LANGUAGE IN INDIA

ATTITUDES TOWARD HINDI
Vijay Kumar Sunwani, Ph.D.

INTRODUCTION

The Regional Institute of Education, Bhubaneswar, a constituent unit of NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi), is one of the premier institutions in the country for teacher education. As part of its work, it imparts training to graduates to become qualified teachers. Its present Bachelor of Education degree program is an experimental, innovative one in its sixth year of trial. The program has been designed on the guidelines suggested by the National Council for Teacher Education, a body set up by the Government of India to improve and uphold quality in teacher education.

This program initiated a study to find out people's attitude towards Hindi, Orissa being a "other than Hindi state." Being a Central government organization people from all over the country, from Manipur to Maharashtra, Kashmir to Kanyakumari are found in the Regional Institute of Education in Bhubaneswar. In Orissa, the main language is Oriya.

NEHRU ON LANGUAGES

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of our country, said that language is the poetic testament of the genius of a race and a culture, the living embodiment of the thoughts and fancies that have moulded them.

Nehru had been contemplating the development of Indian languages, despite his western education and being an accomplished writer in English. He felt that the use of Indian languages was necessary to achieve general mass education and the cultural development of Indian peoples to promote the unity of India. At the same time, he thought that India's languages preserve the rich diversity of our inheritance.

Unity in diversity was, until recently, the slogan that every orator used to emphasize the Indian ness of Indians. However, I feel now is the proper time to say that the unity and strength of our country lies in its multiplicity of languages. Language is power, multilingualism means greater power. Multilingualism is India's greatest strength.

INDIANS' FLAIR FOR LANGUAGES

Indians have always flair for learning languages. Consider Sanskrit for instance, which was our lingua franca in days of yore. Presently, outsourcing is a point of issue: call centres prove the rich linguistic nuances that we Indians can adapt to. We are at ease with British, American, Australian, Nigerian or just Standard Indian English. However, while there is widespread recognition of the value of the mother tongue and attempts have made to provide for the study and use of mother tongue in education, there is a growing demand among the deprived and the marginalized for English in many of the states. Most people who want English to be taught seem to demand its introduction right from the beginning of schooling, a position often contrary to the position taken by many academicians. We need to respect the aspirations of the common people in democracy in order to maintain the social fabric of our society. The deprived see the top positions the people from upper classes and upper castes have reached, which they think is essentially because of English, and hence the aspirations for their progeny.

However, our brief is about Hindi.

HINDI

Hindi, numerically the biggest of the Indo Aryan family, is the official language of the Government of India. The dialect chosen as official Hindi is the standard khariboli, written in Devanagari script. As the official language of the country and the official language of six states, Hindi receives high governmental patronage and support. This has encouraged and helped its spread, though it has caused some resentment and agitations against Hindi in the past in some states.

It is interesting to note that when India was a conglomeration of large princely states and small empires, the problem of language never came up during its long cherished 5000 year old history. With the coming of the British, we fell in love with the English language, and as Kachru says, they took our land, we took their language. Not that the British did not promote Hindi - they did, for they realized, as did the Portuguese in Goa, Daman and Diu, that to rule a land, knowing the native language is of great importance. However, Indians wanted English to continue and the subsequent story is well known.

THE RESPONDENTS

In our survey, the total number of respondents was 76. Since the interviews were conducted in various household, during the official working hours from 9.30a.m. to 5 p.m. Accordingly, the respondents were mostly women, the men being in their places of work, etc. The respondents belonged to a whole cross section of the society: housewives, workingwomen, students, educated women, semi literates, and illiterates.

It is noteworthy that even in an educational institute of national standing, there are pockets and types of houses where there are illiterates, mostly women. Women who work as housemaids and men who work as masons and daily labourers, etc., who are barely literate, who are mostly illiterate, and yet we talk of a districts being totally literate.

Of these respondents, most had Oriya as their mother tongue: 59.

Other mother tongues were as diverse as

Kashmiri: 1
Punjabi 1
Hindi 9
Malayalam 1
Telugu 5
Kannada 1
Bengali 5

We expected this, since ours is a Central government institution where the recruitment is done centrally and people are selected from all the states and Union territories. However, for class C and D, i.e., the lower cadres, the recruitment is done locally, and rarely is there a transfer among them, unlike for class A and B personnel.

The interviews for this survey were conducted by the B.Ed. Part I students, who were a mixed batch as to their specialization. Some were science students also. In any case, they were given complete instructions as to how to go about recording the interviews, since language is a very sensitive issue, particularly in India where comments and questions relating to languages can cause a riot.

HINDI IN GENERAL

There is a generally tolerant and appreciative view towards Hindi in this non-Hindi, now known as hinditar state. It shows that in a country like India known for its multilingualism, more than 66 per cent of the population manage or use some kind of Hindi.

