whole of India if it is going to come at the cost of development of Kannadigas. I do not want an increase in the life, liberty and happiness of the whole of India if it is going to come at the cost of the life, liberty and happiness of Kannadigas.
No Kannadiga can sacrifice Kannadigas at the altar of India’s economic progress. We have come here to live and let live. Not to die and let live.
That economic progress of India which is achieved on the graves of Kannadigas is steeped in adharma and I shall not let it happen.
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Kiran uncle dont you think this is a bit over the top!!
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Thanks Gaby.
Mr.Batni…Instead of evoking the fire of discrimination……..it would have been helpful if you would have supported saying that “Let’s not get carried away with political words” and stay united as INDIANS…….and not divided by STATES…..thanks for sparing so much time to write the post but I think at this time intellectual ppl like you should devote some time to educate others to live peacefully instead of fighting over languages and states….JUST because of these kind of arguments “INDIA IS STILL BURNING” after 63 years of freedom…..
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@Pulikeshi the Last
The number of Hindi speakers is not 400 million but somewhere around 200 million. Languages like Bhojpuri, Maithili, Awadhi, Chattisgarhi, Rajasthani etc are linguistically different from Hindi but unfortunately are being considered as its dialects, probably for the false show of strength. They even tried to include Punjabi as a Hindi dialect, but Punjabis asserted their identity and strongly resisted any such attempts.
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“BECAUSE still we are Punjabi, Tamilian,Hindi,Marathi,Kannad etc. and not INDIAN……Be open Be Indian accept Indians…….”
@M, I do not understand your argument. If you are a Punjabi does it make you a Swiss or a Brit or a Paki? Identifying yourself with Punjab / Punjabi will only make your Indian identity stronger. Similarly, for a Kannadiga like me a strong Kannada identity means a strong Indian identity
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M:
I am not sure if you understood anything that was said in the past several posts.
The point is simply this: if BIMARUs and other sundry North Indians demand that everyone should speak Hindi, and ridicule those who do not, people will not keep quiet. India is seeing a more language related friction these days, because of the asinine people in Delhi who have drilled it into the heads of the BIMARUs that Hindi is India’s language, and other languages are in some way ‘inferior’.
The Northies who swarm across the country with their ‘Rashtra Bhaasha Hindi’ crap are the ones who are causing problems and divisions among people.
So, Mr.”M”………..it would have been helpful if you would have supported saying that “Let’s understand that India has hundreds of languages, all equally important” and stop divding the country by trying to impose Hindi on people who have no wish or interest in it.
Do you understand at least now? Or should I make it simpler for you?
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@M
I think the states are divided today because their own identities are accorded a second class statuses in their own lands and a new superficial national identity, especially wrt language and culture, is being thrust upon them. If each state / region and its associated languages are given their rightful position and status, why would people fight? I believe this kind of discrimination is what is keeping India burning even after 63 years of freedom.
And this is what David Crystal, a popular linguist has to say about mono-lingualism and fighting over languages:
“If people want to fight each other, it takes more than a common language to stop them.
We are far more likely to promote a peaceful world by paying attention to people’s rights and to their identities as communities – and the main emblem of a community is its language. A sensitive policy of multilingualism, and a concern for minority languages, are much more likely to lay the foundation for a peaceful co-existence.”
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Dear M,
I’m evoking the fire of discrimination? Think again.
The fire of discrimination was lit by a handful centralists (yes, they were politicians) who ensured that the mother of all discriminations in India — discrimination on the basis of language — was made central to their definition of India, which unfortunately remains the popular definition even to this date and even has constitutional sanction.
The fire of discrimination was turned into a raging inferno by those who slowly made Kannadigas, Tamils, Telugus, Malayalis, Marathis, why, every non-Hindi speaker thin of themselves as “second-class citizens” of India, and only Hindi speakers to think of themselves as “preferred citizens” of India.
I’m not evoking the fire of discrimination, I’m labouring to extinguish that fire.
How? By trying to peacefully appeal to the higher faculties of those who still walk around all over India with the match-stick of a flawed idea of India and the kerosene of Hindi, waiting for every opportunity to burn down every element of linguistic diversity in India, thinking, much like you, that diversity is something to be ashamed of and something which prevents our economic growth. Utter nonsense.
I’m asking people to fight over languages and states? Think again.
It is those who have already pushed my Language and my State to the depths of disuse by discarding both to a secondary place in the affairs of the country (using the weapons of Hindi imposition and anti-federalism, respectively), that are fighting over languages and states.
They fight, so that they may consume my language and my state, and in their places are anointed Hindi, and an India where Karnataka is mere real estate for politicians and businessmen. The pity is that they think they’re doing a great service to mankind! In reality, it is the exact opposite!
And here am I, who is trying to fight against this decadence, and you think I am asking people to fight over languages and states?
You think I’m asking people to not live peacefully? Think again.
It is those who are asking people to cut their tongues and replace them with plastic ones produced in New Delhi who are creating tension in India, not I. I am merely appealing for my tongue to be left alone; I don’t need a plastic surgery, nor does any Indian in the non-Hindi-speaking states. By showing this basic need for appreciating unity in diversity, it is I who am begging for people to live in peace, not those others.
