Will The Central Government Ever Stop Pushing Hindi On Tamil Nadu ?

Swahili is a hypothetical choice of a language that would be fair for all states in India - Hindi and non-Hindi alike.
Politicians who fight for regional language in government schools see that as the training ground for apparatchiks, as well as a dependable voting bloc. Whipping up a "nationalistic" or "cultural" fervor is a lot easier than actually doing some developmental work to improve the lot of the poor in government schools. One US leader had proudly declared:"I love the poorly educated"

 

Writing in a general sense, with no specific reference to your Patidev:

Indeed. This is quite amazing. I have come across migrants in Chennai, at subsistence level, who managed to learn Tamil. And these are people who do not have access to the resources we all have. Marvelous!

A good bit of this is promoted and politically motivated - both Hindi and Tamizh chauvinism, I mean.

This is how I see it:
I love language(s) and can get by in quite a few. So short version - more the merrier.

For the purposes of discussion, we need to distinguish language as culture from language as a medium of communication and citizenship.

English is the language of power. It is the language of business and technology. Let's not forget, the Indian IT revolution and the benefits that flowed from it, both material and otherwise, were made possible in large part by an education system based in English. Colonialism happened, it wasn't pleasant for India, but my attitude is chalo (<- note Hindi !), let's use what we can salvage. Spurning English would be like burning down New Delhi because George V got it going after the Delhi Durbar and Lutyens + Baker designed it.

It is also extremely important for the aam aadmi/aurat to engage with a functioning bureaucracy & society in their immediate environment with the least possible friction. This means making available as many resources as possible in their regional languages. This is both a cultural and functional imperative.

Hindi as a compromise official language is OK, but imposition is not, neither is Hindi as a 'national language'. I don't see why we need a national language. This kind of universalizing essentialism is antithetical to the Indian spirit. Although I have been away from India for a long time, from conversations with IAS officers and the like, I am led to believe that imposition is definitely a thing in the requirements for government communication. This is the central government using the levers of power in the furtherance of an agenda that is not universally beneficial.

I would like to see a 3-language arrangement for all official business, like that railway sign above - English, local language, Hindi. The same for all official forms and communication, especially these days, when computers make things relatively simple. Your railway booking form (I can't believe they're still in use, but they are!!) can be printed in any of the three languages, on demand, for example. Yes, it involves some expense, but what you buy is the engagement of a citizen, one who may have access only to his own language.

I would like to see the central government make resources available to acquire two languages (English and Hindi), and the states provide resources to learn the third. All three languages need to be functional instruments of citizenship. The local language is the repository of culture, in addition. Beyond that, go on and acquire whatever language fancies you.

I haven't kept up with the NEP2020, but it seems to say something like this with its 3-language formula, although meeting with some resistance.

 

It is the majority trying to push Hindi on others simple .

English helps us to get better jobs so it makes sense to learn English. I don’t see learning Hindi aids you in any way other than communicating to Hindi speakers who don’t want to make any effort on learning other Indian languages , they just want to enjoy the privilege . We in our state have to learn three languages and learn Hindi as part of it. I don’t see any North Indian putting that effort in school to learn other Indian languages .

hindi kills local language , I have stayed in Pune for long and because of many people like household help vendors all speak in Hindi , one never feels the need to learn Marathi which is wrong , if Hindi was not there , people will pick up local language .. I see the older generation who migrated to pune are fluent in Marathi but not our generation which is all thanks Hindi.

I read write and speak Hindi very well and we use a lot of Hindi in our household , but if I find a Hindi speaking person trying to demand that we speak in Hindi , I will refuse to speak with that person in Hindi and use English

 

One of my good friends is exactly like your husband. He knows Hindi, worships Bollywood, would sing Bollywood songs at parties whenever he can but you say a Hindi word and he would be like- I do not know Hindi . He does know Hindi because he studied in MP.

 

Yes, indeed. Having seen this firsthand, I add my vote to this observation. Good example!

 

The fact is English is the language which connects us with the outside world and is literally important for our higher education. I think atleast in Southern states they realised it earlier on and changed many schools to English medium ones. I know many relatives who have studied in Tamil medium schools and later switched to English when it came to colleges. They had difficulty initially. Slowly many schools had changed to English medium.

For those people who are in rural areas studying itself is hard. Amidst poverty they send children to schools to study. Let’s assume that because of the current changes they are atleast able to send the kids to English medium schools. They might need Tution for their subjects in addition to the school fees. In such instances there is a financial burden for this family already. Now we have NEET - so this is not even in the state board curriculum. Will need coaching after HSC for just sitting and getting through that exams. I do know many who have just done one year NEET coaching and entering medical colleges. That doesn’t come cheap. I heard similar entrance exams are being planned for the Engineering courses as well. And by the way the schools is most rural TN are mostly state or matriculation level only. CBSE schools are there but I am not sure whether they are as good as metro areas. The standard of teaching varies widely across the state with lesser standard in rural schools.

In this incident the add on third language even if only for school level adds more stress not on the child alone but on the family. They would have pay additional tuition fees just to make them learn. Not all of kids share the same feelings of desire to learn a new language. At their age it will be burden. By the way what prospect is it going to add value if they are not able to use it for their future. They could have become more proficient in English and other subjects to help with their career. Brits language had lasted so long just for this reason- purely a financial and economic aspect and being the Lingua Franca for us. Moreso in this current generation that language is a must for these rural kids to improve their economic opportunities.

For those who are able to afford to learn Hindi - by all means let them go ahead and do. No one is preventing them. But one general rule doesn’t fit in a country like India. Unless one improves the standard of teaching where both the primary and secondary schools in all states meet the standard on par which involves many teachers to attain the requisites it is not such an easy task to include Hindi easily. The NEP is trying that without ever improving the teacher caliber in rural areas. They will be lagging behind.

I am not living in India and as a parent want my kids to know my mother tongue. They did read for a while but totally not interested and not using and now lost. I couldn’t tell or advice them about culture and language as they had their whole hands filled with subjects which they wanted to study. That’s the situation for the mother tongue itself. For those who migrate overseas if its like that for mother tongue then the language will disappear in few more generations, just my view. Parents have so many desires for their kids which the kids don’t share and one among them is the mother tongue to be learnt. Language is for culture in this aspect. For me here Tamil is my mother tongue and I don’t think even if I read Hindi as third language, I wouldn’t feel connected. It’s just not useful for me and as a child I wouldn’t have liked someone forcing it down my throats just for the sake of politics. Unless one is going to live and work in North India it is not a must.

One of my friend learnt Hindi only to forget as she never used it and migrated overseas. Another never learnt Hindi but moved to North India and learnt later in life to become proficient. In both the instances they never had any third language. That’s what happens. Necessity makes them learn.

 

In Bihar, most people speak Bhojpuri or Maithili. They learn Hindi in school. Yes, we north Indians do have to take a third language. North is as diverse as the south. The Hindi speaking area is not as big as you might think. My mom learned Punjabi and dad Urdu as their primary languages, Hindi was optional. During my time, I learned Sanskrit (options were Punjabi and Sanskrit). I still remember Sanskrit years after and actually enjoy coming across a Sanskrit word here and there.