We have a big nation. Let’s have a big heart by keeping our fragile egos at bay

“If you talk to a man in the language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” — Nelson Mandela

Some days ago, I’d posted a picture on Instagram that I had clicked in Tamil Nadu. It shows a signboard, which says ‘Pick Up Point’ in English and ‘Lene Ki Jagah’ in Hindi. And the caption was, ‘This is what happens when you force Hindi on south India’. It had surely generated laughs, but when I read the comments on that picture, I got a lot of flak, too. Which I couldn’t understand. I’d written an article called ‘Vernacular’, a couple of months ago. It was an ode to my mother tongue — Hindi. Towards the end, I had said that we should look within and place Hindi above English. That was all great. Loving your language is one thing, placing your language over a global one is also fine, but getting too obsessive about it with a sense of superiority is deplorable. How can we force Hindi on south and north-east India? They hardly speak the language.

Yes, Hindi cinema and songs have a wider reach and that’s the Wren and Martin of non-Hindi speakers, but the expectation from people residing in all parts of the country to alter their language of thought overnight would be a big mistake in a pluralistic nation like India. The priority right now is the development of our country and an over thrust should not be put on preservation of culture and heritage. It comes second. Even if you say that heritage should be preserved, as an argument, let south and north-east states preserve their culture. Let’s not force them to learn an alien language like Hindi. The non-Hindi states don’t speak the language in their homes. It’s either the native language or English. Hindi is known to them only through cinema and songs. And that’s great. Bollywood holds our country together in terms of a common form of entertainment. Art is the mother tongue of the universe. And because of cinema, which is our country’s national art, Hindi has also gained more popularity. No wonder it’s the lingua franca. Throughout my college days, I’ve done theatre and public-speaking in Hindi. My love for Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu is immense. And because of this love, I empathise with the people of different states and their various languages. Let them love their mother tongue and let them prosper. Yes, we call our language mother tongue because in this great era of feminism the father hardly gets to speak.

“An art of expression should begin with childhood, and the lucid use of one’s mother tongue should be typical of that art. The sense of reality should be strengthened from the beginning, yet by no means at the cost of those lofty illusions we call patriotism, veneration, love.” — Lois Sullivan

Some people believe that the desire to be a global citizen makes us less patriotic. Well, it’s not true. This is what politics that abuses linguistic differences can do to us. Patriotism is not merely in a language or in supporting a cricket team. It is a strong internal emotion. All the patriotic Hindi chest-thumpers should realise that Hindi has been influenced by Persian and Arabic. If you really are talking about ‘purity’, then you should revere the Dravidian languages. They are 100 per cent Indian without any ‘adulteration’. Tamil is the oldest classical language in the world. So, Hindi cheerleaders should take it easy. And this statement comes from a passionate Hindi lover. Though Hindi is the most popular and widely-spoken language of our nation we can’t make it mandatory for non-speakers. That’s what happened in Bangladesh (erstwhile east-Pakistan), when Urdu was forced on Bengalis before 1971. We are a democracy and we have to give respect to each and every language and culture of our nation. And to be fair, let’s make English the common link.

English has been a part of our culture, too. We can’t erase the British Raj from our history. They have ruled us. They have given us the railways, right-hand drive cars, our magnificent Parliament House, a well structured Lutyens Delhi, Mumbai’s Gateway of India, Delhi’s pride India Gate and a global language — English. And the reality is, we are quite decent in English. That’s why we get jobs in other countries. We are preferred over Chinese nationals mostly because of this. Else, they are the most hard-working and ambitious ones. India is also one of the most favoured tourist destinations because of its linguistic flexibility. As a nation, we have no option, but to be flexible. We have 23 official languages including Hindi and English. Let’s respect all and be fair. Mahatma Gandhi said, “A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.”

We have a big nation. Let’s have a big heart by keeping our fragile egos at bay.