As stated by India's first president, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, a country that does not value its linguistic and literary heritage cannot be considered developed. Therefore, a unified language is necessary for India. For a long time, Hindi remained a language that did not reject foreign words simply because they were foreign.
The strength, relevance, and potential alienation of Hindi are reflected in the statements of Dr. Rajendra Prasad. Hindi, which for many years fought for the status of national and ideal state language, is now going through a transitional period even as a language of communication. If Hindi were to gain the status of a national language, it would automatically acquire all legislative rights, similar to those held by the anthem and the national flag.
Hindi faces difficulties in matters of script. Hindi is written in Devanagari. According to Article 343 (1) of the Indian Constitution, Hindi written in Devanagari is the official language of the Union of India. However, in practice, English dominates as the official language. In most government departments, documentation is first kept in English and then in Hindi, because the language of bureaucracy is English. In government work, Hindi often serves not as the primary language but as a translation language.
The judicial system also shows a predominance of English or Urdu from the colonial period to the present day. Meanwhile, in government institutions, railway stations, bus terminals, and airports, the requirement to display information in three languages—English, local, and Hindi—is formally observed. But paradoxically, instead of Hindi, Sanskrit words or words borrowed from Sanskrit are being introduced, using terms like 'agamana', 'prasthana', 'peijal', 'prasadan', and 'mukhya engineer', thereby completing the process.
It is not an exaggeration to say that modern Hindi was shaped by newspapers and journalists. Today, content in newspapers is presented to readers in a mixed language, or 'Hinglish', on colorful pages to attract attention. The consequences of this are serious: in many cases, Hindi is limited to auxiliary verbs even in full sentences. For example, a phrase might sound like: 'The university director was detained.'
Meanwhile, news channels justify that visual content is more important to them than the language itself, and they use the language that best matches that visual content. Among various thinkers, there are different opinions regarding the language of communication. Most believe that language is exclusively related to daily speech, citing the proverb: 'Water changes every four paces, speech every eight paces.' However, it should be remembered that it is conversational languages that gradually develop into languages of instruction and reading.
Hindi has divided into two streams: the state language and the folk language. Now, our national version of Hindi freely includes both Sanskrit and Tadbhava words, as well as words from Urdu, Persian, Arabic, and especially English. While Urdu borrows words from various languages, it most frequently incorporates Indian languages. Hindi readers received Khari Boli through Urdu with a Persian accent. English also shows the influence of many languages, and new words from other languages are added to the English dictionary annually and accepted as English.
The situation is that ordinary people often do not know which language a word they use in conversation originates from. It is becoming practically impossible to achieve widespread recognition of complexity and purity in Hindi. This means that era has passed. The trilingual equation introduced in school education is an effective and unprecedented attempt to integrate Hindi into Indian society.
Currently, communication appears 'language-free', where the Gen Z generation creates and actively uses its own language. Many of their dialogues may consist only of gestures, signs, or images. To understand this 'lexicon', 'non-Gen Z' individuals have to make extra efforts.
Ultimately, all hope rests on the literary world, as it has managed to preserve the soul of Hindi to the maximum extent despite all obstacles and unfavorable conditions. Although it is impossible to completely shield Hindi from words coming from other languages, caution can be exercised in their use in grammar and other disciplines. If we do not constantly enrich Hindi as a language and literature, its identity will be under threat. It is impossible to imagine any language free from the consciousness of those who speak it. What is needed is an India capable of speaking Hindi naturally and without shame when uttering it.
