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Dr. Subramanian Swamy while celebrating Hindu Unity Day in US made the following comment:
He also suggested that Sanskrit, not Hindi, to be made the link language of India as it connects Indians to their past.
I have studied Sanskrit for 5 years and studied in Hindi medium school for 10 years and I can safely say that neither are link language of India. English for all practical purposes is the link language and I see no reason to discontinue it. This is our strength in the global economy enabling us to steal some business from China because of our language ability.
Hindi can not be a link language because there is much opposition to it not only in South but also Eastern India. Plus, they have Sanskritized Hindi so much that even I have difficulty understanding it, what about people who have minimum education in this language.
Sanskrit is a great language but I doubt if it ever was a speaking language. This is a great language to learn to get access to lot of ancient Indian wisdom, tradition and literature but nothing beyond that.
It is time to bring “Hindustani” back, which is an easy to understand language that have words that can be understood by both Hindi and Urdu speakers. Broaden its horizon by introducing words from local language and I am sure most of Indians even non-Hindi and non-Urdu speakers will prefer it over Hindi or Urdu.
Since Hindustani is associated with ganga-jamni tehzeeb and belongs to people of India, no one can associate it with any religion and tradition. It represents best of the Indian tradition and truly represent a modern India. Hindustani, as a language belongs to the people of India and can be linked to the bazars and streets of India.
This language can be officially in all the major scripts of India including roman. With software tools available it is not that difficult to convert one script to another.
Hindustani can also be given an international push and it can find lot of people who are willing to list it as one of the language that they speak. This will give English a run for its money, Hindustani TV channels, radio programs, and movies can win lot of converts not only in South Asia, but West Asia, Europe and US. This can be a big opportunity for India to have a great influence on a large number of world population fitting perfectly well with India’s aspirations for the future.
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Kashif,
excellent post. Sanskrit can be promoted on its own merits, and is a language of historic importance in India, in addition to a matter of cultural pride. It is not un-secular to promote or teach it, and defining it as “hindu” language is incorrect. But there is no way it can, or should, serve as the national or link language; this type of suggestion is the product of the man’s ideology, and not a product of considering what would be best for the country.
One thing that hasn’t been discussed is the impact that the differential demographics and economic status of the Northern and Southern states might have on this. Basically, there are many more children born in the North than in the South, and the Southern population may actually be shrinking, while the Northern continues to explode. But economics in the South are better. India might be a microcosm of what happens in the rest of the world – might we see folks from poorer, more over-populated places in India migrating to the South? And, bringing their Hindi or Hindustani language with them? It gets easier to move all the time. How might the South Indians respond to this (indeed, it is probably already happening to a minor extent?) Most people don’t like it when migrants (note that I said migrants, not immigrants) change their cultural landscape.
[quote post="338"]Don’t tell me Raolin! There is a whole department whose job is to come up with archaic word replacements for common urdu words used in hindi. If today we find DD Samachar difficult to understand, it is not for nothing.[/quote]
Which department’s job is to come up with ‘archaic’ (according to you) word replacements for common urdu words used in hindi?
If YOU find DD Samachar difficult to understand, the same department also brings urdu Khabaren and DD news.
Sanskrit has definitely its merits as a link language. Though Telugu and Kannada count as Dravidian languages, more than 80 % of the literary vocabulary is derived from Sanskrit. I am a Telugu speaker, and I can understand Sanskrit more easily than I can Hindi. If not for the Bollywood movie industry, Hindi vocabulary has no takers in the South of India. My language Telugu has an enormous borrowing of vocabulary from Sanskrit and there are several cases where a common Telugu word is closer to a Sanskrit derivation than among the so called Indo Aryan languages. Like any other language in India, Telugu also has a huge borrowing of words from English. And also surprisingly, a substantial borrowing of Persian words through Urdu. But, this vocabulary is extremely different from Hindi/Hindustani.
Telugu is the second most spoken language in India with 80 million speakers. You cannot afford to not listen to their voice.
I think personally is better to make a compostion language without words from abroard. A composition language from north and south mixed up together this was also planned in europe with esparanto.
Purge all alien words because this is a thorn in india.
Make a language mixed with indegious wordsss.