There is, also, a major difference between my definition of peace, and the definition of peace that those others have taught you.
My peace is the peace in a beautiful garden where many diverse flowers grow and blossom under the same sun that shineth on all, and in the same rain that falleth on all.
The peace of those others is the silence of that death which reigns when the garden is turned into a graveyard — a graveyard of those flowers that are Indian languages — and only one silhouette could be faintly seen in the infinite darkness that envelops the graveyard — the silhouette of Hindi, guarding the land that is occupied by all those corpses.
You choose the peace you want.
And on your claim that languages divide India – it is a false notion. Gender does not necessarily divide people; it defines them. Some people don’t recognize it. Similarly, languages don’t divide Indians; it defines them. Some people don’t recognize it.
When those blind men and women become powerful, their flawed ideologies and politics pay no respect to those basic definitions. It is then that those definitions turn into divisions.
If it weren’t for those blind men and women, definitions would have remained definitions. A jasmine’s jasmine-ness and a rose’s rose-ness don’t divide them. They just define them. To look at them as dividing traits, you need a flawed ideology, a jaundiced eye.
The blame of turning definitions into divisions rests on those blind men, not those who are trying to point out the need for unity in diversity.
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Thanks, Sandeep. We can only hope that Hindiwallas someday will realise their folly, before they take down everybody with them.
I share Kiran B.’s advocacy of the Kannada cause. Bengaluru was always on the verge of being lost to us. That precariousness is spreading to other parts of the state as well.
Gaby, I have always been a Kannada Firster, but I am also aware of the untenableness of such a stand. If Kannada cannot help my folk earn a comfortable living, mere Kannada bhajane is no good at all. If giving up Kannada for English or Hindi, I would any day opt for English if that would offer us all a level playing field. But, then, equality, is another issue.
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Kiran uncle dont you think this is a bit over the top!!
Gaby aunts :)
If you think that comment was over the top, look at his blog link. One of the most hilarious I have read in a long time.
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Mr Abhi,
your oneliners are not funny here..
can u try to discuss the issue instead? if possible
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Kannada speakers,
M is only a mild form of what awaits you in the coming years. Kannada will be rendered irrelevant by the numerically crushing hindi speakers. And the assimilation will not happen over a century etc. – it will be swift and brutal – maybe a few decades max.
The only way to protect is to push back and eliminate all forms of hindi hegemony. Make it difficult if not impossible to live in Karnataka without knowing the language of that province.
See Tamil Nadu, when they did their Tamil thing, we said ‘oh how provincial they are’, but look today – how Tamil and Tamilians are doing in Tamil Nadu and how Kannada and kannadigas are doing in Karnataka.
As PTL says, if necessary, we should make use of English to get a level playing ground in this fight (yes it is a fight to finish!), but dont let hindi speakers and others keep chipping away at the very core of kannada and its culture.
Or we can just lie down and let whatever is coming to us happen with our eyes closed.
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@gaby:
It would help if you at least state your stand and write something to defend it. That way we all can have a healthy discussion here. Your comment actually didn’t help much :D
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@Abhi:
Whether it was over the top or bottom or somewhere in between, Mr. Kiran indeed has a point. His blog was an eye-opener to many of us. So much of time, research and “reading between the lines” of news, public policy, history, linguistics etc. has gone into that material. And he has the courage to stand up to what he believes in, though it may not be what the majority thinks. My friend, it is insulting on your part to make such comments.
I’d request you to point us to some work yours, so that we can at least know what constitutes a “good” work.
And just like Mr. gaby, it would help if you come out and state what is your stand on the topic, with proper rational & unbiased justification. We consider that a good contribution to this debate.
Then, and only then, can we say what’s “hilarious” and what’s not.
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@M:
You have been the most reasonable critic in this entire discussion. I admire the fact that you now know 6 languages (I know only 5!). See, you stayed in AP for 6 months and you learned Telugu. You spent few years in TN and you learned Tamil. That shows you respect the local language and culture wherever you go. You are a true Indian, or rather a model global citizen, my friend!
Sadly, the case with Karnataka is different. People come in large numbers to Karnataka from all over India as we have a thriving economy here. The people benefit from the jobs, enjoy the great climate almost the entire year and find it easy to adjust here because of relatively accomodative people. But, alas! a substantial percentage don’t even bother to learn the local language (Kannada) and respect the local people/culture. Isn’t this bad? Whose problem is it? Who should be concerned?
**
Barring some tensions, several communities have coexisted peacefully in Karnataka from time immemorial. Kannadigas have always accepted and respected people who are different from them. Always open to new ideas, new advancements in science and technology.
Please take some time to go through this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karnataka_ethnic_groups
Isn’t it still evident that it is in fact the Hindiwallas who have to do their homework in understanding what is meant by “Unity in Diversity” and sincerely practice it, rather than try and impose their own language (albeit by force/authority) as soon as they have the political power and majority in their hands.
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Pulakeshi the Last,
If Kannada cannot help my folk earn a comfortable living, mere Kannada bhajane is no good at all.
If.
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“Equality” is the need of the hour.
When the constitution fundamentally treats everyone as equal, why is it that certain language is attributed higher status by the central government?
