Author: Prantosh Das Gupta
Publication: Indian Currents
Date: May 14, 2006
URL: http://www.indiancurrents.com/images/Archives/IC20pages.pdf
I recently visited a comparatively small city,
located in the South-West coast of our country, and was highly enchanted by
the cleanliness, amiable manners of the people and above all, the quality
of the transport as also of the food - their cheap rates, et al. Hindi, however,
remains a far cry and it was a difficult task to communicate.
"North-East wages battle against imposing
Hindi" was the headline of a news item in the New Delhi edition of a
leading newspaper on 27th January 2005, with an inset photograph of a cultural
personality, well-known all over the Country.
During a congregation in Mumbai from January
7 to 9, 2005, a prominent personality reportedly regretted that a lecture
was delivered in Hindi.
After the last General Elections, one very
prominent personality from the South, while talking to the Press in Hindi,
as figured in the TV news, commented 'I am talking in your language'
It was a stormy day in September 1962; thanks
to the gallant rickshaw-puller, I somehow, succeeded in getting into the Toofan
Express, at Agra Cantonment. All the compartments expect one, were vacant,
and anticipating that those might had been reserved from the Stations ahead,
I chose a vacant upper berth, of course, after due apology for interrupting
their discussions, and permission from the three occupants.
The oldest gentleman, aged around 60, was
wearing a fatua and a dhoti carelessly hanging below the knee - an epitome
of preindependence simplicity; the second gentleman, aged around 50, was wearing
also a dhoti and punjabi - somewhat, similar to the Bengali style.
The third gentleman - the youngest - was wearing
a trouser and a bush shirt, hanging over the pant, and giving somewhat a tense
look, may be due to the interruption I caused to the on-going discussion.
After I settled down, he restarted the discussion, and expressed, sternly,
his dissatisfaction with the address made by the President to the Houses,
for speaking in English, and not in Hindi - that too after working as Vice-President,
for long ten years.
I rather discourteously, but with apology,
interrupted now, in a different way, and innocuously enquired 'Why should
he talk in Hindi'?.
I, of course, did not raise the issues of
the protracted differences in opinions, from 1945, apart from the time taken,
as to the unanimous acceptance and roadmap for adoption of Hindi, as Official
Language, as also the proviso of the Article 343.
I could see his face turning red with anger,
and he scolded me saying 'because Hindi is the official language of India',
and looked to his colleagues for support. 'See the condition of our youths
- they even do not care to know what is our official language'.
"Why should Hindi be the official language
in India'? I innocently asked.
'B -e-a-c-a-u-s-e, it is the mass language.'
'When you talk of mass, you forget that there
is mass in Kerala, there is mass in Madras, there is mass in Andhra Pradesh,
there is mass in Orissa … ' I went on naming all the non-Hindi speaking
States, one by one.
'You mean we won't be having any State language,
and in a country like India where illiteracy is so high, we shall continue
to live with a foreign language.'
'Definitely not', I coolly responded.
'Then let us hear from our young friend what
should be the language.'
'Hindi', I coolly replied.
The gentleman was exasperated, 'Are you joking?'
'How can I do so with elderly people like
you? No, I am only trying to point out that a decision which was so obvious,
has created so much of agitations and protests, all over the country, against
the imposition of Hindi. Further, there is, in the very interest of our nation,
no scope to undermine the role of English'.
"Up with Hindi" and "Down with
Hindi" slogans, I continued, 'have been ravaging the country drawing,
unnecessarily, artificial lines of disintegrations. I still remember a cartoon
appearing on the front page of a leading newspaper with these slogans, dividing
the country, and agitators with torches in hands and flames all around. Hindi
might have been included in the texts at the primary level, and automatically,
the language would have reached the furthest kitchens, and gained affectionate
acceptance; in fact, with so many burning problems all around, engulfing the
nation, there was no hurry for fast implementation of Hindi, as also the linguistic
States.'
Suddenly, the Ticket Checker appeared to verify
the tickets and reservations. I was sitting by the side of the oldest gentleman
who affectionately, kept his hand upon my shoulder, and told 'we are four
MPs here'. Seeing the sudden anxiety and apologetic look upon my face, he
gave me a warm pat and affectionately, offered me a part of the Chapattis
and Gur, he was going to take for lunch.
This dialogue, after more than four decades,
may not be an exact reproduction of what transpired on that day, but is recalled
to establish the theme.
