As mentioned somewhere in previous posts, although Hindi is an official language in India each state has its own, unique language. In Maharashtra (with Mumbai as its capital) it is Marathi. Maharashtra is one of these states which treats their language very seriously and makes sure that people maintain it and use it on daily basis. Therefore all the tables and signs on the streets are written in Marathi, all the numbers on buses as well (this is really making my life more complicated!) and finally all the official institutions operate in Marathi. If you go to the police station (luckily haven’t had such an opportunity… yet) they will examine you for sure in Marathi, if you are a politician standing for elections in Mumbai don’t even think of not knowing Marathi. Why? You can get slapped!! Check out this article and see what happens if you try and talk in Hindi here
And on the top of that The Maharashtra government has recently made it mandatory for new applicants for taxi driver permits to be domiciled in the state and be able to read, write and speak Marathi. LINK
Well, another obstacle to keep Maharashtra only for Maharashtrans and prevent immigration from other parts of the country. (Will write about immigration later) For me, another reason to get confused whether Indians are one…or not…?
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Hi Ela,
ReplyDeleteHindi is the official language of communication between the states and the center..it's not official language within the state. Hence, if you go to different states of India, you will find that each state operates in local language. In the south part of India, Hindi is not at all used. Oh, by the way, Hindi is not the only official language. English is also an official language and thus Hindi is not at all mandatory for non-Hindi states of India.
Hindi is a language forced by hindi-speaking indians on rest of the india. In the 1960s, people literally set themselves on fire in protest of Hindi enforcement in southern india and so the Hindi-speakers backed off. Since then, southern india has vehemently opposed any move to impose hindi on the region. Maharashtra on the other hand is suffering due to hindi enforcement, as the local marathi ppl are quite weak and laid back, and do not have the guts to oppose the enforcement.
January 24, 2010 5:58 AM
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Hi Ela, Hindi is the official language of communication between the states and the center..it's not official language within the state. Hence, if you go to different states of India, you will find that each state operates in local language. In the south part of India, Hindi is not at all used. Oh, by the way, Hindi is not the only official language. English is also an official language and thus Hindi is not at all mandatory for non-Hindi states of India. Hindi is a language forced by hindi-speaking indians on rest of the india. In the 1960s, people literally set themselves on fire in protest of Hindi enforcement in southern india and so the Hindi-speakers backed off. Since then, southern india has vehemently opposed any move to impose hindi on the region. Maharashtra on the other hand is suffering due to hindi enforcement, as the local marathi ppl are quite weak and laid back, and do not have the guts to oppose the enforcement of Hindi or the mass migration of Hindi-speaking people.
hey (whoever you are),
ReplyDeleteyeah, i know all this but the point i was trying to make is a bit different...
please refer to the post "unity in the diversity".
and please, let me know who you are :D
ela
Frankly there are a million reasons for all of them politicos to get slapped. This just not one of them.
ReplyDeleteEla when this country celebrates the Republic Day every year on 26th January ( national holiday) the intellectuals say that the greatest achievement of India is that it is still united and has not disintegrated for the obvious reasons that you have very well illustrated.....lets see till how many years we can achieve this....and it is the Constitution of India ( lenthiest in the world) that is the most cohesive force at this moment and has made it posible fot this polity to exist for about 63 years.......Sandeep Chandigarh
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