Bharat- Concept or Identity !!!

on Tuesday, October 20, 2009

The following views are in reference to an article. Click on the link to read the original post.

http://prideofaneagle.blogspot.com/2009/10/you-know-you-are-patriotic-when.html

Legendary BBC reporter Mark Tully, when interviewed after retirement about his thoughts on India, " I feel that the whole calculation has gone wrong for Bharat as there is lack of Nationalistic concept.” Today whatever adverse is happening in the country is because of the lack of nationalism. Many future generations will have to face the ill effects of this. The rulers just want to hold on to power, not bothering whether the country survives or not!"

He couldn't have been more right. Even after 62 years of Independence, there is no such picture so as to suggest Hindi as our National Language. It's still coined as the official language. On the contrary, it is seen that hatred towards Hindi has grown in Southern states. But why does everyone keep forgetting the North-Eastern and Eastern part of the country where the situation is the worst. Hindi speaking people are being shot by various groups (read ULFA and their national body).
It's high time our National Leaders understand the gravity of the situation and make some efforts. Strong leadership skills (like that of Sardar)is what the country demands of our Netas right now. Having state languages as their official language will not solve the issue but will only lead to more hatred and divison.

An anecdote:
Once an Englishman visited Great Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar at his place. He greeted him in English to which Vidyasagar replied in Hindi. The gentleman thought maybe the great man doesn't know English and tried conversing with him in Hindi. This time the latter replied in English. The English got furious and asked an explanation for such a rude attitude. Then very calmly, Vidyasagar ji replied that when you were giving respect to your mother-tounge, I was paying tribute to mine. But when you honoured my mother-tounge, it's my moral duty to respect yours. The British national fell on his toes and asked for forgiveness. He said that he has realized what was being said about him was true to every word.

Moral of the story: When the leaders of our country travel to other nations, they speak in English as compared to other leaders who make it a point to converse in their National Language when meeting with dignitaries of the country they are travelling too. We take it as a matter of contempt and bringing shame to us when our great personalities speak in Hindi at various events world-wide, thinking that the leaders of our nation can't speak English.

Other issues raised to be answered in the following posts.

9 comments:

PULKIT said...

Its right in our past 40 year blend of blood that we have forgotten the dimension and meaning of the word "Value", its not just the tongue and lingo that has lost its relevance in uniting our people in any ways... its also the issues and priorities!

What I meant by that was that - when people of mumbai sink in rains, its not an issue of any sort for people of delhi - not even in terms of sympathy and when karnataka was drownin in flood, I wonder how many people in my city were even bothered to check the death toll numbers in tabloids...
huh!
people have started living for their selves. respecting ther priorities and their choices! and the lingo disrespect on the regional ground of hindi is yet another example of this outcome...
One cannot gurantee that making it the national language officially would make any difference or not!

Unknown said...

My mother tongue is hindi. I think i can converse better in hindi as compared to English. so obviously i have not tried to devalue the language. My only concern was the force element. Hindi is just another Indian language. There is this whole politics of language..politics of hindi and politics of english. What is the problem with having 2 official languages? we should have the choice to converse in the language we want to..its our country! I dont understand this whole force element..and i do not think that speaking in hindi will make me look nationalistic in any way! I dont understand the logic of having a national language for a country which is so diverse. C'mon we hav all our states formed on linguistic bases. It is not about conversing in hindi or english ..its about reaching to the people..to converse! stop politicizing every thing! we the people will decide what we want !

Unknown said...

I have not argued anywhere that English should be made the national language! My concern is very inclusionary in nature.

Unknown said...

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mns-distrupts-maharashtra-assembly-over-oathtaking-in-hindi/104847-37.html?utm_source=IBNdaily_IbnOptIn_091109&utm_medium=mailer

What do you have to say about this? Use of force just to make your point?

Why doesn't the judiciary take action against him (politicians just know how to play politics)?

Adi said...

@ Pulkit - Sir, I agree that it may or may not bring about the much-sought nationalistic fervor but doing it wouldn't hurt either. In fact, it may serve as a deterrent to those who indulge in regional linguistic bias. Atleast some action could be taken against them for bringing shame to the National Symbols - Pride of ever Indian.
Though can't say about others, but atleast some of my friends and yours truly were the first ones amongst those who garnered funds for the flood victims in Bihar. This may seem as a show-off but it isn't.

Adi said...

@ Devika - Ma'am it may be democracy but for nothing govt. is formed. Dual nature of our Constitution was made to serve some purpose. And if we, the people, were to decide, goons like MNS,SS or people shouting slogans like Free Kashmir, fluttering of Pakistan flags in the valley would be a common sight. How's that for being a Patriot ???

Adi said...

@ Boring Pubs - It's their job. Isn't it ??? Judiciary taking action, couldn't have been a bigger joke. Raj Thackeray was served a notice for disrupting the exams in Mumbai after an year. What after that ??

Unknown said...

the fact is dat the aam-janta does not have the time and opportunity to politicize things! u r seeing things from the top...see it from the point of view of an aam-aadmi. an aam-admi has a tummy to think abt! politicizing things... making mountains out of rat holes is the job of political organisations... n is sab ko sehta toh aam-aadmi hi haina! hindi mei se urdu words nikaalne ka time uske paas nai hai! bt woh fas jaata hai...religion, caste, money ki wajah se! what i am arguing is nthng bt dis! let us live the way we want 2... !

Adi said...

@ Devika- Accepted that it's the political czar's that politicize things. It's what they do best. But just answer this. Have we ever seen Uddhav, Raj or Bal Thackeray creating nuisance. It's their followers and who are they ? Aren't they the same people as we are ? It's the psyche of aam-aadmi that needs to be changed on a massive scale. These goons had in the past and will continue in the future to pester the common man. Such preachers beseech men with a two-fold appeal.