A certain jerk that I know (name witheld,) says, "Yeh Kya chutiagiri hai be, tum Tamil waalon ko Hindi bolne mei kya pareshani hai? Rashtrabhasha sabko aani chahiye" (Translates to- "What fkd-up jingoism is this with you Tamil speakers not speaking Hindi? The national language should be spoken by everybody.) Well, whatever....... makes me wonder when Hindi became a "NATIONAL" language from simply an "OFFICIAL" language, the way our constitution describes it.(well, the guy doesnt speak Hindi at home, he speaks Gujraati)
The contention of these people is that Hindi, being the most spoken language in the country, becomes the default national language and acts as a tool for national integration, ...well, like we're not in a united India today, and Hindi needs to come to the rescue of the union.
Applying the same logic that my dear and enlightened friends subscribe to, I think we oughta have our national symbols changed
My humble suggestions
National Animal- The rat
We're running out of tigers anyway, and rats multiply like it's nobody's business, and hence we're gonna continue having them
National Bird- The ubiquitous house crow
And beat this :)
Well............... whatever
13 comments:
Good idea to change the national Animal, if HINDI is to be treated as the sole national language
Thats the funniest way I've seen anyone put the point across.
What is even more annoying is how they ridicule even the smallest mispronounciation a south indian makes.
And their instant dismissal of any correction they might need that you point out.
HMPH.
Well,I hate to say this....but Annadurai seems to have said the same thing in the Indian parliament...I wish to confirm that I HAVE NOT plagiarized any comments here.....
I think the poor bird and animal could hold their national status, but i agree that Hindi is definitely not National language, infact it is Sanskrit, which everyone has happily forgotten
At the risk of sounding annoyingly contrarian,let me just say that, constitutional technicalities aside, why can't we enjoy and celebrate the differences in culture, cuisine and language?
While there may be minor offenses like that of your Gujarati friend, it sure is much better than the boring monotony that one sees overseas.
At last a sensible post from you that I can completely agree with. Which, given our tangetial views on most things is an achievement in itself. As for the post itself, I cannot agree more with you. And even the concept of having Hindi as a National language sickens me. Its not even a pure language for chrissakes! A small correction to what Vaishnavi has said... India does not have a national language. There are 18 official languages including Hindi. English has the status of co-official language. Tamil and Sanskrit are also classified as Classical Languages. As you can all see, ther eis no place for Hindi as a classical language.
As for having the Rat and Crow as official animal and bird respectively, well... when the chinese can celebrate rats, pigs and snakes, what the hell?? Why not!!!!
As for Thucydides comment on enjoying the flavors, well, we from the south have been enjopyin the flavors by being able to understand and converse in Hindi for sometime now. I think its time for those north of the Vindhyas to start doing the same. Lest they forget, we from the south bring to this economy what the Jews (as much as i hate to say this) do to the US economy - brains!!!
Awesome post Deepak! A lot of people see me as extremely prejudiced and self opinionated .. and the reason ? I speak only two languages ( English and Tamil of course! ).
Its not that I hate Hindi (Oh yeah I'm learning to ) .. Its just that its of no use to me. I pride in my ability to communicate better with just two languages as opposed to those who speak many , especially the National language!
And if you're wondering who this is .. I'm Deepak .. Raaja's brother and I accidentally stumbled upon your blog.. Good one!
Hello !
Very well written. Strong, spicy and funny.
Hindi is the third most spoken language in the world, and it is undoubtedly the most spoken language in india. When you choose a language to be your national language(official too), it should be the one most of the population speak or understand. That is why hindi is the official national language. If you disagree with that, then which language do you want the national language to be? tamil??
@Vasanthi
Looks like you haven't got Deepak's point or mine either! Nobody here is pitching for tamil to be the national language .. and at the same time not many of us here give a damn abt what the national language is .. do u give a damn abt Hockey? Maybe you do.. but thats just your preference .. Just like how we prefer to talk in a language that we know best and are confident of being able to communicate with just about anyone..
The thing that irritates most of the native lang speakers or "tamil" speakers in this context is when they get laughed at(especially in a group of hindi speakers)for not being able to converse in hindi for the @#$@$%! reason that its the national langage.. for heaven's sake stop preaching that all indian's need to know hindi! we're so culturally diverese and so very democratic to choose what we want and what we know the best!!
First, let me reiterate that I am not Anti- Hindi..I have repeated this over and again. I am purely opposed to Hindification and the forcing of Hindi upon the
masses....Do people in the south need Hindi. I am a southie. I needed to learn the language and learnt it. Many others havent found the need, and haven't learnt it. Why bother yourself with doing something thats of no use...do it only if u want to
Last week I had a guy question the patriotism of South Indians because they cant speak the NATIONAL LANGUAGE...see, even educated Indians in America have been taught to believe that Hindi is the national language, when no such thing exists according to our law.
Also, the propaganda has reached as far as to question the very existence of the freedom struggle in south india. Do our textbooks talk about Bharati, or Kattabomman, or VOC, or Rajaji or KV Krishna Menon or Velu Thampi....who knows these people..
All we read are textbooks manipulated by the congress party, presenting their views..
Please understand that Tamil developed independent of other Indian languages and our language is very different from Devanagri languages...
@vasanthi
Sorry for calling you Chitti...I have an aunt with the same fisr and last names.... :-) . Her daughter has commented on this blog, and I thought she might have referred her mom to read this one :)
Doesn't matter Deepak Mohan.
Yes,I know Deepu and her parents, I found you and your blog from deepu's friends list.
Deepu did not recommend to read your blog. It's my choice.
Good work, keep it up. Nice to know the younger generation's thoughts.
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