Further, the Hindi we teach in schools and colleges is not really used by the students who are future citizens of the country. What is so striking is that when these persons join the employment force, the use of Hindi language gains in intensity, vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar and all other aspects proving that the language they pick up on the job and in contact with their colleagues and society becomes a very vigorous one on which they have some notable mastery. They use it with flair and abandon. They also do not care for minor mistakes, and flaunt the language as their own. In contrast to the 60 per cent of Hindi knowing people, only about a maximum of 5 per cent know English. Some use it rather well, but the vast majority has only a smattering of it. Yet, these 5 per cent manage the affairs of the state and the nation. "Speak Hindi but English works" seems to be the mantra in the language of IIM gurus.

NON-HINDI SPEAKERS

While we conducted the interviews in Hindi, generally there were also cases in which the conversation was in the native language, or a language other than Hindi and then noted in Hindi. The respondents opined that in comparison with other languages Hindi was easy to learn, easy to function in. However, this itself is a flawed premise since all languages are the same in levels of difficulty. Further, all languages are things of beauty.

Non-Hindi speakers have laid high stakes on the promotion of Hindi. They have some pride in speaking it, regardless of errors in speech and grammar.

As far as spoken Hindi is concerned, the Bombay film industry, and then its super, mega stars have given much fillip to it. A good number of people who go to Hindi movies in India may have, at one time or the other, wanted to speak in the rich baritone of Amitabh Bachhan, the chaste variety of Om Shivpuri, the dulcet tones of Aishwarya Rai with her dusky voice, or the girlish tinkle of Madhuri Dixit. Their contribution to the spread and use of Hindi is their most singular contribution. The two national Doordarshan channels have also contributed in large measure. Without films, the Hindi language may not have been so widely spoken, without Madhuri Dixit and other luminaries of tinsel town, the language may have lost its glitter that it is now trying to achieve. Hindi is intimately rooted to the thoughts and culture represented in Hindi movies.

People of the educated class spoke of the usefulness of Hindi insofar as communication is concerned. That Hindi was necessary for communication and other activities outside Orissa. Some stressed on knowing the history of the Hindi language.

Persons belonging to the lower strata could express themselves in a very perfunctory manner, with mistakes in spoken language: in Hindi as well as in their mother tongue Oriya. Thus the point is related to Labov's study of language and society.

Some of the extreme views were that Hindi is a weaker language than Oriya. Whereas Oriya has a greater capacity to express individuality, Hindi fails to do so, according to this view.

An Oriya teacher of Hindi was candid in admitting that in spite of her limitations with Hindi it is a good language. As a national language, it deserves its rightful status and prestige. She also talked of the Hindization of English and Englishization of Hindi, a tendency she disliked but which one found increasingly, not only on the national TV and other private channels, but also in use in common speech, in official gatherings, as well as in official Hindi seminars and meetings.

The TV has contributed a lot to the spread of all regional languages, especially Hindi. Many preferred to see Hindi serials to those in their own languages. Some said they just wanted to hear Hindi. Often when the conferences are meant for English, the discourse takes place in Oriya, English and Hindi, but the minutes of the meeting appear only in English, so also the other way around. It may simply be stated that code mixing and code switching are an established fact in India and that bilingualism is a way of life, an established and accepted linguistic behaviour of Indians.

We also found that when we conducted interviews in Oriya there were more mistakes in Oriya language because people tend to become careless with the mother tongue when they speak. In this case, the recording, if done on tape, would have made them conscious and careful. Further, if the interview was recorded on tape in a language other than their own, the respondents' language would be even much more careful, stilted to a certain extent.

Some respondents gave general answers that Hindi is an Indian language and that it is very important.

Most Oriya speakers agreed that while they could understand Hindi they could not speak it correctly, which they wanted to. As expected, many of the non-Hindi respondents committed mistakes in the use of gender in Hindi, which is one of its notorious pitfalls. Slips in pronunciation did not affect comprehensibility of speech produced.

They also ventured to say that Hindi had dulcet tones and tunes, making it a complementary language to the language of their daily use. They suggested that more steps be taken for its promotion in the country, especially in the south. This appears a skewed view since Hindi is popular in the southern states, thanks to the efforts of the Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Samiti.

It is rather difficult to understand when the respondents said that Hindi was an easy language: just one of the fallacies the layperson is prone to specially when any one thinks he/she can talk about language and/or education. In comparison to other languages, Hindi was sweeter, softer and musical. Hindi should be taught in all schools so that all children can speak the same language in all parts of the country as it is, they felt.

Some felt Hindi to be a difficult language. Still all people of the country should make efforts to speak it so that it achieves its status as our national language. While we may not be able to speak it fluently, Hindi is the most appropriate language for day-to-day affairs in our country.

