Indians hate Hindi?
By coffeechat
@coffeechat (1961)
New Zealand
57 responses
@banta78 (4326)
• India
5 Feb 07
Hey it's wrong to say that only north indians speak hindi as in metropolitan cities like New Delhi & mumbai have mixed population which is expanding and lot of people from south India and north east are proud to speak Hindi as it is our national language. Besides everyone watches bollywood films all over the country which is in Hindi language.
@ashjoe76 (1422)
• India
4 Feb 07
I think there still more space to reflect on this. I am a South Indian, and I have nothing against Hindi. I watch Hindi movies, I love Hindi literature, and respect Hindi as a language. But, if you ask why some people, especially South Indians, hate Hindi, there could be a few valid reasons. I would like to dwell into them, instead of false glorifications. India, as a country is a concept based on the unity it had to gain during the freedom fight, and for the same reason, is a colonial construct. I mean, before the British empire, Indian was a number of scattered princely states. After freedom, when the democratic government treid to implement the concept of nationality, based on the European norm, and brought in symbols like a national language, a national dress, a national birf, a national fdlag, a father of the nation and things like that, it was an attempt at homgenization in the name of nationality. Many people would not have felt comfortable in it. For instance, in the language issue, Hindi is the mother tongue of the North Indians and nothing else is imposed on them in school other than Hindi, as a language. English, though the colonial language, is studied by all out of their choice, as it is an international language and edcuation all over the world is mostly in the English medium, and in some fields like computers, it has become a must, mainly due to the American dominance. So, in South India, when children are asked to learn both English and Hindi, both of which are foreign to them, Hindi more so because it is less represented in official circles or institutions like hospitals, they find it very difficult to cope with. Just imagine a situation where a north indian child is asked to learn a south indian language and english at school, and you can see that they will definitely protest. since Hindi has failed to gain any international significance than any of the south indian languages, there is not motivation behind learning it as a language other than for the fad of being patriotic. So, I would say that the choice of Hindi as a national language was flawed. As I said, I have nothing against it as alnguage, but I am speaking from the political perspective. People who love languages in general will agree that Hindi is wonderful and intelligent as a language, but for those who take education as a means to get good employment (and in South India, you can't question that attitude as we know how badly people need employment) Hindi can be a burden at school. A similar situation would be the case in the US where Spanish is more or less forced in schools and they protest, saying that they do not need to learn a language which they are not interested in, for the sake of some government policy. To see and respect Hindi as the national language may be a good vision, but it fails pragmatically when it is forced in schools where it is not the mother tongue, along with one more foreign language, English. In the states which are closer to Hindi speaking areas, like Hyderabad, they have nothing against speaking both Telugu and Hindi, but their Hindi is slightly different from Mumbai Hindi. It's all a question og geographical and cultural differences.
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
4 Feb 07
Thank you. This now establishes that while people enjoy Bollywood movies even if they are non-Hindi speaking they resent being forced to study Hindi in schools in most parts of India.
First would be to clearly establish that this is indeed the case, and then to see what can be done to help diffuse the resentment.
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
4 Feb 07
Ashjoe, This is an intelligently argued response. Thank you . Your contribution opens up the debate well.
1. Hindi was mandated by a newly independent country as a national language - without regard for regional needs.
People whose native (mother tongue) is not hindi, numbering over 700 million people are force to learn the language.
There is much resentment about being forced to learn Hindi, which is effectively a foreign language for non-hindi speakers, e.g. Maharashtra or Punjab or Karnataka or Assam, Bengal etc.
2. English is the language of choice for education, because of better opportunities, since English is the language of technology and business, both within India and internationally.
@preetshweety (1046)
• India
5 Feb 07
I Luv HINDI. No 1 can hate their Mother tongue.
In todayz world, u got to know English coz its d Lingua Franca. In every country a common language is English, so if u know it, u wont face problems, but that doesnt mean to hate HINDI.
@preetshweety (1046)
• India
5 Feb 07
Ya I feel d same. All my family memebers are well educated, but we speak in HINDi. All my friends communicate in hindi, we rarely use english though we educated from English Medium.
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
5 Feb 07
Fantastic. The feedback is that the Assamese, Bengalis, Oriya, Punjabis - in other words the non-native Hindi speakers hate Hindi because they are forced to study it in school and college.