As Mr. Kiran rightly put it, “why is it that a language being forced upon others while it adds no value?”
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@M
I am dying to ask this question to you: If India is still BURNING after 63 years of freedom, can you tell us all, what is it that India is being BURNT by and why is it BURNING?
Lets see how different you’re from a crowd that uses this same phrase with such reckless abandon. Come on, let us know why you think India is BURNING, and relate that to your “decision” that it is because of “this kind of arguments”. If possible relate each reason for India BURNING to what is being argued here.
And then I hope this argument will not burn India anymore.
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@ Pulikeshi the Last
“If Kannada cannot help my folk earn a comfortable living, mere Kannada bhajane is no good at all”
AND
“If giving up Kannada for English or Hindi, I would any day opt for English if that would offer us all a level playing field”
Through both these statements, are you trying to say that even if you were a Kannadiga, you would have opted English if it had offered a level playing field? Why not the opposite? Why wouldn’t you think of taking your own Kannada to the next levels so that it offers the same level or better than English, Hindi or any other external language?
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The interstate migration ( or rather migration from a state speaking one language to another speaking a different language) is just 4.3% at all India level. This is as per the 2001 census. Now would it make sense to design, develop and implement all the administrative systems in hindi in Karnataka?
Is it not unethical to expect all Kannadigas to learn and speak hindi just for the sake of 4% migrants finding it difficult to converse in Kannada in Karnataka?
Now, take a look at the Rajabhasha act.
http://www.rajbhasha.nic.in/annualeng.htm
I am listing out some of clauses in the act and my comment on them.
1> The answers of question papers, except that of the compulsory paper of English, should also be allowed to be written in Hindi in recruitment examinations of subordinate services and such question papers should be made available both in Hindi and English. In interviews too, there should invariably be option to converse in Hindi. The candidates should have the option to answer the question papers of all the in-service, departmental and promotion examinations (including all India level examinations) of all the ministries, departments of the Central Govt. and its attached and subordinate offices and of all corporations, undertakings, banks etc. owned or controlled by the Central Govt. in Hindi. The question papers should compulsorily be set in both the languages (Hindi and English). Wherever interview is to be held, the candidate should have the option to answer in Hindi.
>>>>>> Does such an option exist for Kannada in Karnataka?
2> Every type of training, whether of long-term or of short term, should generally be imparted through Hindi medium in ‘A’ and ‘B’ regions. For imparting training in ‘C’ region the training material should be got prepared both in Hindi and in English and made available to the trainees in Hindi or in English as per their requirements.
>>>>> Karnataka falls in Region C and hence only Hindi or English. Where is Kannada?
3> It is the Constitutional obligation of senior officials of Ministries/Departments/ Offices/Undertakings to make increasing use of Hindi in their official work.
>>>>> It should have been applicable to states having Hindi as their official language. Why is this applicable to entire India? Will a Kannadiga or Tamilian or a Malayalee ever become proficient in hindi when compared to a native hindi speaker? Having such racial rules will hamper the chances of a non hindi speaker from getting employment, promotion in central govt offices. Isn’t this imposition?
4> Under rule 10 (4), of the Official Language Rules 1976, the following items of work should be done in Hindi in the branches of the notified banks-Demand drafts, payment orders to be issued on the application form filled by the customers in Hindi.
>> If someone fills a form in hindi in any central govt office in KA, he should get an answer in hindi. Actually such a law should first be enacted for Kannada in Karnataka in central govt offices. In the middle of all this, where is Kannada? Aren’t these laws rendering Kannada as useless for transactions in Central govt offices within Karnataka?
5> Atleast 55% of Originating Correspondence (including Telegrams, Wireless, Telex, Fax, Drawings , E-mails etc. ) from Region C to Region A,B and C should be in Hindi.
>>> Who is using the post offices, income tax depts, railways, BSNL offices, Banks of Karnataka ? Kannadigas or outsiders? When majority of the consumers are Kannadigas, why 55% of the communication should happen in Hindi ? There is no mention of Kannada anywhere in the act at all. Isn’t this blatant imposition?
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He is not reffering to the way you took it. He is referring hindi as our national language.It is the identical representative of INDIA.And anyone who feels shy to speak hindi in front of others should immediately leave the country.No one needs you if you can’t respect your national language
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Kiran and Prakasha–
Not all Kannadigas in Karnataka can study in a language other than Kannada. My concern is entirely with them. Can they make a decent living within Karnataka, especially if they cannot leave their rural domiciles? The massive influx of non-English knowing Indians from other states is depriving us of employment opportunities here at home. AG has long been asking us to think about the anti-Kannada demographic disaster that is awaiting us all Kannadigas. Our state is being ruled by a fake, anti-Kannada national party. We will soon have a Samskrita university in our midst. Our Kannada university and Kannada adhyayana samsthes are happy putting out tomes in elegant Kannada prose, while Kannada’s kshema in Kannadanaadu remains uncertain at best.
Nammannu naave kaapaadikoLLalu namagiruva upaayagaLenu?
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AMan:
Hindi is not the national language. Google it.
And it is people like you who should leave the country. Get out, and take your bloody Hindi with you – the Pakistanis will be happy to accept the likes of you, I’m sure.
