new demon called the Hindi Diwas, and apparently it stands for "Hindi
Day". It's coming on Sept. 14th, and this can of worms had to be
opened by the Hindi imperialists. From this day on, it can no longer
be hidden behind well meaning phrases of national unity, nor can it be
clouded by any doubts over whether Hindi is going to be imposed on the
whole of India.
It won't take very long for us to have a "Thamizh Dinam", a "Kannada
Dina" and umpteen other equivalents, and why not? To each his
language is important, and I'll be damned if anyone dare stands in the
way of any of these occasions.
There was a debate on television last night about this, on a program
called We The People. There wasn't enough confrontation here, but
there will be everywhere else, thanks to this mindless provocation from the Hindi
imperialists. As always, the most irritating comments came in as
tweets and e mails from people mentioning Hindi as a "national
language", as if such a thing exists. Clearly, ignorance rules.
In the debate was the question - "Do we need a national language to
unite us?". My answer is a categorical NO, and even if it were deemed
necessary, it sure shouldn't be Hindi. I'd prefer Tamil to be honest.
I can already hear the conch shells being blown by the majority.
Sorry, fools, the national bird is the peacock and it sure isn't in
the majority like the crow. Neither is the stray dog going to replace
the Tiger as the national animal, nor is the flower of the parthenium
plant going to replace the lotus. So, the "majority" nonsense isn't
going to work.
There's a reason we take pride in the Peacock, the Tiger and the Lotus
and cringe about the Crow, Stray Dog, and Parthenium. If we have to
choose our "national language" based on beauty, evolutionary status,
and power of communication, there are other languages that would give
Hindi a sound pasting. Out goes the "quality" angle for Hindi.
Now, we can get onto the real debate - do we need some "unifying"
language? Now, why would I want to be unified with the pigs who have
already declared Hindi Diwas as being something of national
importance? I don't want to associate myself with this bunch of
fanatics, ever. It's a dangerous ploy from them that will create
needless suspicions, misgivings, anger, chaos, and very sensitive
distinctions between Hindi and non-Hindi speakers, and is the first
salvo in what will invariably become the most divisive cultural battle
within India. Our enemies must love this!
The assumption that India is somehow not unified already is a
dangerous one. The Indian Rupee has more than ensured that we have
enough of a market size as "India" to keep all of us interested in
staying together as one nation. We have demands for new states, but
all part of the Indian Union. Strong as ever, more officially diverse
now, more chaotic, but also more dynamic, expressive and climbing up
the ladder on the international importance stage. None of this came
about because of Hindi, but a fair bit due to English, thank you very
much.
The laziness surrounding the thought processes that repeatedly lead to
this debate is remarkable. A farmer in Goa has no need to feel
"oneness" with a carpenter in Hyderabad, but I'm sure if these two
meet by circumstance, they will be civil enough towards each other.
With or without language, their realities are fairly different from
one another, and with or without language, their differences are what
will make each interesting to the other. Homogenity will kill India
and everything we stand for.
We are a large country, an ancient country, but a very young nation.
India is still just an idea to us, and nobody really understands it
completely. We as Indians have never had any need to show our
solidarity with one another, except when the very idea of our
existence as a nation has been challenged. We do not have to be
worried about our loosely defined existence either, for it has taken
enormous courage to conceptualize this Indian nation in the first
place and there is nothing to indicate we won't have the courage to
stand by the idea, however flimsy it may eventually prove to be.
By singling out Hindi for preferential treatment, the fools behind
Hindi Diwas have taken a very dangerous, uniquely annoying, and
shallow path of celebratory giddiness that will be received as a
challenge by many of us. Part of the price to pay to live in a
democracy is allowing for the potential for a few fools to disrupt,
distort, and delay our ideas of progress. In this case, there are
sady, a lot of fools, and a lot of us are going to suffer the
consequences of their flippant attitudes towards the non-Hindi Indian.
The descent of the level of this conversation, is now brilliantly
highlighted by this ridiculous Hindi Diwas. So, what can be the harm
in entertaining some low thoughts to mark the decision? What are we
supposed to do on this bloody Hindi Day? Greet each other in Hindi?
Or speak in Hindi the whole day? Sorry vakkalolingala, naanga
Thamizhley dhaan pesuvom. Otha ennada pannuvey, chappathi naaye? Any
lower and it won't be fun. Now, if we had a day for each language in
India, that would mean we would all have to speak that language on
that day, and we can already see a least minimum of twenty five days
of our productivity going down the drain.
What have we accomplished during "The Year of the Girl Child" or "The
Year of The Tiger"? Would Hindi Diwas save our students in Australia
from racial attacks, now that we are going to be miraculously unified?
It is apparent that some people in New Delhi have a lot of spare time
on their hands and have to conjure up some nonsense, ostensibly, for
us all to get excited about. The devil's workshop is working full
time and is flying the Indian flag on its chimney.
The slide in India's national debates these days brings to the fore
not an issue that two sides see differently, but distinctly, very
distinctly, puts on stage two Indias across an enormous divide. One
side knows what the issue is and has the intelligence to deal with it,
and the other is either ill informed, uneducated, or simply incapable
of cohesive thought. It is not hard to see which side of this
volatile divide Hindi Diwas came from.
This cannot be resolved without a massive reprimand to reverse
stupidity. Sorry dear Mother India, this is going to get ugly, real
agli.
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