It puts a burden on them and takes away the value of their language.
English is, as you say the lingua franca.
@lauriefnp (5109)
• United States
6 Feb 07
I am not Indian, but I found reading through the responses here to be very interesting. First of all, I finally found out what Bollywood movies were- I've been meaning to look that up and just haven't gotten to it yet. Second, I did not realize that so many different languages were spoken in India and that language is such a social and political area on contention among the Indians. I made the wrong assumption that all Indians spoke one language, just as all native-born Americans speak English. I would think that this is a major issue which needs to be resolved before India can unite and advance as more of a power in the International world. If not, India will continue to have states where the people are living in oppression and extreme poverty. Am I correct????
@lauriefnp (5109)
• United States
10 Feb 07
This was an awesome comment! I always learn so much reading your posts. Your last paragraph sums up my sentiments: India is "shooting itself in the foot" with its policies regarding language. They will never fully develop as a prosperous nation until they resolve these issues and change their policies.
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
6 Feb 07
You are right!
India has ten times the population of the US in an area that is about half the size.
Looking at the history of unification in Europe for example, you will notice that Italy unified by Garibaldi and Germany unified by Metternich had language as a central theme. German unification was a bit more total, breaking away from the Church of Rome had its benefits!
In Italy we still see the "north/south divide" in language. food, culture etc., whereas in Germany the distinctions are not so sharp.
In the US for instance, I find the hangover of the Confederate/Unionist to be quite charming. The southern states have distinctive cultural, language, music and even food. We have enjoyed immersing ourselves in the differences during our travels.
India's challenges are vastly more complex. 70% of India's population derives its livelihood from subsistence agriculture. Aside from the tapestry of different languages, culture, ethnic origins, caste, religion they face the problem of poor distribution.
I would be so bold as to say that oppression in India is more economic oppression, because with a sound Constitution and Judiciary, the principles of equality is enshrined.
It will take many decades of sustained prosperity and equitable distribution for India feel truly proud of her achievements.
Like everything else, there are not complete or correct answers.
On the language issue however, among the post colonial countries I admire Nigeria's language policy which eliminates language as a contention between the three major linguistic groups - the Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo. On attaining independence from Britain, they adopted English as the Official language - and lo and behold, no contention.
The Philippines went the way of India, where a minority language, Tagalog was forced upon the rest of the country. The Visayans whose language is very different and their splintered language group comprises about 60% of the population. The political language policy has resulted in such a drop of English language standards - we can see this in mylot posts.
India may well be advised to revisiting her Constitution and acknowledging that fact that there are less that 300 million people are native Hindi speakers.
While India may have the largest number of English speakers in the globe, the government's language policy has marginalised English resulting in losing what was originally their strength.
Sndcain had a post - Do they have Intenet in Caves? This brings to focus the quality of posts from India and the Philippines, both of who have claims to being fluent in English.
It is the national language policy in these countries, I would consider responsible for this poor showing.
So while hate is a harsh term to use, language policy can be divisive and inherently inimical to consolidation and growth of these countries. Because growth can only come from internationalisation and not from some petty domestic language policy.
1 person likes this
@rohit2703 (201)
• India
4 Feb 07
you are wrong.no one hate hindi language in india ,i belongs to south india and i love to speak in hindi more than my mother tounge telugu .
@manoj131 (74)
• India
4 Feb 07
Here in india since our freedom..we r being moulded 4 english medium higher educations like medical,dental,egineering ..etc.we cant study in our regional langauge or else in hindi.For better understanding and 2 make it easier parents started forcing children 2 english medium .Wid english medium study 4 abt 8-10.hw can any1 b comfortable wid regional langauge .And ofcourse english is being focused as a royal n prestigious .this made many ppl 2 hate mothertounge n own culture .
2 people like this
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
18 Feb 07
Yes manoj, it is true that most Indian parents support their children studying in English Language schools. This is their passport to university education and good employment opportunities.
With more Indians having their mother tongue different from Hindi, eg Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Gujrati, Tamil, Malayalam they are very unhappy about being force to study Hindi at school Thank you for posting.