You Hindiwallahs are destroying the country with the high rate of breeding in your states and the miserable economies of your states. You people are dragging India down, it is best if you leave.
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@AMan,
Yeah, yeah.. I am sure you even fart in Hindi (in front of others), with pride of course. But keep your bloody typical pro-Hindi talk aside. Its a glaring fact that hindi speaking people like you are the only ones that talk nonsense. You need a better education.
Dont you see there has been a logical discussion happening here? Then why such illogical, bulldozish commenting? If you have an opinion, this is the place where you support it with logic and just convey it across. Not shout slogans like that.
In fact sometime ago I asked some questions to Mr M here. I wonder if that is you in another avatara, but you can give a shot at answering them too. Go on, try it. But if you dont have answers, just close & sit.
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@Pulakeshi the Last:
Déjà vu, my friend. The invaders from North are coming … again! They want to have control over the South, over those who don’t speak their language. And they will craft any means for that. Writing the Indian Constitution in their favor was one of them. Now they are enforcing it big time. They are using OUR own money (tax payer’s money, that is) to impose their language, Hindi, at the expense of ours, Kannada. This is no small amount. At the rate of Rs. 36 crores per year, it runs into hundreds of crores.
Read this:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/What-it-costs-to-keep-Hindi-alive-Rs-36-crore-/articleshow/5304154.cms
They have this flawed reasoning (and hence an agenda) to oppose and eliminate English. And they want all of us to buy that logic! Hey, English is a window into the world. Whether we Indians like it or not, we have to learn it to prosper in the world. It levels the playing field with people from other countries. It is so powerful today. The fact that we are all conversing in English is itself a testimony. Of course, as much as it is realistically possible, we should protect our heritage, our languages … ah, ALL languages, that is. Hehe!
It helps to remind Kannadigas about our own Pulakesi II (610 – 642 CE) who checked the expansion of Harshavardhana of Kanauj into Southern India whom he defeated on the banks of river Narmada (around 630 AD).
The Chinese traveller Hieun-tsang describes the event thus:
“Siladityaraja (i.e., Harsha), filled with confidence, himself marched at the head of his troops to contend with this prince (i.e., Pulakesi); but he was unable to prevail upon or subjugate him”.
Also check this video clip of our brave Kitturu Rani Chennamma (1778 – 1829) where she rightly asks: “Nimageke kodabeku kappa?” to the British:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kittur_Chennamma
With respect to the language policy, isn’t the Central Govt. doing exactly what is known as “taxation without representation”? Taking tax money from all Indians but using it for the benefit of only one language! I’m not asking our folks to stop paying taxes, but rather fight for our representation.
There is a saying in Kannada which suits what Central Govt. is doing today:
“A cat cannot drink the milk infinitely by closing its eyes and hence assuming that nobody is noticing it”.
Of course, we Kannadigas are intelligent enough to understand what’s going on! Arise! awake!! Enough of the slumber, Kannadigas!
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I should have said “non-English, non-Kannada knowing” immigrants from the south, north, east, west, and central regions of the country.
Eastern Bengaluru is the dominion of Urdu and Tamil speakers. They have no need to learn Kannada. The majority of voters in Chamarajapete are Urdu and Tamil speaking. (Devegowda knew how to get their votes.) Jayanagara has large pockets of Hindi/Marwari speakers. Capital for industrialisation in Karnataka is not local; neither is the labour in a large number of cases. The coffee belt all the way from Chikkamagaluru to Kodagu has been de-Kannadised.
I am not troubled about the non-Kannada IT colonies because that is something which involves skilled, specialized labour.
I am thinking about the fate of Kannadigas who cannot earn a living by the sweat of their brow in their own land.
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@Pulikeshi : exactly, why did entire Karnataka become such a warm welcoming place to all other non-kannada speaking people? There were non-kannada people even before, who wud come to Karnataka, but wud soon become Kannadigas.. cos they needed Kannada to be here… No one ever complains abt Masti or Bendre or Kasturi… but the problem that has come into existence now is solely due to the policy of Central govt, it gave undue expansion place for Hindi.. due to which people who knew just tht language cud make their life here without having to become part of the mainstream
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@SomeOne and @Vasant:
You are absolutely right. Central Government policies are aimed at progressively eliminating all regional languages in favor of Hindi.
@Pulikesh the Last:
Before pointing fingers at others who have settled down in Karnataka, isn’t it our fault in the first place for not having taught Kannada to them? We owe a lot to them and their contributions. Because we couldn’t fill those jobs ourselves, they filled it. Just look at Mr. M. Even after having learned 4 languages (Punjabi, English, Sanskrit & Hindi), he learned Telugu in AP and Tamil while in TN. If AP and TN people can do it, why can’t Kannadigas? Doesn’t it show our lack of will? Why do we have to blame others for OUR lack of action and love for our language and people (swaabhimaana)?
Kuvempu said:
baarisu kannaDa DimDimava,
O! karnataka hrudaya shiva!!
sathantiharanu baDidecharisu, <—–
kachchaDuvaranu kooDisi olisu, <—–
hoTTeya kicchige kaNNir surisu
…
Can somebody complete this song? I couldn't catch all the lyrics.
