Thread by @Raja_Sw

You know the BIGGEST problem South Indians have with the Union Govt?
It's not just about feeling of unfair financial allocation, or that they're subsiding a bottomless pit elsewhere in India.
It's the feeling that they don't get RESPECT.
Hindi imposition is a big part of this.

Anyone who knows me here knows how fond I am of Urdu, Hindi.
And other regional languages too, even if I don't speak them.
So if anyone is going to accuse me of language bigotry, (s)he can take a hike.
I'm very clear where I stand on this subject.

All this talk about English "being a foreign language" and so "shouldn't be encouraged" is BS of the HIGHEST ORDER.
English is THE MOST IMPORTANT LANGUAGE in the world if you want to be truly international and mobile.
At least today it is.
Things might change tomorrow.

There will be those who say "What about the Chinese, Japanese and Germans? They are successful without English."
This is such a STUPID argument I don't even feel like rebutting it.
Had ppl in these countries been proficient in English, they'd have been even more successful.

I've never run down any language.
Each language has its cultural ecosystem, and speakers.
But beyond its cultural ecosystem, language is a means of communication.
And if you want to reach a worldwide audience today, proficiency in English would help much more than Hindi.

And, at the end of the day, people do look at practical value of a language.
If you give a parent a choice of 2 of 3 (English, Hindi, and x (mother tongue)) for his/her child, chances are English will be picked as one of the two.
And why not?
Give me one PRACTICAL reason why not.

So if we don't complicate matters, it'd be normal to assume that if every Indian knew English (to some extent), English could not only enhance their international prospects, but also serve as a bonding language across the country.
Double benefit.

At the same time, if every Indian knew Hindi (or another regional language), to some extent, but not English, Hindi (or that language) could serve as a bonding language across the country, but NOT enhance their international prospects.

So the choice should be clear, no?

But then we don't keep it simple.
We don't leave it to the individual.
Whether I want to learn English or Hindi, I think I'm smart enough to figure out for myself.
You, the State, don't need to dictate to me.
How dare you try to push a language down my throat?
HOW DARE YOU?

I repeat, I love Hindi.
If I had a choice of listening to a conversation in English or Hindi, I'd pick Hindi.
I've attended Spaces here purely cos there's been more Hindi in them, than English.
There are some things best expressed in Hindi.
But that's all VOLUNTARY.
That's key.

If the worry is that proliferation of English will harm Hindi, that same worry would apply to other languages too, no?
Tamil, Bangla, Telugu, Marathi, Punjabi...
Yes, ppl are worried abt this, and making an effort to preserve/teach the language.
Why should Hindi be any different?

English has been one of the biggest reasons for exacerbating the have / have-not chasm in India.
Those proficient in English have had a better shot at career prospects, not just internationally but also, ironically, in India.
(See the hypocrisy?)

So i/o getting more people to learn English to better their career prospects, and BRIDGE the gap btwn them and those who have benefited from English, you want to keep depriving them, selling this BS that "English is a foreign language"?
And then you want everyone to learn Hindi?

Why should a person living in Madurai who knows only Tamil and English, have to learn Hindi if he wants to communicate with someone from Bahraich who knows only Hindi (or a dialect)?
Why can't that Bahraich person learn English?
Could learn Tamil too, but that'd be unfair on him.

If the Madurai guy desperately wants to do business with the Bahraich guy, he'll make the effort to learn Hindi.
And that's perfectly fine.
But, if they're both on the same level, why push Hindi on the Madurai guy, and not English on the Bahraich guy?

Some of my Tamil friends have picked up Hindi from watching Hindi movies.
Not great Hindi, but they can communicate.
And that's perfectly fine.
They WANTED to watch Hindi movies, so made the effort to learn.
That's voluntary.
Very different from imposition.

It's the IMPOSITION I'm dead against.
The argument that most of India speaks (some version of) Hindi, so it makes sense to get all of India to speak it, is one kind of majoritarianism.
You're forcing people into something they don't see enough benefit being part of.

Imagine we made a MASSIVE effort to push English in UP, MP.
Not at the cost of Hindi (or a dialect) ofc - ppl shd know their local language.
But they'd additionally know English.
Imagine how much that could boost their future prospects!
Communicate w/ Tamil Nadu AND the world.

I think we need to turn this switch on.
I repeat, NOT at the cost of local languages.
Those need to be preserved and promoted too.
But not at the cost of depriving someone of English.
If ppl know English + local language + any other languages they want to, fairly well covered.

I guess that's it.
Ranting as usual - this time on language imposition. :-)
Thanks for listening. :-)

*subsidising (auto-correct grrrr :-))