Topic started by _/\_ (@ 203.121.0.11) on Fri Apr 26 10:00:15 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

My roomate says i should be ashamed for not knowing hindi,he says it is the national language of india but i read somewhere that it is not.

he says hindi is from the word hindoo i am not sure about that.

i know this has been discussed awful lot of times but this is the first time i was personally affected by this argument.

Responses:

• From: northy (@ proxy1.bcbsm.com) on: Fri Apr 26 13:13:53
  
  You dont have to be ashamed at all of not knowing Hindi, my friend.
  
  
• From: Thiru (@ e-iisc03.iisc.ernet.in) on: Fri Apr 26 15:54:06
  
  
  Hello Mr.Vanakkam (_/\_),
  True that this has been discussed an awful lot of times. I myself have been involved in this argument so many times. This is how things went for me on this issue.
  
  1. The first thing I tell these guys is that I dont know Hindi because I dont find it useful. Then as expected, having caught me in an act of blasphemy, these guys jump up and down asking how I can say that about the national language.
  
  2. Then I tell them that one can be sentimental and passionate about his mother tongue, and other languages can very well be looked at based on their utility, or on one's interest in the language's literature. I tell them that Hindi is neither my mother tongue, nor am I interested as of now in its literary wealths.
  
  3. Now they ask me how I would communicate with all the OTHERS if I dont know Hindi, for which I aptly reply that, since English is also designated to be the national language to cater precisely to the linguistic heterogeneity of the country, I would not have problems communicating with OTHERS, because I know English decently well enough, and I expect the OTHER guy interested in communicating with me to know English too.
  
  4. Now I get a look of disbelief. 'So you will learn English which is a foreign language than Hindi which is your country's language ?'. For which I reply that for a person with a mother tongue X, any other language Y is foreign, and if given a choice he may as well choose a certain language from Y which maximizes some profit function. The choice of English does precisely that - increases your scope (to communicate, say) a hell of a great deal than Hindi. I also tell them that I dont find any reason to make Hindi the national language.
  
  5. They ask me to elaborate my last sentence. I tell them there are umpteen other languages in India which would pip Hindi to the post, based on factors like the language's tradition, literary wealth, and other such merits. So there is no reason why Hindi should be the national language...
  
  6. Now they have cornered me, haven't they? Isn't Hindi spoken by a majority of people in the country? So these guys want some real truths, dont they? I tell them Hindi is not spoken by a majority in the country - rather it is numerically the most spoken language in the country.
  
  7. Ok, you've told it out yourself. If Hindi is spoken more than any other language in the country, it certainly deserves to be the national language, doesn't it? Now I ask why not we make Hinduism the national religion because it is the most followed religion in the country. The Government doesn't profess a religion, but why does it want to patronize a language? Now, you thought that the argument ended there, didn't you ? Surprise, surprise, it didn't.
  
  8. These guys now tell me that unlike me, not many people in North India know English, which makes Hindi the only option to communicate with them. So, in case I happen to come to NI, I would have some real problems getting around. I tell them that the only reason I would come to NI would be as a tourist - definitely not as a job seeker. In any case there is a good chance I would find someone to translate. I tell them that if at all, only the North Indians would come to South India because of the relatively high growth rates and job prospects. I also tell them that it would do them a great deal of good if they learnt some decent English rather than starting and ending their lives doing only two things, namely, learning only Hindi and complaining all round that the OTHERS dont know Hindi.
  
  9. Now these guys ask me: 'Now what would we do when we come to South India if YOU dont know Hindi?'. For which I say, GFY.
  
  ---- Thiru ----
  
  
• From: _/\_ (@ 203.121.0.11) on: Sat Apr 27 01:08:28
  
  Thanks a lot Thiru. Thiru ;-)
  
  I too went through all of these arguments by them.
  
  I guess they all got a hand book or something to argue about this ;-)
  
  
  They asked what would i do if i go to N-India i told them its my problem and none of his business.
  
  you said it all my friend, next time around i am going to refer them to this URL no more wasting time on this topic
  
  
• From: Jenin (@ 193.188.97.152) on: Sat Apr 27 04:45:36
  
  Hi
  
  U dont have to feel hurt just 'cause u can't speak hindi. As long as u r able to communicate with the other party whether in hindi or any other language, it really should not be a problem. So relax & dont get offended.
  
  
• From: Shakthi (@ bangdp-39-155.mantraonline.com) on: Sat Apr 27 04:53:06
  
  When any person goes to a country, knowing one language is sufficient. One language is a national language. Unfortunately or fortunately, in India, we have too many languages.
  
  Language is a means of communication. Since we all live in one single country communication with another citizen is a must.
  
  You need not know hindi,
  
  1.If u dont mind mastering all languages prevelant in India, for the purpose of communication.
  
  Hindi is the national language, not because ppl are biased towards hindi, but because the knowledge of hindi is widely spread and distributed through out the country.
  