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Found this blog in-line with the discussion here.
The central govt. is not just accused of imposing Hindi into the annals of its offices all across the nation, but straight into our homes as well, through the market. This is an even dangerous thing to happen to India.
We’re a market economy and the way a market works and behaves should not be controlled (to this depth) by the government. The govt. is getting simply over-ambitious to spread the Hindi blanket wide across the nation, in more ways than one. In fact in doing so, it is even stitching some hindi-like languages (like Mythili, Bhojpuri etc.) into this blanket, and in process making people of those languages forget their identities for eternity.
In fact I know some Marathis & Oriyas who have forgotten their mother tongues after getting bulldozed by Hindi in so many walks of life. Do we want this kind of brute-force blanketing of India, or do we want a diversity-tolerant unification of India? Do we want a beautiful, colourful India or a bland India with the same-old (stale) smell of Hindi?
In fact Mr Kiran’s question of that kind of unity which comes at the cost of my language & my identity is my question too.
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Aman has been unanimously selected for the “Hilarious post of the thread” award :)
Its the diversity of India which is the identical representative of this beautiful country.
Who said, people are feeling shy to talk Hindi..Its a fact that people in non-Hindi speaking states(Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bengal etc)do not see a need to speak in Hindi.
For me to speak a language or rather learn a language, It should either be the one which my ancestors have been speaking for ages(Segment I), or , it should be a language which can provide me the bread and butter(Segment II).
Hindi neither falls in segment-I nor segment-II..If Hindi falls in either of these segments in your life, you should respect it and thats your ‘dharma’.
But why try to enforce your dharma on others?
Why should one leave the country if they do not want to speak in Hindi?
They have their own sweet languages which are much older and logically better than Hindi..
Please understand that our country is INDIA and not HINDIA
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Pulikeshi the Last,
You raise valid concerns about the state of Kannada in Karnataka. But there are solutions. Only, we have to work hard at them.
Yes, you’re right that “not all Kannadigas in Karnataka can study in a language other than Kannada”. And I’m assuming you mean they don’t have the opportunity to study in English.
While many people look at this as a problem, it is not so. All over the world, speakers of language X don’t have the option of studying in a language other than X (including in the UK!).
However, worldwide, instead of feeling dejected and waiting for a meteor strike which can cause a mutation of human tongues which can turn them into English speakers, educators and governments have been strengthening their own languages, considering them as assets, not liabilities. The success has been phenomenal.
We Kannadigas have done some of that, too, under the aegis of the Mysore University in the ’70s, mainly, but there were some serious flaws in their approach to the problem (even in the definition of the problem!). And of course, their very understanding of what Kannada itself is was deeply flawed, owing to the thinking that Kannada either is or ought to become an Apabhramsha of Sanskrit. These flaws, together with caste-based divisions, have prevented the Mysore University programme from succeeding.
But we’re trying again, after understanding the reasons for past failures.
At Banavasi Balaga, we are committed to getting Kannada to be on par with English in being the chosen vehicle of the secular (bread-) sciences. Do take a look at http://www.ellarakannada.org for a snapshot of our activities in this arena.
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I noticed an interesting thing in DD Chandana.. which was telecasting a quiz program in Hindi on the occasion of Hindi pakhwada (sp?) thing. Being in hindi heartland (U.P), I know very well that all of them here think hindi is the national language and wonder why the southies don’t show some respect and learn it!
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Pradeep – This is one of the best examples of Hindi imposition..
DD Chandana is a dedicated kannada channel..Isn’t it unfortunate that a kannada channel is playing a Hindi program?
The reason is that the governments(Both state and central) are trying to impose Hindi in the best possible way..
Since Chandana is a government controlled/owned channel, they can telecast what ever they want..
The government is imposing Hindi through television, Text books and by many other means which is a threat to our federal system.
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@Prakasha
Well said. This is what is needed from Kannadigas. We should take it to the level where it would seem to be better than English or Hindi ( I am not mentioning that other languages are worse ), then definitely people will go in favor of it. But, due to Hindi divas kind of programmes, the government is trying to suppress Kannada and indirectly promote Hindi which would make people not to go in favor of Kannada. I am a Kannadiga and had been in Tamil Nadu for 2 years. I learnt the language to speak and read just by neccessity. Because people there wont speak anything other than Tamil.But, learning a new language doesnt harm you.
Anyone will try to save their language, be it a Kannadiga, Tamilian, Telgite or a Punjabi. This doesnt mean that we are not Indians. We love India as much as the people who speak/try to impose Hindi.
This blog was written to show concern about imposing Hindi over Kannadigas and as an eye opener to people who think that speaking in Hindi makes you an Indian.
Why cant people from outside learn the language of the land instead of expecting us to learn/speak theirs if they claim to be true Indians? Promoting just a single language across India, forcefully, just shows that they are not interested in India as a peaceful place where everyone and every language is equal and seen with respect.
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Kannadiga and Quintessential Kannadiga,
I understand people opposing calling Hindi the national language (and Tamil/Kannada classical language). It is foolish to say some languages are better than others just as foolish as arguing (and burning buses) over whether Badam puri is better or Mysore pak. There is nothinig superior nothing inferior.