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
12 Mar 07
fundoo, hindi is not the lingua franca of India as you claim. Of the approximately 1.1 billion people in your great country less than 300 million speak hindi as their mothertongue.
It certainly is an emotive and divisive issue and many people do not see any value or traction in being forced to study hindi. Many of these are the Punjabis, Maharashtrians, Bengalis and the South Indians who do not agree to the burden of another language for their school going children.
@shi_2000_21 (2680)
• India
26 Mar 07
look cofeechat I am south Indian but i love Hindi more than Tamil. Because it has the ingredient to unite the india under one language. besides it is our national language, we should show some respect towards it.
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
26 Mar 07
If you love hindi more than Tamil - good for you.
I suggest you read at least some of the posts and responses on this thread. You will learn that Hindi is NOT the national language of India.
It is one of the official languages.
Thank you.
@20031969 (932)
• India
22 Feb 07
have you met indian who hates hindi. please explain his name with full contact number so that i can interact with him for his disliking. Hindi is our mother tongue and we should not be ashamed of using this language. have you heard once Mr. Bajpaee delivered his speech in hindi at UNO.
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
23 Feb 07
Yes I have met many Indians, both in India and abroad. I think it is a good idea if you read the responses by many Indians in this thread.
The full name of your former Prime Minister is Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee. (not Bajpaee)
Your number of posts is currently 420. Article 420 of your Indian Penal Code deals with the implied nature of your request for contact telephone number.
Why dont you read the Post, responses and return with a suitable response? Thank you.
@sunilkonda (1215)
• India
12 Mar 07
Hey May be u might have met people particularly from south India state called Tamil Nadu,
They hate Hindi really but no other state of our country hates hindi..
Iam from south India and Hindi is not my mother tongue even then i learnt hindi and talk hindi
Hindi is Indian Natioanl language....
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
12 Mar 07
First point. Hindi is an Official Language, it is not a National Language.
Second - only a few states, particularly the so called "cow belt" have Hindi as their Official Language.
Third, people from many non-Hindi speaking states have said that they hate the imposition of Hindi in the education system, road signs etc. A Gujrati or Punjabi has no particular affinity for Hindi nor does a Telegu, Tamil, Kannada or Malayalee. Neither a Bengali or a Cutchi or Bihari or Oriya person feels the need for Hindi to be imposed on them.
@abhiquest (579)
• India
6 Feb 07
No apart from being the National language Hindi is my mother tongue. I love it.
1 person likes this
@totalearnings (1603)
• India
23 Feb 07
i dont know what makes you say that. but i being from south india find it more nice to converse in hindi. further in north where i stay hindi is basic language used as a medium. but in metros like delhi i feel people are more fashioned to speak in english. but that doent mean that they hate hindi. based on some peoples reaction one cannot generalise that indians hate hindi....
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
23 Feb 07
totalearnings, have you noticed the question mark at the end of the statement? This is called a rhetoric question, which is the basis of debate and discussion.
Thank you for your view.
@pratikjain (51)
• Indore, India
24 Feb 07
I think there is a lack of unity in Indian people surely. India is a large country both in terms of land and in terms of culture, language, eating habits and so on. If you observe other countries like USA, France etc, their people almost have the same culture. But in India, language changes after very small distances. Another problem is that Indians don't respect each other's traditions and culture. I am also agreed to non-Hindi speaking people that they should not be forced to learn English. But you know one thing, this kind of pressure is also there for Hindi speaking people. In states like Maharashtra and Karnataka, Marathi etc state language is necessary to learn in schools. Now if they don't want to learn Hindi, why will a Hindi speaking person like to learn Marathi or Kannad.
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
27 Feb 07
Thank you pratikjain, each state is allowed to choose its own Official Language. Only 10 of the States have chosen Hindi.
Would you believe, Goa and Pondicherry have Portugese and French among their Official Languages.
You have a great country with a huge potential for development.