As someone from Kerala, I have no problem with Hindi and/or English as the national “link” language. Sanskrit and Tamil *are* India’s classical languages, but there’s no point pushing these down the throats of unwilling fellow-Indians. Time to make a pragmatic and sensible decision here and cast off silly one-upmanship.
However, I *do* feel that all Hindus must learn Sanskrit, in addition to their mother tongues. Sanskrit is not only one of mankind’s most ancient languages, it’s also the language in which Hinduism’s most sacred texts are written and it’s one that’s inextricably linked to our country. It’s tremendously fulfilling to realize that as a Hindu, your cultural roots and your links to India can be traced to the times “when history began”, as it were.
Arun Nair
Agree with you on your sentiments on Sanskrit.
I as muslim feel the same way for Arabic – the language of the Quran,the Hadith and numerous other classical works by the great ulama like Imam Ghazali etc..
After going through the article and the comments of the fellow-readers, I feel that Hindi / Hindustani should be the link language for India. My feeling is also justified based on my personal experience some 15-16 years ago.
In one of my bus trips from Guwahati to Karimganj in South Assam, the trip involved moving into 3/4 states before reaching Silchar. Being a Hindi speaking person, I was very surprised to find that the common link language between the commuters was not Assamese / Bengali, but Hindi. Beacuse of many small states and difference of language in each state in the North East, Hindi was the most convenient language for the people.
Similarly, I studied in Mysore for 2 years and most of the times, in outside bazars buses etc., I could converse with more people in Hindi than in English. All this happened before the IT revolution when large scale movement of Hindi speaking people in Bangalore & Mysore had not happenned.
Based on these experiences, i think Hindi is the most convenient link language for the masses of India. I think beacuse of practical considerations and necessity, Hindi /Hindustani will promote itself and will not require any government imposition.
My personal opinion is that language can be enriched and propagated through soft power — Bollywood, tv channels etc rather than through government imposition. One of the latest such example is Bhojpuri language, which was not given much recognition beyond the Bojpuri speaking people, and now beacuse of the migrant population and soft power of tv channels / Bhojpuri movies, it has come into the cultural melieu of the non-Bhojpuri speaking people also.
pity, we Indians are forced to learn Hindi all our lives, and even sanskrit.. pity.
I am happy with Kannada – my mother tongue and English the international language.
Sanskrit is a language not confined to any religion or a region.She is beyond every diversity we have.She is the mother of all indian languages and has even been a fundamental framework of many foreign languages including English.She has the power to bridge the gaps between each of us(state,religion,language).She is the most ancient heritage of this great land and she rightly deserves her honour.Besides,most of the regional languages have their roots in Sanskrit.So it will not be a problem in learning the language.I wish Sanskrit is encouraged in every institution.The language always plays a major role in improving the character(a character which is of utmost purity) of a person and I feel Sanskrit can transform an individual towards a honest and an enlightened life.From my 8 year study of Sanskrit i personally feel that Sanskrit language if made India’s national language can imbibe moral and ethical values in every individual and its study can make life a lot worthy and inspiring.I,myself have experienced its divinity and the beautiful words it has can never be found in any other language.I strongly feel that Sanskrit should be made India’s national language,further it should be taught in every educational institution in the world.Please,let us not oppose any language on the basis of a bias towards any religion.Every language is great,only the potential of every language is different and Sanskrit,i feel(sincerely,i have seen Sanskrit in an unbiased perspective) has a great potential.
I think the link language for all people today should be English. I am a Tamil and have very poor knowledge of Hindi or Sanskrit and find it quite an ‘alien’ language though English could also be called the same. However, my medium of instruction was English. Incidentally, one of the key reasons for India to have an edge over China in the IT and services sector is its large English speaking workforce.
Today, English is more important to learn and master than any other simply because of its necessity. Most scientific and practical knowledge, today, is in English more than any other language.
If the purpose of a language is to link people through their education and interaction irrespective of their cultural/national background (Indian or otherwise) then English fits that more than any other today.
This is not to say that people should STOP learning other languages or be indifferent towards their culture. They may very well be proficient, expressive and be proud of/in their own language while being expressive and proficient in English.
In short, a language of necessity is more relevant than a language of interest though sometimes (like for linguists and professors) both could be the same.
i’m in favor of english..not only it is basic need to get the job but also u can exposed to scientific world…hindi is just like other indian regional languages..not more than that..
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