However, Kiran Rao’s blog link goes extreme conspiracy theories like Kannadaigas need to produce more, population control, Hitler, Darwin and what not. I do not think there is a need to refute it as it does not deserve it. Just showing what he wrote is sufficient for such absurdity and that’s what I did. Come on, Kannadigas will go extinct? Give a break. These guys just love to play on your fears.
Moreover, If you ask my opinion, I do not care even if Kannada goes extinct. There are thousands of languages which have come and gone. Its in flux all the time. Do you think Kannada in 10th century is the same that we speak today? Kannada as those guys knew is already gone. Its futile to cry over it.
Languages are there for us. We are not there for it. So chill and enjoy your beer (or coffee).
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Dear Abhi,
There is nothinig superior nothing inferior.
Agreed. I’m thinking how it’s relevant here.
However, Kiran Rao’s blog link goes extreme conspiracy theories like Kannadaigas need to produce more, population control, Hitler, Darwin and what not. I do not think there is a need to refute it as it does not deserve it. Just showing what he wrote is sufficient for such absurdity and that’s what I did.
It is in the nature of Truth to neither appear nor appeal to those who do not seek it.
It is in the denouements of the pursuit of Truth for the seeker to be insulted and persecuted and falsely said evil words at. So it is not surprising that you insult me.
If you want to continue the dialogue, show me what is absurd, and I will withdraw it (email me at kiran AT banavasibalaga DOT org).
Come on, Kannadigas will go extinct? Give a break. These guys just love to play on your fears.
Do the math. I’ve got the TFR & Census data. Listen to the demographers. I’ve quoted them.
Moreover, If you ask my opinion, I do not care even if Kannada goes extinct. There are thousands of languages which have come and gone. Its in flux all the time. Do you think Kannada in 10th century is the same that we speak today? Kannada as those guys knew is already gone. Its futile to cry over it.
Extinction is different from evolution. Natural evolution is different from government sponsored coercive organ-grafting. You might want to revise your statement using this information.
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@abhi,
I second your thought that no language is better than other languages. But the point here is the people, who have migrated from north India thinks and demands that people in karnataka should also know Hindi, which is supposed to be the national language of India according to them. Again there is hidden agenda and a flawed policy of central government, which is trying to attain unity through one country – one language concept.
Reffering to Kiran’s blog things that have been discussed over there makes sense as we know that languages survives/ perishes with the population which speaks that language. Recent example is of “BO” language, which got extinct as the last person who spoke that language died. This language was considered to be the bridge for one of the world’s oldest languages.
http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2010/02/last-bo-speaker-dies.html
The point what i’m trying to make here is that language is not just the means of communication. The fear what liguists have is clearly described by British linguist David Crystal:
“We should care about dying languages for the same reason that we care when a species of animal or plant dies. It reduces the diversity of our planet. In the case of language we are talking about intellectual and cultural diversity.
Diversity occupies a central place in evolutionary theory because it enables a species to survive in different environments. Increasing uniformity holds dangers for the long-term survival of a species. The strongest eco-systems are those which are diverse. It has often been said that our success in colonizing the planet can be accounted for by our ability to develop diverse cultures which suit different environments. The need to maintain linguistic diversity stands on shoulders of such arguments”
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@Abhi,
You were absolutely right about languages being there for us and not the other way round. But the rest of what you said.. sounded sad.
It is a fashion among some people lately to take a very liberal (and indifferent) stance, and especially with globalization bringing in surprise challenges from unknown lands & skies, it seems to be wise (read hip) for one to show that s/he understands the nature of this challenge by accepting one’s own (destined) dooms-day in case you blink for long. Over here, you seem to have made a similar fashion statement with respect to Kannada language and the Kannadiga people.
I agree to the reason behind such fashion statements. But the question that remains for such people to answer is why do you have to blink even when you know doing so will erase you?! Now you may say that “one is bound to be erased from this planet some day or the other, then why bother?!” – but hey, why do you want to be killed when you have a natural death as your destiny? Scale that up to an entire people now.
Why would you like the head of some planning commission to instruct you how many kids you shall have and how many they in turn shall have? What makes you think this is the course of nature?! Giving up something just because its destiny is extinction, and using the past data to simply extrapolate that toward one’s future is, I am afraid, not even worth that beer (or coffee).
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There was a lot of hoopa hulla about Hindi and Hindi bashing and lots of efforts on English darling, without any reason. Apparently the bloggers here think that Southern States have done everything in India to bring it to state where it is as of now. They have zero problem in adapting to English but lots of problem in thinking about a language which has same roots as all languages of India. Hats off to the bloggers
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JC Moola – Nobody here is adapting English..We just feel that English is able to generate the food for the day..
Now, Do you get why English has become the darling overtaking Hindi..
Is Hindi able to feed people? If yes, please justify
And coming to your point of “same roots as all languages in India”
I am going a step ahead and I feel that English too has the same roots as all languages of the world”.
I would repeat that Hindi is also a beautiful language as all other Indian languages..
Nobody is bashing Hindi here but we all want the idea and motive behind “Hindi imposition to be bashed and be dumped into thrash”
You need to understand the point made by the blogger, Mr Kiran Batni in depth..
