For all its good intentions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s outreach to students on Teachers Day in Hindi turned out to be a halfway-house effort.
As a large number of students in both State-run and private school in Kerala watched the address, a crucial link snapped. The State-run ‘VICTERS’ channel, which was to beam the programme, was unable to transmit it, triggering protests from BJP leaders in the State.
In Chennai, many among the 300-odd students of a private school at Kolathur looked bemused, though some of them said they got to see the “cool side” of “Narendrabhai.”
State-run schools in Tamil Nadu were hardly keen to join in the mainly CBSE-schools centric event. Language is an emotive issue in the State.
A private school in Pollachi said that “Hindi was the dividing wall”.
In Telangana, the students’ response was by and large lukewarm. In the old city of Hyderabad, many teachers and parents were not so enthusiastic about the event.
Even in Bangalore, where the BJP has a stronger presence, the response was mixed.
