Hindi v/s English: why not both?
Foolish are those who feel proud just because they were born into a particular family, caste, religion, language, or country. Language is just a medium of communication. Learn English to have global acceptance. Out of 195 countries of the world, English is an official language in 46 countries and is partly spoken as a mother tongue in 22 other countries.
“Native language is progress, the root of all progress…Bharatendu Harishchandra wrote this, more than two hundred years ago. Back then, the world was closed. This world was going to open up in the coming times, becoming globalized.
During the era of colonialism, Europeans established their political dominance with the might of guns. English, French, Portuguese, and Dutch spread across large parts of the world. In this race, eventually, the English stayed ahead. Consequently, English also advanced in the world. The English looted the world and plundered wealth.
They looted the knowledge and history of the world. From Egypt to India, they preserved the history of the world in museums like the Victoria and Albert Museum without altering anything, the National Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the National Archives in London. They transcended friendships, enmities, pride, and shame.
The British soldier who fought against Tipu Sultan and Tipu Sultan’s tiger overpowered him is preserved in the Victoria Museum as it is, and the Rosetta Stone is safeguarded there. In contrast, visit the dusty museums of Calcutta or Cairo. See the artifacts crammed haphazardly in cabinets; you will understand the difference.
Indians were unaware of the Mauryan era; Egypt did not know its language. It was the English who read the Brahmi script of the Ashoka Pillar and deciphered the hieroglyphics of the Rosetta Stone.
They translated knowledge in every language – Chinese, Russian, African, Arabic – put it in books, sold it, and spread it worldwide. As time passed, English eventually became the information and knowledge highway of the world. Even today, it remains the same; this is the truth.
What happened is not your fault. What is history is history, what is present is present, and what is true is the truth. Running on the highway of information and knowledge, Indra Nooyi, Satya Nadella, and Sundar Pichai are the CEOs of the world’s largest companies. You should be proud of it.
The world has changed. It is the era of economic colonialism. During Russia’s superpower phase, people learned Russian. Today, the world is learning German and Chinese. At least we should “Learn English”
Because these emerging powers are there. There is business and prosperity. People want to go there, meet there, establish connections. So, the world is learning German and Chinese at its will. The top executives of big German and Chinese companies also speak “English” outside. Because they need to go out, do business, and make their companies and countries prosperous.
Language is just language. It is sound, whose echoes we have given meaning to. One sound cannot be better or worse than another. Web, and now AI is better trained in English because it has data supporting it for training. Along with your mother tongue, Learn English.
What is better, the chirping of birds and the mooing of cows? Ask someone from the countryside, and they will tell you that each one is better in its own way. Ask someone in Iran, and they will say Persian is better.
These sounds and scripts are merely a means of communication. Transmission is better when people understand it. How did speaking in Hindi on the UN stage make Hindi prestigious? Oh, 99% of people didn’t understand you at all. If someone from a distant African country goes on that stage and speaks in Swahili, will it generate respect for Swahili in your mind? These are political spectacles. Tricks to satisfy and appease.
Foolish are those who feel proud just because they were born into a particular family, caste, religion, language, or country. Because what they have not achieved through their intelligence and hard work, is the reason for your pride, meaning your own accomplishments are zero. Leave behind old yardsticks and old carts. Understand the fabric of today’s world. Strengthen your country, and make it prosperous.
Pichai, Nooyi, and Nadella can become owners, build companies, and bring the world under Hindustan’s influence. These boys, this youth, they can show them the path to becoming Birla, not Bajrangi. They will make India number one in the world again.
Then see, the English, the French, the Russians, the Chinese… they will come to Delhi to bow down to the throne. They will say, ‘Glory to Mother India,’ ‘Victory to Vivekananda.’
Move ahead of the two-century-old thinking of Bharatendu. If there is respect for Hindi, there will be respect for English as well. The opposite is not possible. So, do not seek highs and lows in language. Open your eyes to the present. Understand and learn – you can use the Duolingo app to learn any language. Use a word a day extension on our website, on the right-hand panel.
Actually, “Native country’s progress is the root of all progress”