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@AMan:
Comments on your comment follow.
“… Hindi as our national language …”
Do your own research to convince yourself that Hindi alone is not the national language of India. Unfortunately, that lie has been drilled into people’s minds since childhood. If you tell a lie 100 times, don’t hope that one day it will become true.
Check this link:
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article94695.ece
Even when they registered the domain, it was “http://rajbhasha.nic.in” and not “http://rastrabhasha.nic.in”! They knew there’s going to be resistance :) Hindi is “raj-bhasha”, not “rastra-bhasha”. Raj-bhasha for those states (only!) where Hindi is the majority. Okay, no problem.
“… It is the identical representative of INDIA …”
Excuse me … will Hindi alone represent the whole of India? Sorry, dost. Here’s some news for you: Many people disagree! How can a language that is spoken by only 35% of the population represent the entire nation? Isn’t “Unity in Diversity” a core strength and identity of our country? By systematically suppressing native languages, aren’t we killing the rich diversity we have?
Check this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers_in_India
“… And anyone who feels shy to speak Hindi in front of others should immediately leave the country.”
LOL! Now this speaks volumes about you and this is absolutely NOT how my definition of a fellow Indian is. Sorry, no more comments. Period.
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Amar: Besides four states of south, there is no one who has any repugnancy against Hindi be it Maharashtra, Punjab, Himachal, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal etc. The Hindi hullaboo is south created and present in 4 states of south only. When you talk about bread and butter, yes, only English gives bread and butter but that is because it has got government support. I don’t think that anyone has imposed Hindi on anyone and people like Gandhi who was Gujarati had lots of idiosyncrasies but I am yet to find out one with his mooting for Hindi. If one looks at India, there is nothing as Hindi language except to some extent in state of UP and MP all other states have their own language, including parts of UP, MP like Maitheli, Bundeli, Bhojpuri. As far as understanding is concerned, Hindi acts as bridge in all states except South. You can blabber in your native language or English with a farmer in Maharashtra and know what communication you had.
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@@AMan:
“… And anyone who feels shy to speak Hindi in front of others should immediately leave the country.”
My conscience said I should not stop when I hear such comments. It was “below the belt” but we are mature Kannadigas and we can handle criticism constructively. And such comments and more importantly, ideologues are what we are all afraid of. After all, that is the very reason we are all debating here. That is the essence of this whole discussion: Hindiwallas want everybody to accept and adopt their language, while they don’t want to reciprocate. Back to square one!
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Gandhi wanted all Indians to learn Hindustani. If I am not mistaken, he was at least partly responsible for the creation of Dakshin Bharath Hindi Prachar Sabha.
Unrelated: I am entirely delighted when I see names with “RBVD” suffixed to them.
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JC Moola,
You obvisouly haven’t heard of the “repugnancy” faced by Hindi imposition in the north-east, and why, even in MH of late. Why do you think there’s all this opposition in states apart from the mere four you listed above?
And to add to that, I think opposition to Hindi imposition needs some education of the people, and that is found more in these states, and unfortunately, not in states like Bihar & MP. When they find out as well, that list of states will only grow.
And talking about roots of languages and stuff like that. I guess you have more homework to do here. Look up information about roots of languages like Hindi & English and their respective origins. And then look up origins of South Indian languages, what many call Dravidian languages. This is at the heart of differences that most people like you need to wake up to. Somehow people who stand for Hindi (imposition) are the ones that are unaware of these facts!
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Abhi,
Do u care if ur family is wiped out?
Kannada is not just language for us,its a culture and way of living.
We are concerned about its well being.
There is no point arguing with a person like you who thinks so lightly about languages.I am sure you dont have any love towards ur motherland,I know you are settled somewhere in the south.You people come here for money and fame,
you guys are not loyal to your homestate nor to the place which gives you bread.
Selfish moron.
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@JC Moola:
Besides southern states, WB, NE of India also have been expressing their views against Hindi imposition. You can get material abt tht on net. But, even if they hadn’t, it does not mean the south states must not. There is nothing wrong in it.
Hindi and Kannada do not have same root , not all Indian languages are from same root.
If not for the support and funding and policies of Central Govt, Hindi wud not have spread all over India. During the independence, Hindi had not played a role in integrating all Indians, I think English had bought together the like minded Indians. At every region, the language of tht place and the local leaders played a major role. If we could stand together as a nation then, oppose and drive out a foreign rule from our country then without Hindi, why now is it important that Hindi be seen as the one and only factor tht will just bring together all Indians by the wave of a magic wand?
I dont get wht u mean whn u say “You can blabber in your native language or English with a farmer in Maharashtra and know what communication you had.” … are you of the opinion tht every farmer, every human being in every nook and corner of India be made to learn Hindi so tht he/she can be prepared with tht when Someone who knows Hindi might visit him, stop by n ask him a question? Why not tht the person who is travelling learn wht he needs ???
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JC Moola:
It’s very simple, really. People like you have to understand what the problem is. The problem is, simply this: we do not like it when people from the North come here and demand/expect that everyone should know “Shuddh Hindi”, and ridicule those who do not.