As our national language, Hindi should move in a consonance with other regional, Indian languages. Hindi is easy to understand and speak. Hindi should have preference and precedence over other languages. We are proud of Hindi as our national language.

Hindi is better known in North India than elsewhere. There is an over all need for its spread and promotion.

Life would be incomplete without a working knowledge of Hindi. It is a necessity for the whole country.

In our schools, it ought to be the medium of instruction / education, and should have a specialized curriculum for non-Hindi speaking states.

Hindi, a beautiful language, can be used in all situations. In some foreign countries, Hindi is very well known.

Unfortunately in our country English is given preference rather than Hindi in spite of Hindi being the national language. We have to raise its prestige and status by using it in daily life and in all official works. The more you speak it the more you like it; Hindi language is beautiful with rare sweetness.

For the common people Hindi is the favourite language amongst all languages spoken in India. It is easy to understand, brings people together and we are proud of it as our national language. Hindi enables one to express all our thoughts and feelings freely. Hindi is a necessity in India.

Excellent language, all the people of the country should know Hindi. Known by people from all corners of the country, Hindi is the binding force for our country. Hindi - a simple, Indian language. Hindi requires more publicity and promotion.

HINDI SPEAKERS

With one accord, the Hindi speakers wanted its promotion and popularization to its optimum level.

Hindi has been consolidating its position as India's national language and as its link language. Because of its own popularity Hindi will certainly gain in prestige and will endeavour to progress as the language of India. Hindi is an easy language. As our national language, we can use it in any part of the country, everywhere. The common man's language, not only in homes, but Hindi should also be used in offices, shops, malls and in all public places. Hindi is important as a mother tongue and as our national language. Hindi is the only powerful medium that holds the nation together. As a national language, Hindi is used in our country as a language of wider communication. It has to be given the respect that is its legitimate due.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

All the respondents, whether Hindi or other than Hindi speakers replied to all the questions in more than one language, thus showing that bi- and multilingualism are a natural way of linguistic expression in our country. They were in various degrees fluent in languages other than their mother tongue in which they were fully confident.

While speaking Hindi both categories of respondents took the help of another language/s to support their point of view indicating that code switching and code mixing are an accepted fact and need not be frowned upon as do some purists. Language is evolving and before long, as time goes for languages, perhaps we may soon have a pidgin of Hindi, English and the regional language.

In all cases they preferred all the TV serials in Hindi such as saas bhi kabhi bahu thi, mohere, kayamat, kasauti, sanskar, office office, jassi jaisi koi nahin etc. in contrast to the serials or programs in the regional language which the people of the state saw occasionally, while those from other states saw them as a matter of curiosity. My personal preference is for Oriya films which have improved tremendously over the years both in terms of production values, technical expertise and the masala culture which Mumbai Bollywood and Telugu films have liberally sprinkled all over the country.

The two national channels were viewed mostly by the faithful, for the news and the serials. Many of these viewers did not have cable connections, only very few of them did. Interestingly some of them were well heeled, but had children preparing for the competitive examinations- be they medicine, engineering, MBA, or civil services. When they wanted to see some interesting serial they just pressed the bell next door and made themselves comfortable with aaj tak, zee news, Sony, and similar other foreign channels to keep them up to date on the news as well as the latest episode of their favourite serial. Similar was the rush when television just started on a large scale in the late 80s when gatherings were witnessed on Sunday evenings for films, the number of people assembling in greater numbers in homes of those who owned a colour television. To be invited to such an evening was much an evening out - dinner cooked in advance, children shouting over roof tops, bring out the finery and the perfume.

People, mostly housewives, preferred to talk to their servants in Oriya. Non-Hindi speaking wife has picked up manageable Oriya in the circumstances, though the husband may not have, because he does not come in contact with Oriya in his office / institute, or prefers not to use it, although, because of his long stay in Orissa, his comprehensibility of spoken Oriya is high. Why he did not pick up the language was a matter of opportunity. He was waiting for his transfer orders to a better region than Orissa, which is still considered a back of the beyond, more so when he came in with his promotion. I am a case in point. Orissa has also developed, so has Bhubaneswar. So, have the servants. They have become smarter. They manage to learn their masters' language: in many cases Hindi, so that they understand it even if you are making a confidential aside about your neighbour who is at the door the next morning to fight it out. Or the more intelligent of these valet variety have also picked up English so that when you discuss the guest list for the nights' dinner the servant keenly overhears every word and, at a very convenient moment, expresses her anguish because of her stomach cramps, and decamps for the evening. Cook your own goose is what she giggles to her friends in Oriya or Telugu. Next morning, no, next afternoon with the guests gone and the dishes done, gone also is her stomach pain, and in equally weird expressive details, explains the problem to the home maker who gives her a further extension of leave. Moreover, you must have heard of the multilingual beggars in and around the famed temples of Orissa. They have realized the importance of knowing more than one language, which we have failed to do so, and are still struggling to find a best method to teach a language - be it the mother tongue or the foreign language.

