The Fifth Fundamental: Sanskrit as Link Language and Devanagiri as Common Script continues...

How can we therefore communicate with each
other in a language which we have imported from over 8000 kilometers away and kept here essentially in a mummified form?

During the freedom struggle, Hindi was proposed as a replacement for English. There was much merit in the choice because in one form or another, Hindi was understood by nearly three-fourths of India. From Kashmir to Hubli (in Karnataka), from Kutch to the corners of Assam, Hindi is an easily understood language. Only some areas of Andhra and Karnataka, and most parts of the States of Kerala and Tamil Nadu do not follow Hindi. But since Mahatma Gandhi and Rajagopalachari propagated the cause of Hindi as the link language in place of English, even these southern areas had enthusiastically begun to learn Hindi. This lasted till Gandhiji’s assassination. After that, the cause of Hindi began to suffer.

There are two reasons for the decline in the spread of Hindi. First, Hindi began to be promoted by native Hindi speakers such as Purushottamdas Tandon and Dr. Raghuvira, unlike in the past when Gandhiji and Rajaji, whose mother tongue was not Hindi, were leading the campaign. The native Hindi speakers were so virulent in their campaign for the language that they became purists. They were soon perceived as fanatics. Unfortunately, these enthusiasts made the acceptance of Hindi a test of patriotism, and sought to raise knowledge of Hindi immediately as a minimum qualification for jobs. This naturally caused a deep and virulent reaction. Second, Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister did nothing to dispel these negative campaigns. His heart was not in Hindi replacing English. He himself spoke a pedestrian version of Hindi, styled as Hindustani. His grandchildren Rajiv and Sanjay Gandhi were sent to the English-medium hothouse of Indo-English culture, the Doon School, which produces even today the alienated elite crowd. Nehru had digs at Hindi whenever he was afforded a chance. In Nehru’s coterie it was fashionable to deride Hindi literature as consisting of just two works: Tulsidas’ Ramayana and the Railway
Time Table!


to be continued....