India, being a liberal democracy, should not expect inhabitants of a particular region to speak a language which is as alien to them as English, if not more. South Indian languages are not close to Hindi in any way, why should South Indians learn Hindi, just to satisfy the whims of someone?
“yes, only English gives bread and butter but that is because it has got government support”
Here, you are talking through a rarely seen orifice. Most of us bloggers on churumuri work in private companies, and the Government has zilch to do with us in terms of our work.
“You can blabber in your native language or English with a farmer in Maharashtra and know what communication you had.”
You can blabber in YOUR native Hindi to a farmer in Karnataka and know what communication you had.
And one last point: your bullshit about Hindi being a ‘bridge’ is just that – bullshit. It is quite plain that you have not spoken to any farmers in any state. In West Bengal, “Kee Bolchen?” is the maximum response you will get to Hindi in most villages in WB, and in most non-Hindi speaking states. And have you forgotten so quickly how anti-Hindi Maharashtra is? Maybe you need a reminder? Some more BIMARUs need to be beaten up, perhaps?
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Glad we are back to a discussion of our nudi. Any info on what the KRV is doing these days to save and promote Kannada?
Just how many of our MP’s say anything in or about Kannada in Parliament?
Indian nationalism and Kannadism are mutually exclusive categories. For us nithya naraki kannadigas, Kannadism is more important than nationalism. I would not want to live in an India where my language has been destroyed by English or Hindi, or both.
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Warrior, Thanks for the name calling. and guessing I am settled “somewhere in the south”. Having seen many warriors linguistic chauvinism, one thing that’s clear to me is – language and culture are a museum to you. You do not want it to change just so that you can experience it in your free time and feel nostalgic. I am more concerned abt people living in it.
Perhaps that explains why only people from Bangalore/Mysore always jumping up and down. You wouldn’t see people in villages and small towns don’t give a sh*t abt it.
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Tulu, kodava and Konkani are in the UNESCO’s endangered list of languages.
http://bhashaghar.in/?p=1
The flawed language policy which just spends crores of tax payer’s money to promote one regional language over entire India is partly to blame for this. High time, GOI scraps the rajabhasha act and gets back to design a new language policy that treats all languages as equal, gives equal importance for the development of all languages.
Due to Rajabhasha Act’s insistance on hindi usage in central govt offices across India, slowly and steadily usage of Kannada is on the decline in all the central govt offices across Karnataka.
One such incident is here:
ನಮ್ಮೂರಿನ ಪೋಸ್ಟಾಫೀಸ್ ನಲ್ಲೊಂದು ದುಃಖದ ಪ್ರಸಂಗ :(
http://sampada.net/blog/vasantshetty/03/01/2009/15302
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Abhi,
Please show your concern to the people who speak this language and not only to migrants.
I come from a town from central karnataka.You are mistaken that only Bengaluru/Mysuru people are concerned.It is in Bengaluru where this assault on Kannada is happening by hindiwalas who have no respect whatsoever to any south indian languages.
As I told you, It shows your value when you equate a language to museum and so on.
This is the difference between US and YOU.
If safeguarding and caring for one’s own language makes you call me a Regional Chavunist,let it be.
Atleast I am not a fake Nationalist like you.
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@Abhi,
Who are you calling “linguistic chauvinists”? If we do not want Hindi in Karnataka, it is our choice. What is so chauvinistic about it? People who are trying to impose Hindi on us are the real chauvinists.
@JC Moola
If non-Hindi states like Mah, Rajasthan, Guj, Bihar etc have accepted Hindi it is their choice and we respect that. If Karnataka does not want Hindi it is our choice and that has to be respected.
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@ Sandeep
Rightly said about JC Moola…. bereyavru mannu tindru andre naavu tinbeka!
BTW, four southern states are not something to dismiss off with contempt. Afterall, these same “four southern states” are responsible for Indian economic development you are enjoying since last 2 decades!
@Amar
The stealth imposing of Hindi via govt owned channels must be strongly resisted… but how?
@Vinay
Well said… that JCMoola chap thinks that only four southern states do not want to speak in hindi… while the truth is as you have pointed out. However, I don’t think Moola will know anything about it… cause he/she has been drilled in their minds that Hindi is RajaBhasha/RashtraBhasha!
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Sandeep, Vinay, Sandhya etc
Some of you believe in Dravidian theory of Britishers/ Christians, that sparkles your intelligence. To who said talk to farmer in Karnataka in Hindi and see communication… I say talk to anyone who knows Hindi and is South Indian in South, he will feign ignorance.
As far as an individual’s choice is concerned, no one cares what language he/ she wants to speak.
In India, most of people can communicate in Hindi across states except South and place like North East. Any cosmopolitan city of India has Hindi as the communicating language with the exception if city is in South India.
Lastly no one imposed any language on anybody except English which was forced by Britishers. Southerners feel more comfortable in English and their native language then that rests with them. No one gives a damn to any regional language except people of that region.
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BTW, four southern states are not something to dismiss off with contempt. Afterall, these same “four southern states” are responsible for Indian economic development you are enjoying since last 2 decades!
In that sense, no one needs the four states. India has always been what it is without much contribution from the four states except maybe to casteism, untouchability. The four sates are free because of North Indians and all four will either be under crusaders or jehadis because of themselves.
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