Male
Member Since Jun 26 2007
Tamil Nadu: Conversations on Hindi
Feb 5 2008 | Views 385 |
Comments (1)
During my recent stay in T.N., i made it a point to determine the attitude towards hindi of tamils living in tamil nadu. (Kayal lives in U.S., as per her claim, and some think she is a Lankan Tamil.). I give below some of the conversations i had on this subject; these took place in Chennai and also in some of the smaller towns in T.N. where i spent a bit of time:
I met some people who knew neither hindi nor english, but it was still possible to communicate with them using a judicious mix of some hindi words, some english words, and gestures.
I started off in english when talking with the first shopkeeper i met, but he (perhaps recognizing that i am north indian) started answering back in hindi. Two or three times i initiated the conversation in english, but kept getting replies in hindi. Finally, i also started conversing in hindi. There were two people in this shop--both speaking very good hindi. I then enquired as to how their hindi is so good and one of them said 'I was in defence earlier'. What about the other chap? 'Isko bhi sikha diya hai'.
Shopkeepers, and also travel agents, in even smaller towns in T.N. typically speak hindi; this was my observation. I think this has to do with the fact that some of the suppliers are north indians (in the case of shopkeepers) and customers are north indians (in case of travel agents).
I met and conversed with a senior professor and asked him if he knew hindi. He said 'I did not get the opportunity to learn hindi' i.e. his school did not offer hindi even as an optional subject when he was a student. He was critical of the DMK, and placed the blame for the anti-hindi rhetoric largely on the DMK.He said he often has to visit North India to attend conferences and seminars and not knowing hindi is a great disadvantage and causes a lot of difficulty.
I once boarded a bus and after buying the bus ticket wanted to talk to the bus conductor regarding the place at which i was alighting from the bus. I spoke in english, but the response i got (in a face contorted almost with hatred and rage) was: 'humko hindi nahi maloom, humko english nahi maloom. Only Tamil.' These words were said to me in chaste hindi and english. I did not say anything after this, and made my enquiries from another person on the bus.
I met some monks in Tamil Nadu whom i befriended; i narrated this bus conductor incident to them. They deplored the incident and said that amongst many tamils there exists not only a hatred for hindi, but also a hatred for sanskrit. They said this hatred is 'a sin of our people'.
(They were Tamil monks. They said they were about to start off a Sanskrit learning center in their ashram.)
I met some people who knew neither hindi nor english, but it was still possible to communicate with them using a judicious mix of some hindi words, some english words, and gestures.
I started off in english when talking with the first shopkeeper i met, but he (perhaps recognizing that i am north indian) started answering back in hindi. Two or three times i initiated the conversation in english, but kept getting replies in hindi. Finally, i also started conversing in hindi. There were two people in this shop--both speaking very good hindi. I then enquired as to how their hindi is so good and one of them said 'I was in defence earlier'. What about the other chap? 'Isko bhi sikha diya hai'.
Shopkeepers, and also travel agents, in even smaller towns in T.N. typically speak hindi; this was my observation. I think this has to do with the fact that some of the suppliers are north indians (in the case of shopkeepers) and customers are north indians (in case of travel agents).
I met and conversed with a senior professor and asked him if he knew hindi. He said 'I did not get the opportunity to learn hindi' i.e. his school did not offer hindi even as an optional subject when he was a student. He was critical of the DMK, and placed the blame for the anti-hindi rhetoric largely on the DMK.He said he often has to visit North India to attend conferences and seminars and not knowing hindi is a great disadvantage and causes a lot of difficulty.
I once boarded a bus and after buying the bus ticket wanted to talk to the bus conductor regarding the place at which i was alighting from the bus. I spoke in english, but the response i got (in a face contorted almost with hatred and rage) was: 'humko hindi nahi maloom, humko english nahi maloom. Only Tamil.' These words were said to me in chaste hindi and english. I did not say anything after this, and made my enquiries from another person on the bus.
I met some monks in Tamil Nadu whom i befriended; i narrated this bus conductor incident to them. They deplored the incident and said that amongst many tamils there exists not only a hatred for hindi, but also a hatred for sanskrit. They said this hatred is 'a sin of our people'.
(They were Tamil monks. They said they were about to start off a Sanskrit learning center in their ashram.)
© Rashmun., all rights reserved.
In case you missed...
Some other recent posts by Rashmun
© 1998-2008 Copyright Sulekha.com Connecting Indians Worldwide, All Rights Reserved.
Recommend