Random Thoughts of an Agitated Bastard - The Sequel

I am angry and upset. My angst is directed at the self-anointed protectors of “Bharatiya Sabhyata”, who like those Hindu fundamentalists who don on the role of spokesperson for all Hindus in the garb of protecting the Hindu faith against “Islamic terrorists”, end up doing everything that would put a true Hindu to shame. I like any other self-respecting Hindu have nothing else but disdain for such people. If my ilk and I are called pseudo-secularists in the process, then all I can say is “I don’t give a damn!”

People who know me well are aware of my strong views on religious fundamentalism, especially the rise of “Hindu nationalism”, but today I would like to address another issue, that being linguistic nationalism, more specifically the English-Hindi divide in India. Condescending statements like, “Angrez Bharat chod ke chale gaye lekin inko idhar chod diya,” to describe English-speaking Indians (not to be confused with Anglicised Indians) are quite common. Such jibes seek to portray speakers of English as less Indian when compared to others. This feeling was reinforced at a seminar I attended at a leading media institute recently where one of the speakers was the Managing Editor of a prominent Hindi news channel. Not only did he slam the English news media in the country, but he also took a dig at the “elitist and colonial mindset” of the English-speaking audiences who were more interested in news stories related to “pet-crèches” than on more “Indian” issues .If news stories related to jyotishis and mythology by the virtue of being more “Indian”, need to be given prime-time coverage, then god help Indian journalism! To be fair to the editor, the context of the discussion had nothing to do with this particular debate but on the issue of media regulation, but his choice of words smacked of linguistic jingoism. Much to my chagrin, the hindi journalism students in the audience lapped up the speech.

Though I cede that the English language is an "alien" language, a colonial legacy which continues to flourish to this day...the fact is, that this language with a pan-Indian presence is as Indian as any other Indian language despite its foreign roots. Sounds contradictory? Well, read on.

The prejudices notwithstanding, one has to understand how English was given a pride of place in a newly created nation by our founding fathers, so much so that the Indian Constitution is also written in the same language. A number of leaders in post-independence India debated whether English should continue as a medium of instruction in places of learning, and during official correspondence many including Lal Bahadur Shastri and Sardar Patel advocated dumping English and promoting Hindi and other regional languages. What it did was that it created a furore in the South, where Hindi had never been widely spoken either during 200 years of British rule or even before that. There was a feeling that the leaders from the so-called "northern belt" were trampling on southern sensitivities by imposing Hindi as the "national language".I'm not much of regionalist, and I hate invoking regional sentiments to air my concerns, but I do consider it a legitimate point because one cannot wish away the fact that even the division of Indian states is based on the question of language – a Punjab for Punjabis, a Tamil Nadu for Tamils, an Orissa for Oriyas, an Assam for the Assamese, a Maharashtra for Marathis and so on and so forth. Therefore language was an important and a sensitive issue. The unilateral imposition of Hindi as a "national language" could have promoted secessionist movements in the south. Leaders like Nehru and Ambedkar felt that despite the importance of vernacular languages, English was the "language of the future", and a language that would preserve the unity and integrity of the Indian Union. Hence in 1967 or thereabouts both Hindi and English were declared "official languages".

Today, India has the largest English-speaking population in the world (roughly 300 million), more than the entire population of the United States.It has placed us at the forefront of the Knowledge Revolution, the current BPO and IT boom have a lot to do with our knowledge of the English language. This is one area that China has still some catching up to do vis-à-vis India.

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I'm not apologetic and will never be about the fact that I adore the English language. I would in fact go to the extent of saying that it is the most Indian of languages. Speak to Indians of different hues from different regions and no matter what their mother tongue is, you will find a smattering of English in their native written and spoken word. English has pervaded our lives and has become uniquely Indian because we've managed to add our own flavour to the "Queen's language". Indian English has evolved over the decades and is mighty different from its British counterpart so much so that the Oxford Dictionary has incorporated many Indian words. I dare say that we have become the biggest exporters of Indian English thanks to Indian writers in English like R.K.Narayan, Ruskin Bond, Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Seth, Arundhati Roy amongst others.

I don’t hesitate to say this: Why is the knowledge of Hindi considered to be a barometer of measuring a person's "Indianness"? If that person (I'm referring to myself here) can speak atleast three other Indian languages (Telugu, Oriya and Bengali) in varying degrees of fluency and prefers to use English instead of Hindi whilst conversing with people who do not speak these three languages, why is he branded as an "Anglicised Indian" who has forgotten his roots? Why does he have to bear patronizing remarks from the Hindi-speaking lot who consider Hindi the sole representation of being "Indian"?

I have to point out that unlike Germans who speak German, Spaniards who speak Spanish and Italians who speak Italian, Indians DO NOT SPEAK "Indian". They speak an assortment of languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Bengali, Assamese,Telugu, Gujarati, Marathi....a total of 18 languages and god knows how many dialects. Keeping this in mind, how on earth does anyone expect an Indian to stick to Hindi? Isn’t this an affront on India’s plurality and linguistic diversity?

So to people who would argue that a Ms India hailing from Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh should speak in Hindi, I would warmly welcome it but would add that she should every right to speak in Mizo during the acceptance speech if she hails from Mizoram without being looked down upon.

All of us have different “Ideas of India”, but we are all united in our objective to see an India that is united, an India that is a beacon of plurality and diversity in the region, an India that truly embodies the hopes and aspirations of the freedom movement, and finally an India that gets its “tryst with destiny”. So, while we might differ on how to get there, we must remember what Voltaire said about free speech – “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it.”

I have made these remarks not with the intention of hurting anyone’s sentiments. To those whom I may have offended, I offer my sincere apologies...these comments shouldn’t be seen by anyone as a tirade against Hindi...that was not my intention...I have loved the Hindi language since my school days, and I shall continue to strive to improve my Hindi in the days and months to come :-)...but my imperfections in the department should not be held against me.

Signed, Sealed and Delivered,

In Liberty,

Pratyush