South India : The Rise and Rise of Hindi

 

 

( Hindi Day Special)

 

 

1930s : Govt’s incorporates a law for compulsory teaching of Hindi language in schools in Madras Presidency. A major public uproar in Madras (Chennai).

 

1960s : Discussions begin in Delhi on making Hindi as the only official language. Anti-Hindi protests across South.

 

Most of the readers would not have witnessed the above.

 

However, a few would have witnessed the ban on Hindi films and the defacing of Devnagari banners and hoardings across Tamilnadu (TN) during 1980s. During the same time, one of my  friends from south was so passionate about cricket that he could not afford to miss a single minute of update. However, on radio, Hindi commentary every 15 minute became an impediment. He found a solution He learnt only the Hindi numbers (1 to 500) but avoided learning the language. This way he could get a continuous update on cricket score but by not learning Hindi he also was able to  showcase his angst towards the language. It is this kind of angst that made anti-Hindi an election agenda in south.

 

 

Come to 2024. I was in Bengaluru for work. My colleague from Bangalore (a Tamilian) booked Ola cab. And guess, what was the common communication language between him and the Kannada speaking driver of Ola Cab   ? It was  Hindi ….. !!!

 

For someone who has seen the south of India 1980s and has never again been to south, the above Ola conversation would qualify as an illustration of daydreaming.

 

 

What caused this impactful growth in awareness of  Hindi in south ?  

 

Interestingly, the seed was sown, unknowingly, by  the Liberalisation & Globalisation ( L & G) policies, 1991. These policies started opening up large number of job opportunities across India. The tech boom accelerated this trend. With increased opportunities, across the country, we saw a big demand for qualified personnel in multiple domains, During 2000s and 2010s, this resulted in significant rise in migration of young employees from south to north as well as from north to south. Companies and Educational Institutions across India started experiencing more diverse employees and student population than they had ever seen before.

 

With increased diversity around them, the youth from south saw value in awareness of Hindi. And what reduced the friction in their learning of Hindi was the rising popularity of Hinglish during 2000s and 2010s. Hinglish was like the South telling the North -  Ek Kadam tum badhao, Ek kadam hum badhaayein ( you move one step, we move one step).  When the history of Hindi is written, the rise of Hinglish will be truly be marked as an epoch-making event.

 

 

Furhter, during this cultural exchange of youth, the diverse crowd also needed a common denominator for manifestation of their aspirations and for just chilling out. And this was provided by Bollywood, especially Bollywood song and dance numbers. And as large number of southern youth started enjoying Bollywood numbers openly, these Bollywood songs also started becoming part of southern wedding and events. Even abroad, non-Hindi speaking south Indian NRI kids could be seen enjoying Bollywood songs and dance with their north Indian friends. And as Hindi started getting simmering into southern culture, hostility starts diminishing

 

Come to 2024, Hindi in south is no more a subject of hatred. And anti-Hindi is hardly a major election agenda.

 

 

All along the 20^th century, the govt tried hard to promote Hindi in south but these efforts were seen as Hindi imposition. What converted this imposition into imbibition was the opening up of economy across three decades. As government created opportunities, business, education and entertainment realized how Hindi could help them fulfil their own agenda.

 

It is pertinent here to see that in 1990s Liberalisation & Globalsiation  was seen as anti-Swadeshi, but it actually helped govt achieve one of the toughest swadeshi agendas – the spread of Hindi across the Deccan Plateau. 

 

Today people take pride when an Indian speaks in Hindi on an international platform and also when Wikipedia reports Hindi as the third most spoken language in the world but for someone who has experienced  the anti-Hindi movement, the biggest moment of pride as an Indian is that Hindi is now Hindi* in its truest sense…...Jai Hind

 

 (* the word “Hindi ” means Indian)

 

- DEEPESH  SALGIA