@nationalcity (358)
• United States
30 Mar 07
I do not think any Indian would hate Hindi, but some may not like it. Not liking is different than hating. There is an opposition to Hindi in some south Indian state and it has nothing to do with the language. Soon after the formation of Indian states some political powers enforced Hindi (Being the National language) starting from the primary school. This was not welcomed by some of the southern states. The political divide and rule policy further fueled this difference of opinion and slowly bringing in a dislike towards Hindi. Today the situation has changed. Bangalore has a mixed crowd of different language and Hindi is second most popular language. In fact Hinglish is quite popular in Bangalore , which is a mixture of Hindi and English. Hindi in Mumbai (Formerly known as Bombay) has a tinge of marati and urdu. English is widely spoken in southern states though one can manage with Hindi. State of Tamilnadu had a strong opposition to the enforcement of Hindi education earlier but today it is much diluted. May be the rural regions still say a strict No to Hindi but not the Urban community. The growing economy is distributing the business community all across the country which is another reason for this change.
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
30 Mar 07
Thank you. You make several good points.
1. The popularity of "Hinglish" particularly among the metropolitan youth and on television.
2. The potential for anti-Hindi action in Bangalore, is probably the highest in India. Bangalore has a hugely disaffected Kannada and Tamil population which has been marginalised during the recent growth years.
Anti-Hindi action is already taking place in small ways with autorickshaw drivers, minor local bureaucracy making things difficult for non-south Indians and such. The groundswell of sentiment is very strong.
For all the so called education, there are very few people who seem to understand the truth about Hindi.
1. It is only an Official Language. It is not your National Language.
2. Only 10 States in your country use Hindi as an official language.
It is understandably an emotive issue for many people and the Hindi zealots have generally been beaten back.
India education system needs a strong dose of english, if the level of competitiveness is to be maintained.
Cheers!
@GADHISUNU (2162)
• India
21 Aug 09
Coffeechat, I have followed the various responses to this discussion and I find that you are a very keen student of History and may be of Political Science too.The fact that you have made a fine distiction between RajabhaaShA and rAShTrabhAShA, referring again to the Indian Constitutional declaration- the distinction that has been made by the founding fathers between National Languages, and the Official Language. To have an Official Language is an imperative.There must be some language to communicate to people in all parts of India. Hindi was chosen to be this link language by the founding fathers, as Mahatma Gandhi the Father of our Nation and one of greatest leaders of the Freedom Movement, preferred and propagated Hindi as the Link language. His close associate C.Rajagopalachari, was an ardent proponent of English as the link/National/Official Language. The reasons for CR's insistence on English was that it is truly equidistant to all the languages of the subcontinent at the same time a language that opened the window to the world-an International Language.
The stress on the National Languages- or, as our people, I mean Indians would better understand the regional languages- has weakened Indians' hold on the English Language, which is still the language of Higher Education, and the main reason for India being an Educational Tourism destination. India is able to have an edge over China or Japan in the Software Industry, only due to the majority of her technically trained humanpower is very comfortable with English, and in addition, if they were English school educated is very proficient too.
Now, the choice of Hindi was to re-establish the pride in our own culture and to help throw away this mental slavery to the colonial past. I for one do not think that has helped at all. As for me, I am from the South, but I can speak Hindi very fluently and have even authored technical papers in the language. Yet I do not insist that everyone must be forced to learn a language.As you have also observed, I see very educated colleagues of mine who are non-Hindi mother tongue people do not appreciate this "imposition", in that no body wants to take a great part in the Hindi promotion schemes. Many seek my help to do their children's Hindi lessons/ esays etc., all the while cursing having to learn under compulsion. Down south the stress is on obtaining a good employment based on education and therefore people do not want to have to learn a language that they may have to use only in the street. That is why, you see people queue up to see Bollywood movies, but who may not want to learn and use the language in official communication.
In Tamilnadu, people see Hindi as a subtle way of domination by the northerners, who in their view are putting themselves at an advantage as to use of language- for it is still mother tongue for them and hence they learn it effortlessly;they therefore want to oppose Hindi on political grounds than due to an inability to learn the language. But one thing is true:- As for learning a language that is so different from theirs, is equally difficult for them whether it is Hindi or French for that matter. That is why Tamilians are not enthused to learn Hindi. But they do not mind getting a working knowledge of the language.
As for your question, No, I do not hate Hindi, why, I do not hate any language, and perhaps I developed this love for languages from my stay in different states of India. Kudos to you for having chosena topic that got you 100 + responses, most of whcih you have patiently responded with such panache.
