From: sunder@altair.crhc.uiuc.edu (Srinivas Sunder)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: soc.culture.tamil
Date: 16 Apr 1992 21:42:49 GMT
Organization: Center for Reliable and High-Performance Computing, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: altair.crhc.uiuc.edu
Keywords: citizenship

In article <1992Apr16.200216.6306@watson.ibm.com>, jitendra@watson.ibm.com (Jitendra Telang) writes:
|> > That is the DUMBEST excuse I have heard to date for imposing Hindi on us Southies.
|>                                                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|> > What makes you think that those who don't know Tamil but stay in Madras do know
|> > Hindi? Might they not be Kannadigas or Telugu-speakers or Malayalam-speakers?
|> 
|> I never understand why southies, (the ones I've met in this category are usually
That's obvious from your remarks that follow. You obviously have never TRIED to
understand, which is why it eludes you.

|> from Madras) have such an attitude problem regarding Hindi. First you have to accept
|> the fact that Hindi is the national language of India.

Hindi is an OFFICIAL language of Government. It will become National only if it
is accepted voluntarily by a VAST majority of the Nation of people whose values
the word "National" supposedly represents. Hindi does not fit the bill, except
in official documents. If you really think that it is accepted voluntarily by a
vast majority of South Indians, you probably also believe in Santa Claus, the
Tooth Fairy and the Stork that brings babies.

|> sufficient for Indian government to assume that all INDIAns understand Hindi.

And the BEST way to bring about the Balkanization of India. Have you ever heard
of the term "Russification" as applied to ethnic and linguistic minorities in
the ex-Soviet Union? Have you also ever wondered at the speed with which the
Soviet Union became the ex-Soviet Union? No? Well, do it now. Communism had very
little to do with the Break-up (the Baltics being a different case).

|> Now it's individual's or rather individual states' responsibility to make sure
|> that every (at least educated) person be tought Hindi in school so that he/she
|> gets to understand our national language. Now if that's not the case, and if
|> you don't understand Hindi, you shouldn't go barking about Indian TV or any 
|> other media imposing Hindi programs on you instead of having the attitude to
|> learn Hindi. As far as I know, in most of the schools in Maharashtra,
|> Hindi is one of the compulsory subjects as a language and I strongly feel that
|> it's a right thing. As an Indian I feel that I should at least know my
|> country's national language.
|> 
Waitaminnit. Have you heard of "No taxation w/o Representation?" That's the cry
that began the Am. Revolution. If I (or my Dad) pays taxes with which Doordarshan
and AIR are funded, we also have a right to determine its content. And when we
can't understand (actually, he AND I can read/write it easily) it,
you betcher we will bark and bark loudly.

Last of all, you really need a crash course in understanding what the term
"National" means. It does not mean something that a plurality, or even a numerical
majority of people that constitute a Nation (as different from a Country)
reflects. For something to be National, it has to represent something that is
shared by ALL (well, a VAAAST majority) of Indians. If we had a National language
in that sense, I'd be glad to learn it. It takes either blissful ignorance or
plain arrogance to assume that a mere statement that Hindi is the National
Language is going to get people to accept it as such. You may even get them to
learn it, like how the Russkies tried to get the Ukrainians and the Balts to,
but you'll never get them to ACCEPT it. In fact, quite the opposite. The best
example of a National language is English in the US. There is NO official
document or Act of Congress making it so, and it is yet the National language.
Maybe you have a hard time understanding that, since, obviously for you, something
only has to be on paper and signed by an official to make it real and the truth.

|> -- 
|> 
|> Disclaimers: All standard ones apply.
|>   
|> Jitendra

-srinivas