The day 21st February is annually celebrated as International Mother Language Day. My mother language is Hindi and our elite class tries to classify Hindi as inferior. We Indians are not so proud of our mother language; the so-called elites teach their kids only in English. However, there are two sides of the same coin, and even though we discredit Hindi, we are very proud of our regional languages.
Students who are studying in the most prominent colleges speak in their regional languages very proudly, and those who are weak in Hindi try hard to learn the same. There are millions of students who converse in their own language everywhere, and if you ask them to change, they boldly revert negatively. There was a time when Indians used to neglect Hindi, but now, we are going back to our roots; nowadays when we hear someone speak fluent Hindi, we cannot control ourselves but turn back in awe of them!
There are kids who belong to the elite class, yet are proficient in Hindi and are even excelling in Hindi. This is the right time to stop abusing our own generation for not being proud of our mother tongue. It’s time to see the positive side and praise their efforts. The new Modern Hindi is not similar to the old Classic Hindi, and it is incorrect to complain about that because India is all about diversity and its modifications. However, we are still trying hard to learn English, not just because it is an international language but also because learning another language simply means enhancing your word power.
On this International Mother Language Day, let’s take a pledge that we won’t curse our upcoming generations for not knowing Hindi; instead, we will try to take our own regional language forward, and I am certain that the upcoming generation will respect our mother tongue more than us.
Ironically, I have not written this in my mother tongue, Hindi, because I have been trying to learn English and get better at it, but my proficiency in Hindi is unparalleled!