A picture of Hindi literature being sold at a price as low as a hundred and fifty rupees a kilo is doing the rounds on social media. While on one hand the present day condition of Hindi literature and its reach to the youth raise alarm, on the other statistics suggest that the top three most circulated newspapers are Hindi dailies.
The fact that English is the need of the hour today is undeniable, but the way Internet and technology has brought a drastic change in the usage of Hindi by millenials, leaves some questions. To answer these and to introspect on the way Hindi is being taught in our country today, Madhuban Publications organised a discussion, “Hindi Hain Hum” on the occasion of Hindi Diwas. Sahitya Academy Award winning poet Ashok Vajpeyi was present as the chief guest and joining him were academicians such as former Director of the National Council of Educational Research and Training, Krishan Kumar.
The speakers deliberated over the existential crisis which Hindi faces today and how things need to change. What followed the stimulating discussion was a Hasya Kavi Sammelan which witnessed renowned Hindi poet Surendra Sharma and others taking a dig at the poor condition of Hindi in their own witty and satirical way.
That teachers play a significant role in shaping the condition of Hindi or any language for that matter, is a given. Seventy six such Hindi educationists who have worked for its betterment at national level were also felicitated at the event.
"Hindi language is clearly a dynamic one and for that matter any language; it is continuously evolving," said Dr. Vajpeyi. He lamented that the unnecessary use of difficult and flowery Hindi is commonplace among the youth today and the fact that kids are unaware of the proper usage of the language and use Roman script to communicate in Hindi instead of Devanagari, is a cause of concern.
Sharing an anecdote, the writer laughed on once being appreciated for his grandson’s fluent and correct Hindi. "One needs no such praise for speaking his own mother tongue correctly," said Vajpeyi adding such appreciation is uncalled for and if people write and speak correct Hindi they are doing nobody a favour. "We are bound to use it, it is our mother tongue. I have been dealing with the language since 60 years now but nobody has ever come up to me and said they appreciate my correct use of language," he added.
Talking about the changing language use among the urban middle class, the writer further said, "If you observe you will see that people often use their mother tongues while communicating with members of their community but the case is not the same for Hindi speaking urban middle class. Say for instance, when two Bengalis meet, they will always speak in Bengali but when two Hindi speaking people from urban India meet, they often tend to converse in English."
Stressing over the centuries-old existence of Hindi and the magic it possesses, noted author Krishnan Kumar said that Hindi Divas always remind us of the struggles which the language face while on the other hand it also leaves us with hope for a better tomorrow.
The academician also deliberated on issues related to child psychology, primary education and early childhood. Aghast at the pressure being created inside classrooms and the way students have always been overburdened, Kumar stated that the process of correcting pronunciation which starts from initial classes and red circle-marked notebooks can be intimidating for children and this might as well not be the best possible way to change the scenario.
Also present at the evening was Surendra Sharma, the poet who is known for making socio-political comments. On being asked about the pitiable condition of Hindi literature he was relieved by the fact that he is not an author or else his work would also have been up for grabs in kilograms.