1 person likes this
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
18 Apr 10
Thank you Gadhisunu,
Singapore is one of the world's few examples of post-colonial success. They were fairly straightforward with their post freedom language policy. English is the language of governance and education. Mandarin, Malay & Tamil are compulsory languages to retain cultural identity.
Thank you for your comprehensive response.
@perugu (5279)
• India
4 Feb 07
hi,no i think it is wrong..the only one state in india hate hindi,because of their closed mindness.they are ready to speak english,but they feel bad to speak hindi,what a bad.......o.k.,when it comes to hindi,i am also from nonhindi speaking area,but i love hindi also as this language is just like mother to indians.
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
4 Feb 07
Thank you. So it must be people from this state. Figures I hear are that only about 300 million or less than 30% of Indians speak Hindi, while all other languages account for more than 700 million.
Is this where I am misinformed?
@hereim (61)
• India
4 Feb 07
Hey dear..Do u know the reason why people hate hindi!! I TRIED TO THINK HARD.when u start or become habituated to other language e.g.english cuz official works r mostly dealt in this lang.we say a person is educated when he has a good command on english.But u kno it was jst a matter of fact that english got it popularity.Had England had HINDI as their language, it wud hv been the language of interest today.we required a language that wud serve us internationally n since there were so many colonies to the british english developed as the international language.ppl hate it cuz they dont hv to work vid it much in their professional ppr works.N hindi has its advantage too.its much easier than the other languages n very scientific.wt we write is wt we read.it totallu logical.lets not constrain our frame of mind in a local era.It will grow n get its popularity n command as soon as India will take over as the master of the world, the position America hold it at present (they introduced american english ryt!!wts tht! simplified broken english!).ppl who hate hindi they do it cuz they r ignorant n not thot over it much.
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
4 Feb 07
Teremi, Let me try and understan your comments.
1. You say people hate Hindi because English is the Official language in India, and that is what they use in day to day business.
2. You are also saying that if Hindi had been the language of Britain, it would have been an international language today.
3. You are also saying that India is going to be a superpower that will take over where the United States is currently positioned.
Is my understanding correct? Do clarify if these are the points you are trying to make.
2 people like this
@dhigambaram (1132)
• India
21 Feb 07
hey im not one of them i love hindi vey much ...
1 person likes this
@aryangentleman (1122)
• India
20 Feb 07
I am an Indian and I am proud of Hindi. Yes people from extreme southern region are not comfortable with it but then its there problem . Hindi is a National Language and whole north and central india speaks it and 90% understand it too. After all every one watches Bollywood Hindi movies.
@aryangentleman (1122)
• India
21 Feb 07
I regret saying national language you are right its an official language and as far rajbhasha and rashtrabhasha is concern I think its the same unless one want to dissect it and want to right thesis on it.
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
20 Feb 07
Thank you Aryangentleman, you are usually well informed but here are some facts:
1. hindi is NOT india's National Language. It is an Official Language.
See this link - http://rajbhasha.nic.in/dolacteng.htm
So Hindi is RAJBHASHA - not RASHTRABHASHA. That is where the error is.
@beetel_jack (800)
• India
4 Feb 07
I donn't hindi although it is not my mother tongue but it is our national language. we should have a respect for it. yeah it is right that some people hate hindi, i have too seen people.
@ChristaKitta (177)
• India
5 Feb 07
The truth is I HATE HINDI....!!! Im ready to accept that..!!! Im a south indian... better to be called AN INDIAN thats it..!!!
And i dont like the language Discrimination inside India itself... n breaking India into two as North and south India.... but trying to make PEACE with other countries like PAKISTAN ....!!! i really dont understand....!!! Ive learnt Hindi... but i prefer speaking in my mother tongue and in English....!!! :)
1 person likes this
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
5 Feb 07
This is the truth, there is nothing wrong in your hating Hindi. After all it is something that has been imposed on your culture and local language.
What I find surprising here is that there are many people who (presumably with Hindi mother tongue) who refuse to acknowledge that there is something wrong.
They almost sound as dogmatic as Orthodox Muslims
@abhishekifmr (51)
• India
5 Feb 07
no i dont hate hindi.. infact i m trying to use it in my office also... u indian??