It seems quite a linguistic curiosity that when the wife or the husband is fairly well educated and knows English besides other Indian languages, he/she is quite at a loss to make sense of the instructions for use that come with a new product. They are unable to operate, say, a new refrigerator, an air conditioner, a microwave, and have to call in their neighbours to get the gadget going. Strangely, the same man/woman is able to understand everything written in English in the diary of his/her spouse - kicking up a row, a storm in the teacup to say the least. Luckily, not ending in divorce, for financial reasons it is better to stay physically married yet mentally divorced in India. Perhaps Steven Pinker may have the answer to this language instinct. Most of the time this is true to what Germaine Greer refers to as the Fair Sex. Alternatively, as Madam de Sade said, men live by forgetting; women live on memories, particularly embers of a flame since long reduced to ashes.

HINDI AS ORIYAS SEE AND SPEAK IT

It is interesting to know that non-Oriya knowing people were talking to their maidservants and others of the same class in Oriya in a short period of just about four months.

Oriyas feel proud in speaking Hindi. In writing they commit many mistakes specially in Hindi spelling and use of gender. Respondents also said that Hindi had been useful to them in teaching basic human values and habits.

In some cases, abuses in Hindi were a common factor. Much was common in the vocabulary of Hindi and Oriya is concerned. . What is common parlance in Hindi is often vulgarised in Oriya. Sometimes it is sanskritised. In fact, Oriya is more sanskritised than Hindi.

As expected, Oriya affects their pronunciation of Hindi. Oriya speakers may explain all details of a matter. But this is not done in Hindi by them.

CONCLUSION

In my view, much has been made of Hindi as a national language for which reason it should be honoured and learned. Honoured first, then learned. One has to be proud of one's official/national language. It is only then that the gravity towards it may speed up loyalty to the nation. Loyalty to the language brings about development of the country, e.g., of Bangla Desh, which was formed on a linguistic basis. Such attitudes toward the official/national language will certainly flourish in an atmosphere where honour and prestige are accorded unconditionally to the "regional" language of the states in all spheres, where jobs are plenty and distributed equitably, and where the mother tongue speakers of Hindi would unreservedly recognize the importance of the fact that India is a multilingual nation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Comrie, Bernard (2004). The World's Major Languages. Croom Helm.

Bhatt, P.C. (2002). Hindi Shikshan.Tapish-Tanju enterprises.Indore.

Dwivedi, Hazari Prasad. Hindi - Ek Vishwa Bhasha

Appendix : The questionnaire

1. aap ki matrbhasha kya hai
What is your mother tongue?

2 matr bhasha ke sath sath anya kaun se bhashain jante hain
Which other languages besides your mother tongue do you know?

3 parivar ke doosre sadasya kaun kaun si bhashayein jante hain
What other languages do the members of your family know?

4. Hindi bhasha ka vyahahar kahan karte hain
Where do you use Hindi?

k. ghar mein At home
kh. Karyalaya mein In the office
ga. Bazaar mein In the bazaar
gh. Sabhi jagah Everywhere
du.kahin nahin Nowhere

5. Hindi bolte samay anya bhashaon ke shabdkon ka sahara lete hain
Do you take the help of words from other languages when speaking Hindi?

k. haan yes
kh.nahin no

6. yadi uttar haan hai, to kripya un bhashaon ke naam batayen
If the answer to 5 is yes, please name those languages.

7. yadi TV par Hindi samachar sunte hon ya Hindi dharavahik dekhte hon, to kripya channel aur dharavahik ke naam batayen

8. aap kaun sa samachar patra padhte hain?
Which newspaper do you read?

k. Hindi
kh.oriya
ga. Bangla
gh. Angrezi
dh. anya Hindi Oriya Bengali English any other

9. yadi ghar mein naukar / naukrani hai, to us se kis bhasha mein baat karte hain
In which language do you talk to your servant, male or female?

10. Hindi ke bare mein apne vichar sankshep mein bataen
Tell us, in brief, your views about Hindi.

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR A PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Attitudes Toward Hindi | A Survey of Language Preferences in Education in India | News Translation and the Concept of Equivalence - A Discourse Analysis Perspective | Who Is the Indigenous Sri Lankan? | An Overview of Orwell's Animal Farm | Speaking Versus Communicating in Business English | Linguistic Manipulation in Political Advertising | Some Limitations of Corpus-based Language Study | Hegemony, C-Semiologically | The Evolution of Language Policy in the Constituent Assembly of India | HOME PAGE | CONTACT EDITOR