  The popularity of the language in India as a nation is to be seen. If tamizh or telugu or bengali is popular or widely distributed in usage that could be the national language.
  
  Hence WE SHOULD ACCEPT OUR NATIONAL LANGUAGE AS HINDI.
  
  We should rather be ashamed to type and talk and master ENGLISH which is a foreign language, a british language, a language of the land which held us as prisoners
  
  We talk about the patriotism of tamizh, or mother tongue, and cannot accept hindi, but one accepts english because without the knowledge of english one cannot see $$$???
  
  A language is just to communicate ur thoughts ur feelings. One need not become a fanatic or go crazy for their mother tongue.
  
  I am amused at the thought that ppl accept ENGLISH ( a foreign language as national language) and not hindi?
  
  
  One need not be ashmed for not knowing hindi. Knowing hindi only adds ur identity to the nation. Never too late to learn any language.
  
  WE learn german, french, japanese for our own material benefits or carreer growth, so that we can see yen or frank of dollar.
  
  So there ends our so called patriotism for our mother tongue.
  
  IF SOME PERSON OFFERS U 3 TIMES UR SALARY IF U LEARN HINDI, I BET ALL PPL WHO TALK FANATISM WOULD RUSH TO HINDI CLASSES AND LEARN IT.
  
  HINDI IS OUR NATIONAL LANGUAGE. LEARNING IS DESIRABLE. (WHETHER ITS A MUST OR NOT I LEAVE IT TO PPL'S OWN CONSCIENCE)
  
  
• From: Thiru (@ cache-blr.ernet.in) on: Sat Apr 27 05:46:03
  
  Hai Shakthi,
  I guess you didn't read my post regarding this subject. I believe that would answer some of your questions. For eg.,
  
  " I am amused at the thought that ppl accept ENGLISH ( a foreign language as national language) and not hindi? "
  
  Please refer to point no. 4 in my post for the answer.
  
  
  " IF SOME PERSON OFFERS U 3 TIMES UR SALARY IF U LEARN HINDI, I BET ALL PPL WHO TALK FANATISM WOULD RUSH TO HINDI CLASSES AND LEARN IT. "
  
  Precisely. If Hindi did improve my chances of surviving and excelling in this world, I would definitely choose it over other languages. The fact of the matter is, it doesn't.
  
  " We talk about the patriotism of tamizh, or mother tongue, and cannot accept hindi, but one accepts english because without the knowledge of english one cannot see $$$??? "
  
  That is true. Do you think we would take so much pains to teach our children English if it does not help us 'see $$$' ?
  
  ----Thiru----
  
  
• From: Qt (@ 203.94.234.126) on: Sat Apr 27 06:46:48
  
  BIMARU states has 50% literacy.That is 50% hindi speaking people cannot sign,read or write in their own language! And this is the language the northies are expecting the southies to learn to be INDIAN !...hmmm strange logic
  
  
• From: stg (@ 12.151.162.88) on: Sat Apr 27 09:15:51
  
  Hi you need not bother about your igorant room mate. you DONT need to know hindi if u dont want to or have no intentions of settling in north India. Better spend your time usefully in some other constructive purpose. Hindi is the language of only MP & UP ( now uttranchal also. So its plainly obvious that it is not a national language. Get on with more useful things in life.
  
  
• From: S H I T K I C K E R (@ 203.115.25.140) on: Tue Apr 30 08:59:05
  
  Did someone mention Hindi as a National Language. No way. Its not my Language and no way is any nothern mutha facka gonna say I should be ashamed not to have learnt it.
  
  
  
  
• From: hihi:-) (@ foley4.psych.ucsb.edu) on: Tue Apr 30 18:04:14
  
  thiru: your point #2 is very well put. a lack of understanding of this is what lead to this this crappe of "hindi is our national language" non-sense.
  
  
• From: Bhuvan (@ sbproxy3.mystarhub.com.sg) on: Tue Apr 30 22:50:19
  
  The BIMARU states aren't the only people who speak Hindi. In fact more literate Hindi speakers would be found in other states and cities so Qt's argument doesn't make much sense. In any case, even some of the illiterate know how to read and write the language. Anyway, most of you have had bad experiences with some of these ignorant and egotistic North Indians. Being a native Hindi speaker myself, I'd never condone the imposition of a foreign tongue on an unconsenting party - so I hope that you don't jump to conclusions about all North Indians.
  
  
• From: kartu (@ dialpool-210-214-178-113.sify.net) on: Tue May 14 06:07:46
  
  do you ashamed that for not knowing malayalam or not knowing of bengali ? if yes then you should ashame for not knowing hindi.
  and the word hindi is not come from hindoo it is coming from sindhi. hindhi is colapsion of urdu and sanskrit. its age is below 600 years only.
  
  
• From: G.Ragavan (@ 164.164.94.115) on: Tue May 14 11:12:26
  
  Oh God! I shd be ashamed of not knowing bengali, gujarathi, oriya, dutch, spanish, Sinhala, etc. :-(
  
  

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