I had a Tamilian friend - a brilliant engineer
who was opposed to Hindi. He was transferred from Lucknow to Secunderabad
and while, I was in the city, I called on him. He had some problems with his
shoes, and both of us went to a cobbler. He tried to explain the difficulty
in Telugu, but failed to communicate; he then tried Tamil, again without any
success. With no option left, he tried Hindi, and the cobbler readily understood.
I smilingly commented 'Do you realize the importance of Hindi in our national
life'.
There was, in fact, a proposition, in Tamil
Nadu, of granting pension to anti-Hindi agitators which was, of course, not
approved by the Supreme Court. Whereas, in the Indian National Army (INA)
which was a congregation of the spirited and emotionally bonded people, originating
from every nook and cranny of the Country, Hindustani - as Netaji named it,
was respectfully, accepted as the official language, without any kind of dispute;
and even the foreigners had to learn the language, and the commands.
The country right from the 40's, has been
succumbing to the spates of fissiparous tendencies of different shades and
dimensions. People who more or less, peacefully lived together, with mutual
affection and respect and understanding and tolerance, as also spirit of nationalism,
over centuries and centuries, suddenly, have been waking up by polarization,
and resorting to, with direct or indirect backing of the parties, violence,
riots, even interstate disputes in the names of water, religion, boundary,
language, caste, or ethnic identity.
I had the privilege to visit a large number
of places all over the country, and been delighted to feel the undercurrent
of strong unity and affection all over. Side by side, I had also been appreciating
- notwithstanding my sketchy knowledge, the importance of Hindi. It is an
enthralling journey - a pilgrimage, through widely different but harmonious
and enchanting, geographical terrain, people, food habits, dresses, totems
and taboos, cultures and languages of a great civilization, dating back to
7500 B.C.
In India, there are 1,652 mother tongues,
and more than 33 languages are spoken by a population of over just 1 lakh.
In the evolutionary process, Hindi carries a large number of basic Sanskrit
words which are also present, in plenty, in all other languages, including
the South Indian languages
In the pre-Sanskrit culture, 'Proto-Dravidian
was spoken throughout India'; Brahui - spoken by a section of people in Baluchistan
as also language spoken in Rajmahal mountains in West Bengal, and the areas
near Chota Nagpur in Bihar, now in Jharkhand - has many linguistic features
similar to Dravidian language in the South India; according to some archeologists,
even the Indus script is Dravidian.
The presence of Dravidian words - handful
though, in the Rgveda - and Sanskrit words ignoring those added later, in
Tamil, also speak of the cultural intermingling and semblance, burgeoned later
by the Aryans. The underlying philosophy was strong enough to ignore and overcome
the insurmountable barriers of languages, hilly terrain, rivers, jungles,
wild animals and hostile residents, and of course, to inspire the assiduous
journeys over thousands and thousands of miles, from north to south and east
to west, and vice versa.
Hindi has yet another unique quality that
it gets easily interfaced with the local languages; thus, there is Mumbai
Hindi, Kolkata Hindi, Tamil Nadu Hindi and so on. Further, the language has
unique flexibility and is easily adaptable and communicative, though few words
carry different meanings at different places.
It has also to be recognized that the Hindi
films had played and have been playing a big role in popularizing the language,
all over. Had Hindi, from the very beginning - when the spirit of nationalism
was high - been taught only in the primary levels in non-Hindi zones, as I
had suggested to the three dignitaries, it would have reached the furthest
kitchens and would have slowly gained affectionate acceptance. And the feelings
of impositions, pervading perpetually, over decades and decades, would have,
ostensibly, never generated; with time, the Official Order - rather the necessity,
would have automatically found its passage. Though it is not a direct comparison,
the way Salwar Kurta has spread, all over the country, even in the most conservative
areas, speak of the convenience.
Incidentally, it is very sad that most of
us even do not know the scripts of our regional languages. Though late, it
will be mutually respectful, if the scripts with small sentences, regional
folklore and life sketch of the national dignitaries who contributed to the
struggle for freedom and enrichment of values and cultures, are taught at
the primary level.
With the ever increasing to and fro movements
of the people from regions to regions, the importance of a common language,
which is unquestionably Hindi, has further multiplied. In the national interest,
we should try to appreciate its indispensability, and Hindi will, definitely,
be a binding force and stand well-above any controversy.
(E-mail: prantoshdg@rediffmail.com)
